It looks way too "green goblin" for me ... especially when Floyd was in Phonak kit.

In all honesty, I find that keeping my arms level to the ground, or even slightly tipped town, is the most comfortable for me. After five hours almost entirely in aero, I'm still happy as a clam. It's all about the S-bends, baby.

For a short TT or Sprint tri -- maaaybeee, but for a long race like a HIM and IM, I would think the tilt in the arm pads would cause the rider to need to use more upper body to stabilize -- I tried a little lean and hated feeling like my elbows were slipping into my knees. It caused me to tense my upper body.

My objective is total relaxation in the front with the best aero position possible. I want all my energy going to the legs....

BTW -- I tend to shift forward a little when I dig in, but the saddle was crawling up the "hole" a little too much for me -- gives me the willies.

How much is arm position up and down really going to effect things? I can understand width, but you need to make sure you can breath well. My fit guy said that some folks are going away from the wrist down position for the older wrists up as ultimately where your hands are isn't going to effect the fact that your body will be catching all the wind.... of course this is one's opinion.

I say, the most aero position you can ride that is comfortable and does not tax your upper body wins. A little drag with more energy seems to be more important that less drag but fatigue.

The most efficient position (aerodynamically) is hands parallel to the group or tilted up (a la: floyd/levi). Hands pointing down is an aerodynamic no-no.

Frontal area is important here, that's why hands down is bad; it increases your frontal area.

To continue, like someone already stated, the hands-up position will not be best for everyone. We could go round and round all day long but when it comes down to it, every one is built differently and so some positions will work and some won't.

But, if it matters, I have a mini-mantis set up right now. Since I just had knee surgery I haven't actually tried it out.....I sat on the bike in the new setup and it started to hurt my shoulders, but since it's a new position I might have to give it a while to see if I can adjust.

Landis didn't ride like that because it's aerodynamic. He needed to open up his hip angle so he could pedal on that deteriorated joint, so he moved the bars farther forward. If you look at the picture, you'll see that his elbows are WAY far forward, which let his hips stay more open (less pain). I think it was UCI ruling that said aerobars can only go so far in front of the bike, which is why they had to angle them up, bringing the end of the bars closer to the bike. Unless you're trying to finish out the season before getting reconstructive hip surgery like Landis, the position isn't for you. If you want to flatten your back, just drop your handlebars lower. Take out the spacers and flip the stem so that it's flat (I don't even know why some people build bikes up with the stems pointing up anyway....it's an awful position for anyone who races.) If that's still too high, you can buy stems that actually angle down, too.

Maybe I could ride bars low...if I was 21 and as flexible as I used to be. There are alot of us out here who ride with stems up because we just don't have the flexibility we used to...and actually it's not a bad position to race in...the best position to race in is the one that's most comfortable and in which you are still able to produce a good watt output. Your position on the bike is as individual as...well...you. There is no cookie cutter method that everyone should ride in...go to a good fitter and they will work the position around you and your limiters...if they try to shove you into a pre-determined position they could be doing you a dis-service.