TTFitBike Session with Alex McDonald

Our friend and pro triathlete Alex McDonald stopped by the TriFitLab today to do a little position optimization on the TTFitBike. We have worked with Alex on his position before, but he is set to get a new bike this year, and he was very interested to try out the FitBike prototype. After checking out his baseline position and setting up the FitBike to match it, we warmed him up and ran him through some sub threshold intervals while we changed various fit parameters. In the latter half we blinded him as much as possible and randomized changes to seat height, drop, and seat angle independently (while he was riding at sub threshold) while asking him which changes he liked better. He wasn’t always aware of exactly what we were changing, and instead was focused on maintaining power and paying attention to his perceived effort.

The net result is shown in the picture below. We ended up about a cm higher on the saddle and about 3 cm lower in front. Alex felt more comfortable in the lower position, and it is fairly obvious that it should have some aero benefits from frontal area reduction and head position. He will have to use a negative stem to match this position on his trainer Trek TTX. Although I expected him to prefer a steeper seat angle in the lower position, he preferred his usual seat angle, which is not unexpected. We’ll see as he spends some time in this position if he ends up steeper. Check out Alex’s comments HERE