- How do you fancy being faster on the bike
for no extra effort?
It sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, it's not, it's called free speed.
We're saving watts
and today we're joined by professional triathlete
Bart Aernouts who's gonna show us
how to get into a better position on our bike to save watts.
So thanks for joining us Bart.
- Happy to help, guys.
- So here are Bart's bike position tips.
(upbeat music)
- Okay Bart, let's get this started then.
I want to get into a nice aero position
but what about the bike?
The size, the setup, where do I start?
- I think the most important thing
is a bike fit, first of all, before you wanna buy a bike.
I think get a proper bike fit.
Saves you a lot of extra costs, you know,
to get the right bike frame.
- Have you ended up switching around
frame sizes over the years?
- Yeah, so with the new BMC bike
I changed from medium-short to medium-long.
- [Interviewer] Okay.
- [Bart] Just to have it a bit more stable.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- [Bart] So the bike is the same height but then longer.
- So that's an important thing then
that you're comfortable on the bike
not just aggressive and aerodynamic.
- [Bart] Yeah, for me, you know,
if you're in aero position you also want to be stable
and then I'm a bit more with the longer frame
I'm a bit more stable.
I can have the same position on the bike
but the bats are a bit different
and I'm not too much in front of the, you know,
not with all the weight in front of the bike.
So I just took a longer frame for the stability
and I think in general a proper bike fit
to be comfortable on the bike and on the right bike.
- Okay, Bart, so talk to me about the front end
and your setup with the bars.
- Yeah, I think the front end they used to go really low
and really aggressive but it's really important
that you're comfortable and that you can stay
as much as possible in the aero position.
So I wouldn't go too low and just--
- Not like me then. (laughs)
- (laughs) Yeah, I mean, if you can hold it but--
- I thought it was what you were meant to do. Okay.
So you've gone a little bit higher now, then?
- Yeah. - Okay.
- To be more comfortable
and I think it's also quite important
that you can be low enough with the head.
- Okay.
- So it's better to go a bit higher with the bars.
- Right. - But lower with the head.
- Okay.
So really tuck that in and smooth out.
- Yeah, tuck it in, yeah, yeah.
And you make sure you can still see what's coming up.
- Okay.
- Try to stay quite low with the head, yeah, that's--
- And what about the extensions, the poles?
- I like the ski bends. - Yeah?
- For me it's more relaxed in the shoulders.
- Okay.
- So it's the same thing again, you know,
it's a lot about comfort so you need to be able to hold it
like for four, five hours in a row,
even longer for some people,
so make sure it's as relaxed and comfortable as possible.
I like the ski bend but it's really personal.
- And how far apart should we go with the arm rests,
like the elbow rests?
- I tested different setups and same thing again,
you know, make sure you're still comfortable,
that you can still breath.
- Yeah.
- So I don't like it really tight.
It's also less, I mean, a bit unstable.
- Okay.
- So, the wider you go the more stable.
And what I found really important
is that the arms are straight,
not, like, angled, but straight.
- Okay.
- So, if you like it a bit wider
you can go wider with the the hold bars.
- With the extensions, as well.
That's really interesting. Okay.
So you just touched on head position
when we're in aero bars.
How important is that then?
- Yeah, I think it's really important, the head, you know,
it's about frontal area drag and you can be nice and aero
but if you're with the head up it doesn't make sense at all.
- Yeah.
- I think that's why I say it's better
to go a bit higher in front and then tuck the head
because then you're a lot lower and less frontal area.
- And I have a helmet on now but I mean, yeah,
I mean, without a helmet you can even make it better.
- So, give me some tips here.
So if I'm trying to get my head down, what do I do?
Do I, sort of, drop through the shoulder blades, or?
- Yeah, drop, I mean, relax the neck a bit
instead of sticking it out and looking to the front.
You don't need to look up that much.
Just try to relax the head and the neck, you know?
In between the shoulders.
Just comfortable, you know, it shouldn't be--
- Just relax. - Yeah, nice relaxed.
- Okay. That's quite interesting.
- At least this way you can hold it.
And then look a little bit to the front
and, yeah, just try to stay like that for as long as--
- And I keep my mouth wide open if I'm like this.
(laughing)
- Yeah, nice relaxed head, looking down a little bit
and, yeah, go for it.
(techno music)
- Okay, so something triathletes talk about quite a lot,
the saddle position.
What's your thoughts on it?
- Yeah, I think in triathlon we don't have limits
or rules on the saddle position,
so we can go as far to the front as we want,
move it as far to the front or whatever you want, you know?
- I guess there are some benefits to that, right?
So you can get into a more aggressive position, maybe,
and I think it opens up the hips a bit for the run.
- [Bart] Yeah.
- [Interviewer] But what's your thoughts on it?
- Yeah, so, you know,
you always move to the front of the saddle
and I think if you move the saddle a bit more to the front
you can, maybe, stay on the right position
on the saddle, you know?
That you don't move, you know, the cyclists,
the time trialists, they move to the front of the saddle
because they have the limits
but we can just move the saddle.
Makes it a bit more comfortable.
So I moved a bit to the front as well, the last years
just to be really comfortable,
and, I mean, I'm not sure if it helped my running
but it just feels more natural and I have some nice grip.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, I've noticed this, yeah.
Holds you on there.
- [Bart] Yeah, it holds you on the right position, yeah.
- But is there a limits, like, can you go too far?
- I think you can.
For me, what I feel personally,
if I move the saddle too much to the front,
the handling of the bike, especially on the downhills is,
well, I don't like it that much,
especially downhill, yeah, you don't have--
- Which we get a lot of in triathlon,
we don't just have hand flat 50 mile, 25 mile
time trial courses, we've got up, downs, corners.
- Up, downs, yeah, turns,
so I think the bike handles a lot better if you, yeah,
don't move the saddle too much to the front
or move the body backwards on the saddle.
That helps a bit as well so if you go downhill,
move the weight more to the back, you have a,
you're a lot more stable
and you have better feeling on the bike.
So, I think to finish it off,
overall it's really nice if you have the perfect position
but it's all about, yeah, holding this position
as long as possible in the race, you know,
be as aero as possible all the time.
- So, not like, getting up, out, moving around.
- Yeah, don't move around on the bike,
you know, try to be really stable,
comfortable and stay in the position.
- Alright.
- Not going up, down, you know, like moving a lot.
If you can't hold the position
then try to pick another position that you can hold
and be stable in for as much as possible.
- So there we go.
If you'd like to go faster on the bike for no extra effort
listen to this guy, 'cause he certainly knows a thing or two
about riding his bike.
Thanks for joining us, Bart.
Great to have you. - Glad to help.
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