Arm angle?

[Winded Lowrider]

After my ride sunday to test the new Thor seat... man-o-man my biceps are screaming at me! This is new (After about 900 miles learning to ride the V20). Probably because I have not ridden for a couple months, but it got me thinking about "optimal arm bend". My arms are more bent than on my low racer . The V20 cockpit area seems a bit cramped to me. Has anyone experimented with nearly straight arms?

Note: this is an old photo(with stock seat)

 

[Lief]

@Winded Lowrider - I ran nearly straight arms in the build-up to my WA crossing race (a goal was extreme aerodynamics) and after 10's of thousands of miles on the platform it REALLY hurt the inside of my elbows.
I didn't play around too much with pivoting the arm placement because again - aero - I didn't want anything sticking down (or up).

What I ended up with was something more obtuse that what you show there, on a straight dropbar, with the hoods out straight in front.
That gave me two positions - arms straight (actually angled up towards the sky from the shoulder just a bit) and "relaxed" on the hoods + slight bend with forearms parallel to the ground in the drops for power and braking/handling/etc.

worked very well for me.

 

[hutchtx]

@Winded Lowrider - You have a similar body type to me. I ride with arms out a bit more than you show in the pic. I have mine set so there is a slight bend but I am still able to lock (or "brace for impact") without changing seating position. Regarding biceps pain, when I first started on my V20, I had the same issue. I eventually figured out that a part of root cause was that I was too tense. Relax the grip on the bars, etc. It makes a big difference.

--Dave

 

[RojoRacing]

for now don't worry about your elbow angle as much as getting your wrists strait because that holding your bars like a screwdriver is going to wear out your biceps faster. try rotating your handlebars back like 30 degs and see how that feels. All that and don't forget you relax you arms and hands which if your still within the first year can still be something to improve on.