Getting aero - how riding position affects cyclists 

You forgot the superman position

During a custom roadbike fitting I was told that in seeking an aero position it is easy to lose breathing efficiency, and when that occurs the reduction in drag is offset, at least in part, by a loss of rider power output. It was the frame designer's expert opinion that a point is reached where a lower position doesn't increase speed, it just loses comfort.

Great video, can't wait for more!

Great timing for a video about cycling

Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics! New content! I'll be patiently waiting for your next upload.

I am impressed how much you fit into so little time! :-)

Great clip as always Nicole. I was doing this last Friday on my 125cc motorbike. Top speed on a flat freeway is 85kms/h in an upright riding position but I could hold 90kms/h in a tuck courtesy of the V in the drag equation. I wasn't wondering about drag at the time but now I have a good understanding of what's going on. Either way, I'm still basically a moving road block on a freeway with a speed limit of 110kms/h.

This was so great! Made me nostalgic for our molasses shoot...imagine if we'd done that one til 1am XD

great vid thanks

I wish you tested the difference between Aero TT helmet vs road helmet, thanks for posting this btw.

Would have been interesting to also mention temperature, humidity, barometric pressure as factors having an effect on air density - in addition to altitude as you mentioned. I think these variables can be significant in a time trial.

Higher altitude is inversely proportional D or drag. This is to say, as partial pressure of oxygen (air density) decreases as altitude increases-- so a cyclist rides through the air more easily as altitude increases.

I live in the city, usually small box trucks leave a reliable drag. hatchbacks too. SUVS not so much and drafting Sedans, depends on how big the car is

I'm used to forget to comment something, but since I do science videos too and I miss some more comments well, here it is. I love your channel, showing the equations it's important, I think, and I do that on my videos I got, wich, partialy, I got from you.

I would love to see an update concerning bicycling hardware and drag, including the frame, wheels, aero bars, and accessories (particularly frame-mounted vs. behind-the-seat bike bottle storage). Ideally, repeat with and without the rider. Helmets may need a separate video. My concern that much of the "drag reduction" discussed by bike, wheel and accessory manufacturers is little more than hot air, and makes little or no difference in the "real world" of amateur/hobby cycling and racing. I believe that over 95% of all possible drag reduction is accomplished simply by optimizing the ride position. And a non-optimal ride position will see negligible benefit from thousands of dollars worth of drag-reduction hardware and accessories. Of course, using quality bearings, tires, tubes and proper inflation pressures are also key factors in overall cycling efficiency, but are more difficult and complex to properly evaluate. My heuristic when working with beginner triathletes is to first get a good aero bike fit, next reduce rolling resistance, and only then buy "toys" to meet any emotional needs (the Placebo Effect is very real). I recently gave a premium tube to a friend who flatted on a ride, and he was immediately able to feel a difference in both ride comfort and pedal effort. But that's only an anecdote, not data. Nothing beats real data, especially if it is organized and presented by FYFD!

How much difference would a handle bar fairing make?

I wonder how much better you could visualize that coming thru smoke if you'd separate layers by using different color light by creating such planes like in simulation.

So if you had a slim item like a fin placed behind the saddle running down the seat tube. Not over the wheel like a tt aero tool box. The blue zone would be further back from the cyclist and the drag force slightly small. Making faster.

How much drag for the spokes?

What's about recumbent bikes?

nice

I have a question as I'm not engineering/physics savvy. Is there ever a case where one would want downforce on a bike? For instance, for high speed descents, sprinting, or cornering? Hoping someone could answer this question. I'm thinking about 3D printing some stuff to play around with.

Brett’s passage

Lookout Mountain!

can i ask permission to use this video as my story?.....

How to ride aero

So I just better get an electric bike rather than a road bike to battle wind? 🙂

Понятно

When a cyclist is just in the slipstream of another rider, shouldn't the first one bear a stronger drag due to the conservation of enegy principle?

You need take a coarse or already know how to use another brand of CDF to us sim scale. if you are completely new to CDF world. Then there is no way to learn it form of the web. The existing tutorials are to help CFD pro make the transition sim scale.

Why no recumbents and fairings? Why not explain that?

2:31 is it a he or she or they or wtf is this ? 2 aero fairings on his chest or what?

Awful voice over just stopped watching, after stopping listening