In the last few years research in aerodynamics has come to a higher level. This can be seen in several domains. For example in the automobile sector where more standard cars ar equipped with a small sportive spoiler at the back and subtile front and rear diffuser. When riding on a highway and paying attention to the small spoiler at the back of the car you will notice that already several standard cars have this aerodynamic improvement (fig 1).
There are also several other industries were aerodynamics has become of great importance, the modern racebike industry for example. Where aerodynamics is one of the several aspects in development concerning cars, aerodynamics has become one of the major topics in improving modern race bikes. One thing I already mentioned in my preveous blog.
But along with this aerodynamic research a lot of rumors and scientific misunderstandigs are spread into the world of the amateuristic cyclists. For example the introduction of high rimmed 80mm aerowheels a few years ago. Most of the professional cycling teams rode with them. This led to the fact that those wheels were bought massivly by the amateuristic rider. But a few months later we already so that there were almost no riders in the peloton anymore who rode with the high aerowheels. This because of the fact that the aerodynamic gain of the wheels is less compared with the weight difference you can get with lower rims of 40mm/32mm. As a matter of fact the wheels have there advantages but only having their full potential when speeds higher then 40km/h are reached, which is quite optimistic for an amateur rider to reach constant speeds like this.
On the other side according to the following table:
We see that the aero helmet can even gain a higher reduction of the drag then aerowheels and cost you 10 times less. But still those things are bought by the amateuristic rider. Offcourse the peloton is the best promo for bike manufacturers and part suppliers. But shouldn’t the manufacturers give more information about the purpose, advantages and disadvantages of their products? For example, if we look to Paris-Roubaix a few years ago most of the riders rode with these high aero wheels made out of carbon. Riding with super lightweight aerowheels made out of carbon on some of the worst cobblestones in the world? No, those wheels will maybe last for one ride, but are definitely aren’t made fort his purpose. But still amatueristic riders think those wheels are good for these circumstances with the result that a lot of these wheels just crack which leads to waste.
I think the amateuristic rider should be more informed about the performance of bike equipment available to them.
What do you think? Should marketing be more honest about the technical part of their product?