Ignorance as to the magnitude of the effects?

Or...possibly choosing "style" over all-out speed? (see MTB downhill clothing requirements, or typical Boarder Cross outfits)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I was joking w/ the Mrs that all the top dudes in the downhill the other night looked like they just woke up from a long weekend bender w/ several days worth of scrubble on their faces. How many 1/100ths is a simple shave worth?

On on the flip side, take a look at how the luge and speed skating athletes get the importance of aero.

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Suffer Well.

I don't think they are ignorant on the aero benefits/penalties involved. The GS and Slalom events are more technical and carrying speed is somewhat secondary to turning around the gates and staying on course. The winners are the ones that lose the least speed turning around the gates.

The equipment choices for the downhill or super-g should show more more focus on aero. Though even with aero being more important for the higher speed downhill and super-g events they have to negotiate gates and jumps which end up forcing skiers out of their tuck. The difference between holding a tuck and not tucked is orders of magnitude larger than the aero details.

This. They can all go plenty fast enough to win. It’s how fast can you go without eating it. Cranking up the speed between gates doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll go faster if you hit the turn or jumps too fast.

I've often wondered why the long track skaters don't wear aero helmets. I assume they've tested it and found it's slower than the head covered in lycra.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Because it would mess up all of the manbuns...

That’d be my guess or there is a rule against certain types of helmets. I don’t know speed skating that well although I wish we had a closer rink than Colorado Springs I’d definitely do it.

The British don't have a ski team. Once one of the teams starts the aero arms race and wins a couple of downhill event, it will be all over.

The funny thing is the bent ski poles for the downhill are an early aero advantage that supposedly was developed in the WT. If the story I heard was correct, it was done in the late 60s/early 70s at one of the Colorado Stsate University WTs. I ride ride by the facility about twice a week.

Former ski racer here...

There are regulations on the speed suit and there has to be an allotment of wind that is allowed through the suit, i.e. they cannot be windproof. If you really want to get into it...see page 7.

http://www.fis-ski.com/...16_clean_English.pdf

Yes, races are decided by fractions of seconds, but in the technical events, the speed is low enough that the aerodynamic advantage isn't as advantageous as executing a turn well or generating speed between the gates and then handling the acceleration and carving a clean turn.

As for the speed events, the same can be said about executing turns, and also wax choice/ski preparation for the conditions, running a flat ski to gain speed on the flats, positioning in the air, tucking where possible without sacrificing turn quality, etc.

Truth is - ski racing is a series of linked recoveries. Everyone is right on the edge the whole time and holding on for dear life. If they aren't doing this, they aren't fast. Once someone can have a "perfect" run, then facial hair and ponytails might have an impact.