Been working hard on dialing on my aero bars for the Hoodoo 500. The best way for me to improve over my Furnace Creek 508 performance is to learn how to be very comfortable in the aerobars for hours at a time and to hold +/- 175 watts. This works out to about 20 MPH on a typical flat at a heart rate around 130-140 which I can hold for a very long time. The problem has been in the past my aerobars were so uncomfortably set up I could not stay in them for more than a few minutes at a time. After a lot of playing around with them on work rides, I finally found a position that is comfortable where I can lean in and relax and stay riding for long periods of time without the desire to pull out and drop back on the handlebars. Notice how far back the pads are. The goal is to have a 90-110 degree arm bend between fore-arms and upper arm for long term comfort. The Profile CG allow me to pull the pads way back so I can achieve this position.
Compared to the following positions, its clear I am alot more upright than these experienced ultra riders. Going to keep working on dialing it in, but I finally feel like I am turning the corner.
Great Aero Position: Kevin McNulty 2006 508
Great Aero 2
Monica Scholz Nice Aero
Cat Berge
I did not realize this until today, but Pete Penseyres invented aerobars and used them for his still standing RAAM record in 1986: Pete's Position. It is interesting to realize that aerobars originated in the ultracycling world as now, the only real good information is for Triathletes. There is sparse info available on good aero positions for ultracycling. Based on dealing with "experts" in the past on bike setup, I can tell you the best way to find your ideal position is to study and try various positions in the field until you finally find something that works.
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