53x12 wrote:Derf wrote:53x12--as the very guy harping on focusing on low yaw, you've got to be able to see that a downtube is going to be projecting an ellipse into a headwind. I mean, geometry an all? Sure, we can talk about all the other tubes on the bike, but at least the DT is going to sorta be elliptical.
I'm just saying reality works differently than we think it will by just looking at it and passing it through our "eye windtunnel." As I noted above with the kamm tail example, shapes behave very differently in reality than we might expect by just looking at them. I haven't seen any real windtunnel data (visual of what air does around and after the tubes) for a regular small diameter steel frame. Yes there is the Specialized test with Venge vs steel Allez, but that doesn't show you what the air is doing due to air flow interaction. Even a CFD would be fine.
Sure, and my point was that it's better than nothing. Probably not much better.
Then again, with enough used last-gen aero bikes (to whatever gain you get) on the market, I'd hope someone trying to budget-aero wouldn't be picking up a steel round tube bike for that purpose.