*Tour Aero Bike Tests*

[cleanneon98]

I don't want to diminish what Tour is doing because it's really the only objective data we have, but I don't think condensing things into one drag number really tells the whole story and it's very easy to fall into the trap of "this bike has a lower number so it must be better" or "well this all rounder is only _w slower than the full aero bike so full aero bikes aren't worth it." So on one hand I'm grateful that Tour does what they do but it's also very easy for someone who doesn't know very much to oversimplify that one number as some kind of absolute. Think about bike weight, everyone can agree that if you take two different 7kg bikes they're likely going to feel different even when it comes just to straight line acceleration and responsiveness so I don't get why people are always quoting these Tour numbers as gospel (Dave Arthur throwing them around without context doesn't help)

It also depends how you're riding, if you do a lot of solo rides and aren't climbing steep stuff for most of the day then the aero bike probably suits you better, makes less of a difference if you're spending 3 hours in a pack and only taking a few turns on the front you don't stand to gain much. Are you riding fast and mostly seated? Then the weight advantages of the all-rounders may not be a big selling point just like they aren't for me. Are you climbing at 8mph or at 15mph? That also matters for where aero advantages taper off in favor of weight

And of course some of this is down to the wheels but performance in windy conditions is also a factor between frames, sure Tour factors in pure aero drag across various angles but something like stability in crosswinds or gusts is not measured or reflected by that single digit number Tour gives. And this isn't even getting into their stiffness tests where again people will assume more = better but at some point stiffness will lead to harshness

[Jz91]

Can anyone with access to this kindly post at least the high level results?

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/wi ... d-to-head/

[Co0kieMonster]

Can anyone with access to this kindly post at least the high level results?

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/wi ... d-to-head/

Darn, another aero test without the Factor Ostro. Almost seems as if Factor was avoiding every aero test.

[scapewalker]

You can usually bypass their paywall by using your deleting cookies and accessing the page via an incognito browser.

Very interesting results. SL8 beats all the aero bikes when measured with a rider

[toxin]

I looked at the article with reader mode. It was messy and a but confusing but i think the ranking goes like this, best to worst:

1.ostro V2
2.Foil
3.S5
4.Aeroad
5.Supersix
6.Dogma F
7.SL8
8.RCR
9.New Madone
10.Propel
11.795 blade


1 Was a step above, 2-5 withing margin of error, 6-7 a bit under, 9-10 close, 11 by far the worst.

[alanyu]

Can't read that report which is subscriber exclusive.

What's their protocal?
Wheels and tyres are different from the picture. W/ or w/o (aero) bottles? Bar width/stem length? etc....

[Jz91]

Another proof it seems that aerodynamic, in particular when accounting for the rider, has evolved and moved away from big tubes though they might still "look" more aero...thanks

[scapewalker]

Can't read that report which is subscriber exclusive.

What's their protocal?
Wheels and tyres are different from the picture. W/ or w/o (aero) bottles? Bar width/stem length? etc....

If applicable aero bottles where used. I believe they used them for the Supersix, Madone and aero cages for the Propel.
Handlebars are all stock.

[DreadRat]

You can usually bypass their paywall by using your deleting cookies and accessing the page via an incognito browser.

Very interesting results. SL8 beats all the aero bikes when measured with a rider

All bikes within about 4w of each other, with the exeption of the Look Blade. I can't access the article, so I don't know if they used the same wheelset for all of them, the cover picture seems to indicate not. Seems alot of that could be down to wheelsets and tires, and handlebar width.

[HBike]

You can usually bypass their paywall by using your deleting cookies and accessing the page via an incognito browser.

Very interesting results. SL8 beats all the aero bikes when measured with a rider

Not quite, due to the margin of error. The uncertainty is large, so unless a result is clearly better or worse (no overlap of respective margins of error) a definite conclusion is not possible.

Shows for me, all the top bikes are great with a rider included.

[alanyu]

Can't read that report which is subscriber exclusive.

What's their protocal?
Wheels and tyres are different from the picture. W/ or w/o (aero) bottles? Bar width/stem length? etc....

If applicable aero bottles where used. I believe they used them for the Supersix, Madone and aero cages for the Propel.
Handlebars are all stock.

Handlebars are all stock. OK great, so they didn't keep the same rider position? The test result with rider is basically useless.

[Jz91]

You can usually bypass their paywall by using your deleting cookies and accessing the page via an incognito browser.

Very interesting results. SL8 beats all the aero bikes when measured with a rider

Not quite, due to the margin of error. The uncertainty is large, so unless a result is clearly better or worse (no overlap of respective margins of error) a definite conclusion is not possible.

