Positioning on my new TT bike

John Sanderson · Post by **John Sanderson** » 03 Jun 2009 09:16

Ok - i've bitten the bullet and committed to a more serious approach to time trailling by actually buying a TT bike (Argon 18 E80 frame) which I collected this weekend.

The tough bit now is getting the setup right - as up until now i've been riding a standard road bike in TTs and haven't used tribars for 3 or 4 years.

Initially I looked to match the saddle height and fore/aft position with that of my road bike - but that seemed rather uncomfortable (too high I think). It feels like I am adopting a rather different position overall from riding on the drops of the road bike - rather than 'just' tucking my arms in at the front end.

Also - i've done about 2 hours on the bike now and have got quite a bit of soreness in my knees - on top of the kneecap - which I assume is linked to the saddle height not quite being correct.

So - are there any simple pointers to help me get into the best position quickly - or will it just be a case of trial, error and sore knees over the next few weeks?

Ed Moss · Post by **Ed Moss** » 03 Jun 2009 09:20

Your body will take a few rides to adapt to the TT position so a few aches and pains are to be expected early on, never had knee pain, it's usually my arms which hurt the most.

Best to post a few side on pictures but I would always error on comfort and power rather than an extreme aero position.
There is a trade off between getting too low at the front and your power output so you have to find a comfortable medium.

Or.....spend a fortune and go to a wind tunnel....

Ringo · Post by **Ringo** » 03 Jun 2009 10:15

funny you should mention this. i've been in my back garden with my camera all morning trying to sort out my position. wasn't happy with how it looked from the photo's on saturday. i brought a shorther stem and i've lowered my bars and saddle a bit. gonna go out for a spin this afternoon i think.

yeah, it's my arms and shoulders that hurt me. most likely because in the position your leaning right forward and putting all of your wieght onto your arms etc.

like ed says, try to put up a couple of side on pictures or video clips. best thing is just experiment. no-one gets their position right first time. i've had my tt bike for over a year now and I'm still tinkering after every race. everyone's different and it's about what position you'll be comfortable in for 10/25/50 miles.

Andy M · Post by **Andy M** » 03 Jun 2009 13:48

I used to TT a lot using a low profile bike and in my experience sore knees have always been a result of incorrect saddle position. Below knee pain for me always meant it was too low, above the knee meant it was too high.
Fore and aft saddle position can be critical. The steep seat angle on some low profile frames can position the saddle too far forward. If the centre of your knee is not directly over the centre of the pedal spindle on the forward crank with the cranks in the " quarter past six " position, it can cause knee problems too.
I hope I've explained this clearly !
We used to have lots of knee problems around the time of the advent of clipless pedals and we had to experiment a lot to avoid this.
As for the Low Pro position just persevere and only make minor adjustments --the advantages in speed are well worth it.