Aero shoes (seems lace ups might be faster), aero pedals (speedplay and low stack shoes lowers overall saddle height and is a bit more aero overall), aero rotors (might have to get some custom made but there are small gains there) and shorter cranks are all options but marginal gains for sure.
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Smaller crank arms would allow a better cda. I have discussed this with the fitter, and might be on the agenda, would also lower pedal strikes in crits
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Shorter cranks - how so? That would mean you raise your seat post (and body) an equivalent number of mm higher to maintain fit. I guess there is slightly more room for air to go underneath you now, but on the whole I imagine the complete system is worse off on cda. That said, I canât say Iâve ever heard of any testing here.
It makes it easier to stay in the aero positions by rotating the hips most of the time your moved forward also
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AS @ABG noted, it allows you to rotate your hips further forward, which lowers your front. This has to do with opening your hip angle. Combine it with a snub-nosed saddle for even greater aero gains.
there is a LOT of data out there on the topicâŚheck, in the tri community, this has been established for over a decade and verified through testing.
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Something interesting, yesterday I passed in a âperformance segmentâ that I have. Put almost the same power as my PB - 329 against 331. But it was 29 seconds slower. Same bike, Iâm +/- same weight. The fastest time mightâve been with a tailwind, and yesterday was a bit headwind. Both rides alone.
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Note that this is air speed, not necessarily ground speed. A 5-10 mph wind while riding at 15 mph is a big deal
ETA a link to a Silca blog that touches on this.
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Ahh- air speed! Thank you refreshing my memory! Great point.
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Absolutely, the slower you are, the longer you are out in that wind.
Not necessarily. No particular reason you have to maintain the same knee angle at the bottom of the pedal stroke (which is what youâre doing by raising the saddle). Better to maintain the same hip angle at the top of the pedal stroke (assuming this wasnât an issue and you can put out good power with that hip angle), which means dropping the seat post instead. That has the effect of reducing your vertical profile - your butt and back are lower (and should be able to drop the front end a little as well) plus feet at the bottom of the pedal stroke are higher. There are tested aero gains from doing that, which makes sense as youâre pushing a smaller hole through the air.
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I agree I hate this. 20 degrees of yaw at 25 mph with an 80mm front wheel isnât even ridable for most in the bars. My ttâs are almost never >5 degrees yaw so like who cares about drag at 20?
However I do love my little kid road bars at 32cm. Looks ridiculous on the xl size bike.
Joe
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Hey Joe, come out here and ride with the 20 somethings⌠at 30mph and big yaw. But hey, they all have 40-60mm deep mid-aero wheels. So I guess you made your point?
Really? It sounds terrifying!
Joe
Sorry just re-read your earlier postâŚ
Yes, in the bars it would be! Thats why they do it âMerckx classâ and not in the bars!
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