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Quantum

May 1, 12 0:01

Post #1 of 13 (1499 views)
How much of an aero dog must I be... Quote | Reply
... to cycle at 350+ watts average and only average 25.1mph? Did a TT, and my properly calibrated power meter gave me these readings. Wasn't particularly windy, very flat course with minimal climb. Wasn't using my aero wheels, but was using a helmet/nonbaggy clothing. I'm a tall guy (6'7", 200), but still seems out of whack.


sesel

May 1, 12 1:03

Post #2 of 13 (1452 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
A picture tells a thousand words...

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jbank

May 1, 12 4:52

Post #3 of 13 (1274 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
As the other poster said, a picture might help, but I think your 6'7" size is so far off the normal charts that it makes it hard to ballpark whether that speed/watt is good or bad. I would think that aero wheels would give nice gains at 25+mph, especially if you put high end tires on them (were you using latex tubes and low Crr tires on your box rims for the quoted TT).


nickwhite

May 1, 12 4:53

Post #4 of 13 (1271 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Non-aero wheels, big guy. 25.1 sounds about right.

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RChung

May 1, 12 4:58

Post #5 of 13 (1260 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Flat road, calm air, 1000 watts/m^2 to go 40 km/h. If it took you 350 watts, your CdA ~ .35 m^2.
[Edit:] You dog you.





(This post was edited by RChung on May 1, 12 10:46)


Ex-cyclist

May 1, 12 5:33

Post #6 of 13 (1181 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [RChung] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
RChung wrote:
Flat road, calm air, 1000 watts/m^2 to go 40 km/h. If it took you 350 watts, your CdA ~ .35 m^2.
[Edit:] You dog you.

.35.. ouch!

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jbank

May 1, 12 5:37

Post #7 of 13 (1163 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [RChung] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Looking at http://www.cyclingpowermodels.com/...ingAerodynamics.aspx and using the little regression estimator, for 6'7"/200 lbs it thinks you should have a CdA of ~.27 m^2, so .35 m^2 would be pretty far off that and may qualify you for "dog" status (although the wheels might get some of that back for "free"). For comparison, the estimator thinks I should get .22m^2 for my size/weight and my aero field testing shows a number pretty close to that, but I'm presumably nicely in the middle of the data set in terms of size (5'10).

If you really care, you have a power meter, go do a little field testing and figure out your CdA that way. GoldenCheetah makes it pretty easy to get a ball park figure and there are folks on this board that would be happy to give tips on how to refine that if you want more accuracy (search for the platypus thread).


gtingley

May 1, 12 6:15

Post #8 of 13 (1092 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Quantum wrote:
... to cycle at 350+ watts average and only average 25.1mph? Did a TT, and my properly calibrated power meter gave me these readings. Wasn't particularly windy, very flat course with minimal climb. Wasn't using my aero wheels, but was using a helmet/nonbaggy clothing. I'm a tall guy (6'7", 200), but still seems out of whack.

You can always test your aerodynamics if you have a flat windless course using http://www.socalttseries.com/...erodynamic-drag.html


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jackmott

May 1, 12 6:22

Post #9 of 13 (1057 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
rough pavement or gatorskin tires could do that too =)

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styrrell

May 1, 12 6:30

Post #10 of 13 (1027 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
You really have no idea. It doesn't have to be very windy at all to make a difference. A minimal climb can make a decent difference depending on your definition. Non baggy clothing, vs a decent 1 piece skinsuit makes a big difference, aero wheels/decent tires, road surface, etc etc

Look at it this way you went 25.1, thats pretty decent and you have a lot of low hanging fruit to fix.
Styrrell


Quantum

May 7, 12 17:07

Post #11 of 13 (743 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Quantum wrote:
... to cycle at 350+ watts average and only average 25.1mph? Did a TT, and my properly calibrated power meter gave me these readings. Wasn't particularly windy, very flat course with minimal climb. Wasn't using my aero wheels, but was using a helmet/nonbaggy clothing. I'm a tall guy (6'7", 200), but still seems out of whack.

Updated with video...

http://youtu.be/HxScCp-jSfs


Steve Irwin

May 7, 12 17:15

Post #12 of 13 (711 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Quantum] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Your body and head positions look okay, but can you take a photo of the area around the bars so we can see what on earth all that stuff is that you have there? I'd try horizontal forearms to see if you go any faster for the same power, having them inclined killed my speed so badly when I tried it once that I didn't even need to aerolab it to know my CdA had gone through the roof, it was blindingly obvious from how slowly I was moving.


RChung

May 7, 12 17:25

Post #13 of 13 (693 views)
Re: How much of an aero dog must I be... [Steve Irwin] [In reply to] Quote | Reply
Steve Irwin wrote:
Your body and head positions look okay, but can you take a photo of the area around the bars so we can see what on earth all that stuff is that you have there? I'd try horizontal forearms to see if you go any faster for the same power, having them inclined killed my speed so badly when I tried it once that I didn't even need to aerolab it to know my CdA had gone through the roof, it was blindingly obvious from how slowly I was moving.
Also, head-on. Can't tell from side view how wide you are.

   
 
 
 
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