As we are all gearing up for the start of the time trial season, we take a look at how some of our clients from last year faired after coming to see us in the studio and wind tunnel.
First up is Matt Fisher, an experienced Age Group triathlete, having earned a spot on the Great Britain Age Group team four times since 2010 and, more recently, twice qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Matt describes himself as ‘an okay swimmer, a good cyclist and a hopeless runner’ – his words not ours!
As such, Matt likes to play to his strengths on the bike and ensure he puts out the best performances he can. He has made good progress on the bike in both triathlons and time trials in recent years. He came to Drag2Zero in Summer 2018 to really hone his position on his otherwise-stock 2017 Giant Trinity time trial bike (triathlon version).
Studio Fit
Matt visited us for a Studio Fit, which is essentially a 2-3 hour static bike fit where our qualified bike fitters use a variety of methods and tools to refine a rider’s position on the bike to achieve the best compromise between power output and aerodynamics. Our fitters can take into account the rider’s history, physical condition (flexibility, injuries) as well as their intended disciplines (longer-distance time trials can demand a different approach to shorter distances, as can the need to run after the bike leg!).
With Matt we wanted to focus on 10 to 50-mile time trials and up to half-ironman distance triathlons. Thanks to Matt’s experience in triathlons, we were able to get reasonably aggressive with the position, even if he’s something of a top-heavy rider with broad swimming shoulders!
During the session we changed a number of aspects of his position, taking him from a 50 deg ski bend bar to a combination of a 15-degree elbow pad angle and a 20-degree bar (a combined 35-degree). One thing we found with Matt was a pronounced oscillation in his right knee (probably due to a series of historic ACL injuries). To compensate for this, Matt had been fitted with custom footbeds in his shoes. When we removed the insoles, we actually found that Matt’s knee oscillation was less pronounced.
The results
Following the studio fit with Drag2Zero, Matt set not one, but five new PBs at 10 and 50-mile distances. He’s now a 20:xx 10-mile rider with his sights set firmly on becoming a 19:xx rider in 2019. We plan to help Matt achieve this with our own special-design chainrings as well as evaluating whether modifications such as adopting our new Aeroswitch helmet can help him further improve his position.
Matt’s view
“This is proof that what feel like fairly minor adjustments in position can make a significant difference in aerodynamics and thus competition times. Looking at the before and after photos from the Studio Fit, I have
been really conscious to replicate the “best run” position on the road. I can tell that making the changed the guys advised has made a big difference to my drag profile. I’ve found the aero tuck position comfortable up to 50 miles and my run times in triathlons have not been adversely affected by the more aggressive position. This year my focus is to build on the solid TT progress I made last year and target new PBs at 10, 25 and 50 miles and might try my first 100-mile race. I’ll be doing sprint triathlons and some aquabike events as well.”
We are really looking forward to tracking Matt’s continued progress this year and wish him all the best. If you are interested in coming to see us for a studio aerofit email us at info@drag2zero.com and we can let you know about availability.