First Time Aero Testing - Road race / crit

Racing
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I’m going to take a few days early spring to test a few different things on my road bike. Has anyone done a protocol that is quick comparison, do you bring your laptop out to testing site to upload and compare data? Chung vs. aerotune?

I’d also like to ask for a few thoughts on different things I can possibly test outside of what I’m listing:

Helmet - Currently using Abus Gamechanger. I am interested in POC Ventral Spin.

Skinsuit - using my club suit. Going to test zipper up vs lengths down (for hot weather)

Gloves - club gloves vs. no gloves

Wheels - just for funsies

Shoes - I am interested in Giro empire SLX. Will try with/without covers, sock variations etc. but I’m looking for an aero shoe that fits a wide foot. Any suggestions?

After equipment, going to test bike setups.

  • bottle Cage placements
  • stack height & fit sustainability (subjective)
  • and the “inward tilt” shifters with a few different hand positions.

Testing:
Does anyone have experience using aerotune vs. goldencheetah Chung method?

  • I plan to use aerotune for faster comparisons between variables. Jotting down notes between trials. But from my reading, Chung is tried and true. Maybe would be useful for more granular comparisons?
  • I’m not looking for specific CDA just… “which is better, this or that?”

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I just rode on a road that’s low traffic, high trees, very slight rolling hill and good road. Going to use that stretch.

Once testing protocol is solidified then I can have fun with TT testing later :grin:

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Just a suggestion, but you may want to limit what you are testing until you have your procedures down….you listed a whole lot of stuff you want to test. Focus on one aspect first, get the protocol down and then expand to other areas at a later time.

Also avoid chasing more than one variable at a time as that just confuses the issue and makes it hard to know what is actually working.

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Absolutely. That’s the plan, I’m limiting to one variable at a time, but there’s a lot I want to test. I have a strip of road, but before I go off and shoot from the hip with regards to analysis, I’ve never really used aerotune or goldencheetah. And if someone has a time efficient and accurate way to analyze data, any pointers are welcome :grin: