Aero position hoods vs drops?

Apologies, must’ve misread that and gotten triggered.

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Yep. Here’s the video:

Elbows on bars is the fastest position, and easiest on the body, but it is banned in many races as mentioned. I think it is not that unsafe in right conditions, with certain bars, tape, wheels, stem, lots of practice…
This aside, other things that add to aero would be shrugging shoulders, lowering the head, tucking elbows in front of knees if fit allows, tucking knees. Having your body more horizontal helps blood flow and drop in heart rate can be witnessed for the same effort.

This might be an obvious point, but with aero hoods, your hands are NOT on the brake levers (unlike the drops or hoods proper). This means braking will take additional time while you shift your hands to the levers.

For the guy on the front, this probably isn’t a big deal, but for anyone in the bunch behind him, not being able to brake suddenly is higher risk.

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I think from this it’s obvious the aero position on the hoods is better IF you can hold it. I’m trying to hold it at the moment but my triceps start to fatigue quick after a minute or two. Started doing some tricep exercises and some planks to hold this position longer. I’ve noticed as well today my arms don’t touch the bars when aero? Like every so slightly off but arms bent 90 degrees ish.

There are couple of things here perhaps, hoods are pointing up too much, levers installed on the “wrong” place on the bar curve, your palms should be covering the hoods.

Note his hands position.

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I think I’m close to this position but my hoods are in the right place they was setup on my bike fit and they are comfy in the hand. Just I can’t get my wrist fully on the bars? Longer stem maybe?

Depends. Was your bike fit done based on your strength and flexibility ? If so, the length of the stem you have could be the one you need to be on.

There are quite few things to consider. I would trust the fitter, but I think fitter was basing decisions on type of riding you do, if the discipline has changed, then perhaps need another fit assesment. Personally I sacrifice comfort for speed - riding aero or in aggressive position is never too comfortable, for me anyway - always been just finding the most bearable position out of generally unbearable. As a result I have lots of stems and bars :exploding_head: I find I rarely need to stay in this position for too long, usually when pulling in front or closing gaps, that is it, minutes, not hours. If I ride solo or TT, I use the elbows on bars position, or drops.

Stem length will change lots of things. If you do change anything, worth to mark, take pictures and measurements so can always revert. It takes a lot of time to dial things, ideally done outside.

Yep - hands on hoods - split fingers or otherwise, forearms behind the hoods get your head down - not the puppy paws either side of the stem the pros use on solo breaks…on UK road bike tt’s for which there was going to be a nationwide series this year before the pandemic riding with forearms on the bars either side of the stem would get you DQ’d

I think exercises may help - but I think just riding for longer in the position will give the biggest benefit

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Right ok I’ll spend some more time in this position and see how it goes after a few weeks/months

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Practice makes prefect…well ish - no racing in the UK so I went out and rode our local sporting circuit on my road bike as a hard effort this morning. just under 13miles all the way on the hoods as recommended - it isn’t the most comfortable but my quads were winning the battle to be recognised by my brain as a major pain site! :grimacing:

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Here is some food for thought, My back seems to be at the limit for getting lower, but i can get narrower I am riding with 36cm bars and it feels perfectly natural. Not as extreme as this.
Is This The Most Aero Bike Racer In The World? | Rethinking Cycling Aerodynamics - YouTube

Great effort! I did 90 minutes on the trainer yesterday and after commuting all week and trying to hole the position more often on flat sections I’m starting to see myself naturally get comfortable. I have moved my hands though before I was still “gripping” the hoods with my little finger and ring finger but now I have them on the brake levers and my wrists more on the bars. I have lifted my bars 10mm as well which has helped massively maybe too low at the moment but can always drop over time.

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I’ve found angling the hoods in slightly works well outside but not on the trainer too. Why do you think that is? Because you’re stationary do you think? I as because I Am thinking of changing the frame of my well Kurt Kinetic Road Machine to the Rick ‘n’ Roll version and am wondering if this would help.

I’m not an expert in bike fit, most of my findings are through experiments, perhaps Chad or other more knowledgeable people can comment too. I think the position is just not comfortable generally and on the trainer anything uncomfortable gets exaggerated due to stationary position, as you also say. Also the aero benefit outside results in speeds, that are not achievable on the trainer because it is only the power that matters, so doing any workout in that position would most likely be impossible. Bike fit is such a craft, it should be a separate study field. For example moving a cleat by a mere 3mm can change the whole weight distribution on the bike, everything is connected to everything - how fascinating.

  • I use thus position fairly regularly outside and on the trainer. Its my “go to” position when following the instruction text about aero position.
  • Saying that, it is something that is very individual, and very subject to each rider and their bike setup.
  • As mentioned, the comfort is also impacted between inside and outside. What works outside can sometimes not inside. The lack of major wind resistance can lead to more weight on the front of the body. I compensate by setting the front axle at least 1" higher that the rear axle. This shifts a bit of weight back, kind of like the wind outside.
  • It is very possible, as I mentioned above.
  • Riding in this position on the trainer isn’t about “cheating the wind” in that moment, it about training your body in a position you plan to use outside.
  • The whole “specificity principle” applies here and is very worth the effort if you want to apply this position outside.
  • It is, with several groups performing training and certification, fitter podcasts and support groups, and broader sharing like this group.
  • It has been an interest of mine since 1997 starting with a lucky coincidence of working with the 2nd owner of Fit Kit Systems (he lives in my home town and I interned at his local bike shop). It continued with training at Specialized in their 3 part BG system, and continues with shop experience and outside research.
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I would one other thing here too that I don’t think was mentioned and that is that being in the drops puts you in the right place to attack suddenly, can be quite obvious what you have in mind if you move to drops every time you attack and also makes it much easier to respond to what other people are doing. Then of course cornering, descending and even punchy climbs are all best in the drops. For me the aero benefits of being in the hoods are to save energy whilst out in front etc. not necessarily to go faster.

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