5 ms·

> while the bike is part of the equation most of the drag comes from the rider's body So the real solution is to mod the rider?

InCityDreams 3y ago
...hence aero helmets, socks, leg shaving....so, yes.
- nottorp 3y ago
  Oh I was more thinking of surgical modding. Guess leg shaving is the first step :)
scott_w 3y ago
The biggest gain of TT/Triathlon bikes is moving your position from an upright seated position to a lower and narrower position, so "modding" the rider ;-) After that, skinsuits, helmets and overshoes are usually the best bang-for-your-buck (in no particular order) in terms of aero gains.
zh3 3y ago
To a large extent, yes. Head position (varies with helmet), back curve, hand and arm positions etc. We measure the number of watts saved by various combinations of rider position/rider equipment (helmets/skinsuits etc) in real time and pop the number up on the on-bike screen in real time. Currently moving to doing this out on the road (following validation on indoor velodromes and wind tunnels), kind of fun being able to see this position saves 10 watts, that one saves 15 watts but is too uncomfortable to hold for long etc.
prmoustache 3y ago
There are been a lot of fuss about that in the UK time trial scene with rider mounting 3d printed parts behind their arms and calves to lower their drag.
- zh3 3y ago
  It's a great time for experimentation (outside the UCI straitjacket) to see what works; there's scope for lone inventors (harking back to Obree) to figure out what works, perhaps not so equally there are people designing stuff on intuition ("looks fast") but unable to practically measure the difference. Sounds like you're up on this, stuff like VE, Chung, DFDM etc as ways to meaningfully measure the effect of the many ways to improve bike aero.
onlypassingthru 3y ago
I love blowing past other riders who have spent ridiculous sums on their bikes optimizing for weight with carbon and titanium setups when they could have had better performance by just eating better and losing a few more pounds. Beyond a minimal threshold, it's not the machine, it's the motor that counts.
- brianwawok 3y ago
  And someone who rides professionally would blow past you on a rusty huffy. And someome who rides professionally AND is on a proper well fit TT bike will blow past all of you.
  - sverona 3y ago
    Sure, somebody did 28mph on a dollar store bike in a recent Ironman. I don't think this is an arguable point.
mrgoldenbrown 3y ago
Yes but there are lots of rules about that too, and lots of workarounds to those rules, of varying ethical dubiousness.

InCityDreams 3y ago

...hence aero helmets, socks, leg shaving....so, yes.

nottorp 3y ago
Oh I was more thinking of surgical modding. Guess leg shaving is the first step :)

scott_w 3y ago

The biggest gain of TT/Triathlon bikes is moving your position from an upright seated position to a lower and narrower position, so "modding" the rider ;-) After that, skinsuits, helmets and overshoes are usually the best bang-for-your-buck (in no particular order) in terms of aero gains.

zh3 3y ago

To a large extent, yes. Head position (varies with helmet), back curve, hand and arm positions etc. We measure the number of watts saved by various combinations of rider position/rider equipment (helmets/skinsuits etc) in real time and pop the number up on the on-bike screen in real time. Currently moving to doing this out on the road (following validation on indoor velodromes and wind tunnels), kind of fun being able to see this position saves 10 watts, that one saves 15 watts but is too uncomfortable to hold for long etc.

prmoustache 3y ago

There are been a lot of fuss about that in the UK time trial scene with rider mounting 3d printed parts behind their arms and calves to lower their drag.

zh3 3y ago
It's a great time for experimentation (outside the UCI straitjacket) to see what works; there's scope for lone inventors (harking back to Obree) to figure out what works, perhaps not so equally there are people designing stuff on intuition ("looks fast") but unable to practically measure the difference. Sounds like you're up on this, stuff like VE, Chung, DFDM etc as ways to meaningfully measure the effect of the many ways to improve bike aero.

onlypassingthru 3y ago

I love blowing past other riders who have spent ridiculous sums on their bikes optimizing for weight with carbon and titanium setups when they could have had better performance by just eating better and losing a few more pounds. Beyond a minimal threshold, it's not the machine, it's the motor that counts.

brianwawok 3y ago
And someone who rides professionally would blow past you on a rusty huffy. And someome who rides professionally AND is on a proper well fit TT bike will blow past all of you.
- sverona 3y ago
  Sure, somebody did 28mph on a dollar store bike in a recent Ironman. I don't think this is an arguable point.

mrgoldenbrown 3y ago

Yes but there are lots of rules about that too, and lots of workarounds to those rules, of varying ethical dubiousness.