TOUR MAG AERO TEST 2016

[Franklin]

Here's something interesting to think about. You'd think pros would all know exactly what their bike weighs, right?

Wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMsgzD-JFQs

"What's the weight limit?"



No surprise there, racers generally don't know as much as we do about this stuff. They just ride their bikes.

[thumper88]

Trek Madone 9

I rode up to someone who was riding a red Madone with 808s today. Beautiful bike.

Then I passed him. Fitness trumps aero.

And of course, fitness AND aero trumps fitness.

[Dez33]

Trek Madone 9

I rode up to someone who was riding a red Madone with 808s today. Beautiful bike.

Then I passed him. Fitness trumps aero.

He was on a recovery day

[Kayrehn]

Trek Madone 9

I rode up to someone who was riding a red Madone with 808s today. Beautiful bike.

Then I passed him. Fitness trumps aero.

He was on a recovery day

Seems like aero bike riders ain't allowed to have recovery days around here...

[Marin]

I made a chart starting from 0 to get a feel how much an aero frame really helps, the truncated axes are always a bit misleading:

[kgt]

[AZK]

I made a chart starting from 0 to get a feel how much an aero frame really helps, the truncated axes are always a bit misleading:




aero.JPG

Granted the total gains of an aero bike are minute, and many 'non-pro' riders don't even ride at the speeds where the wattage savings are biggest.

But, If the GC table in Grand Tours were displayed in the same way as these graphs the top 10 would look identical after 3500km, let alone a relatively tiny 3 hour ride as per the TOUR Mag test

In reality however we know that a few seconds is a considerable gap and minutes are almost unbridgeable.

the zoomed in axis used by the TOUR tests show this quite well IMO.

[kgt]

What we also know is that all the 2016 Grand Tours were won on non aero bikes...

[BeeSeeBee]

Except for Froome's Pinarello of course; then yes, you are right, all of them

[Dez33]

I made a chart starting from 0 to get a feel how much an aero frame really helps, the truncated axes are always a bit misleading

aero.JPG

Aero bike, not just frame. Those figures you charted are for a complete bike off the showroom floor. If you had used the black bars you would have at least standardized for wheels

[Marin]

I hid the standardized wheels because I suspect the round tube frame wasn't using them. I'd be really interested how a round tube steel frame with Zipps and Aero handlebars would look in the above chart.

[kgt]

Except for Froome's Pinarello of course; then yes, you are right, all of them

Pics might help...:

[jekyll man]

yes we get your view KGT......

(and in every aero thread there is).

[kgt]

Thank you. I guess I am still free to express it.

[sawyer]

Froome's Pina is very explicitly an aero frame ... the aero R&D and performance is a core message of the marketing for the Dogma

From the Dogma page on Pina's site...

"Pinarello LAB, TEAM SKY and JAGUAR created a working group where everyone brought his decisive contribution.

Team SKY with feedback from its athletes, Jaguar the Aerodynamics concerns CFD and Wind Tunnel testing, Pinarello LAB for cycling part, structural study and design. This synergy brought to light the Dogma F8.

“DOGMA F8 achieves new significant numerical data, but more importantly, maintains the unique driving feeling, which made previous Pinarello Dogma bikes unbeatable. Whoever rides the new F8 DOGMA, will immediately perceive the extraordinary work done by our team, in creating a streamlined and aerodynamic bike without losing the typical characteristics of DOGMA: a powerful and responsive bike for every track. “

And likewise, NQ's Ultimate... the aero performance is a core message of the marketing for that frame too ... in fact it's the key differentiator vs the previous iteration

See how pronounced aerodynamic performance and design considerations are in the "Frame Highlights" section on Canyon's Ultimate page ...

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/ultim ... 0-ltd.html


Vs a round tube bike, both are aero frames ...

Nibali yes I'll give you that ... non-aero frame!

On more important matters, Nibali's shoes and socks look ridiculous. Looks like he's cycled to work, put on his work shoes and then realised he's forgotten dark socks for the day