A Bike Position Evolves Over Time

Here's Output Speedlab co-founder Josh Sutton, back in December of this year, as we were giving things test runs and trying out our equipment. Not bad, right? Head's a little high, and let's get those hands a little higher, amirite? But totally acceptable. Josh is a man of, well, limited mobility/flexibility, and the position we moved to, below, may have ended up being a little too aggressive.

Yeah! Fast, right? Low head, high hands—just love this. Back is nice and flat, and pelvis is rotated nicely forward. Problem is that Josh has been having some real issues with glute/hamstring/low back pain in his races. Now, he's always had a bit of that, but the position had made things worse, not better, from a comfort perspective (aero as shit, right, but if you can't maintain it, then no good). Just as other co-founder Chris Bagg has done over the past few years, Josh lifted his front end a bit, ending up with a slightly more open hip angle:

53 degrees of hip angle, now, instead of the 51 before. Probably doesn't sound like a lot, but due to the nature of, well, math, that does end up being a lot when you measure all the way to the shoulders. Josh's hands have come up, too, from the first picture, which means he has more to plant against, now that he's a little more upright. Has he sacrificed some aerodynamics? Sure, but if he can't run (or even maintain the position) then it doesn't matter. This is the better position.

That's the reason our fits are guaranteed for 60 days at Output Speedlab. We want you to go out, ride the bike, kick the tires (figuratively), and see how the position feels. If it's not right, come back and we'll make it right. Remember, Comfort = Power = Speed.