Shows for me, all the top bikes are great with a rider included.

But also bears the question, why accepting a 3-400grams penalty for big tube frames?

Armchair engineers must be panicking
I'm also surprised anyway.

[HBike]

You can usually bypass their paywall by using your deleting cookies and accessing the page via an incognito browser.

Very interesting results. SL8 beats all the aero bikes when measured with a rider

Not quite, due to the margin of error. The uncertainty is large, so unless a result is clearly better or worse (no overlap of respective margins of error) a definite conclusion is not possible.

Shows for me, all the top bikes are great with a rider included.

But also bears the question, why accepting a 3-400grams penalty for big tube frames?

Armchair engineers must be panicking
I'm also surprised anyway.

Exactly. Shows the SL8 to be a great choice for example, since lightweight, too.

[ichobi]

If you use mac or iphone, use readermode to access the entire article. (But I do pay for the subscription).

Anyhow, that's probably the most comprehensive protocol I have seen to date in windtunnel testing, with almost all caveats accoutned for. For example, front tire is normalized across all bikes. No mount and computer were used. Hand positions corrected as best as possible even though bikes come with different width. Bikes that come with aero bottle, used aero bottle as intented. All bikes are in the same sizes. V4RS wasn't in the test as Colnago did not respond. Article was subsidized by subscriber money. Bikes were loaned from brands or borrowed.

Baseline is Trek Emonda ALR with box section rims.

The result kind of speak to how each companies operate. Specialized having unlimited time on their own tunnel, the result doesn't surprise given it's the fastest with rider on bike, although ranks not so well in the bike only test, but still can get to 3rd when margin of error is accounted for.

S5 is the king of zero yaw. no surprise here too. Ostro did as well as it claims in the marketing material. The fastest bike with no rider on.

The Look though is bad here. Worst on both rider on and bike only! Margin is not big so to speak from the fastest but if you pay the same money, why take the slower one? It's not a cheap bike by any stretch.

The completed bike for Ostro is especially light because they comes with a very very light pair of deep wheels from Blackinc. if you buy the frame only, the overall package will weight more if you don't ride sub 1300g wheels.

The way I see it, if the top end bikes cost around the same price, and are within 3-5w of each other, for me personally the lighest one wins. Which is the SL8. Actually if you go a tier down and get the 10r frame which weights around the same weight as other brand' flagships you get most of the aero benefit, none of the weight gain (but naturally weight more than the s-works), and slash half the price from most other brands offering. That's the godiock for me. Caveat is that it's good only if you like Specialized.

Having said that you won't be any slower on any other top 5-6 bikes in the test. It's going to weight a bit more though.

Here's what was done re the hand position

The handlebars fitted ranged from 38cm to 42cm, which meant my hands were in a slightly different position. Using the 'Edge' markings that Silverstone provides, I was able to roll my wrists inward or outward to standardise my riding position, and we were meticulous enough with our pre-test bike fit adjustments that I was able to offset the differences and hold myself in the baseline position well. We, and more importantly the team from SSE Hub, were satisfied that my body position was consistent across tests

[spartan]

4 watts diff with rider on protocol. all bike test with gp5000 str and oem wheelsets

notable information about testing protocol

We standardised as many variables as possible, including bike fit, bottles, front tyres and more

In addition, the following factors could affect the results:
The handlebars fitted ranged from 38cm to 42cm, which meant my hands were in a slightly different position. Using the 'Edge' markings that Silverstone provides, I was able to roll my wrists inward or outward to standardise my riding position, and we were meticulous enough with our pre-test bike fit adjustments that I was able to offset the differences and hold myself in the baseline position well. We, and more importantly the team from SSE Hub, were satisfied that my body position was consistent across tests.
The bike-only tests would also be affected by differing bar widths due to the increased surface area, but without the potential effect on the rider’s position. The effect is small when compared to the entire bike’s size and the drag coefficient of each constituent part hitting the wind (front on or downstream), but not insignificant.
Holding each bike in place was a set of stanchions. No adjustments are made to account for them, given they're the same for all bikes and we're interested in the differences rather than the absolute values. However, an extra plate was added in order to mount the Pinarello due to its blind drive-side dropouts, reducing our confidence in the dataset for

Conclusion
with rider on testing the diff in watts is 4 W (exclude Look) . negligible.

biggest winners is

Factor weight with cages/pedals within 50gm of SL8. fastest with bike only. they have been redeemed.
Specialized light and fast with rider on. unexpected.

biggest losers

Look getting bad reviews from protour team and now aero is just not good enough versus the competition
Giant - Propel could have been closer to the top IF only they spec it with integrated bars. what a dumb move.