Come on Alex!!!

I was very disappointed for him after his setback in February, but I think he's got what it takes to pip Rohan Dennis if he's near his best.

My first thought was, how boring photos of a rider in a wind tunnel have become!

I mean, if you're not into nit-picking their position/equipment choices or attempting to learn something that can be applied to yourself, there's really nothing of interest to see...at least blow some smoke over the rider, use some funky photographic techniques, etc., to create some visual interest.*

*I know, I know, the photographer was there to just document things, not create art, so I can't really blame them...sympathy would be a better description, as it has to be a boring assignment.

Any idea if it will be televised?

Grumpy pants!

I gather it will be, whether you have to pick up a stream or not I'm not sure. It might be on BBC red button for us in the UK, or Eurosport. I haven't looked into it properly as I'm heading over to watch in person, track centre which should be fun*. Actually I'm really looking forward to it, this guy has beaten Wiggins against the clock before and could set a decent mark.

* if your idea of fun is a man with an unchanging position pedalling as evenly as possible for 60 minutes on a fixed path..! ;-)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...it's just that the subject matter has been done-to-death, such that I've grown bored after looking at seemingly the same photos over and over again.

(BTW, I looked through that gallery and formed my opinion early this morning, and not in response to your post. IOW, I'm not dissing you for sharing the link, just venting a little.)

Dat helmet.
Seems so wrong to the eyeball
Hope eyeball is wrong.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Well, if nothing else it afforded me the opportunity to call one of our sports' eminent thinkers a name with the word "pants" in it, so for me it was worth it.

;-)

But really, I just posted that in as a little amuse-bouche to get the buds going and kick off a discussion about the attempt. The purpose of the thread was not purely to share these fascinating, ground breaking, and not ever before seen in the public domain images of great beauty and keen interest. But if I hadn't done that I wouldn't be sitting here now thinking - why have his disc wheels got green flashy bits on in some images, and not in others. They look like the same wheels for gods sake!!

Looks like he has the Chrono WT on in a couple of shots too, but yeah. Don't suppose he'd get away with whacking a Catlike sticker on an A2.

The longer-tailed Catlike actually looks decent, but probably won't ever look as "fitted" as Dennis' Selector.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Ok, what's up with the aero socks? Where can I get some?

I know he is a fast TTer, but he looks tall in the saddle and even taller in the bars. Helmets aren't impressing me either.

with regard to looking tall in the saddle ect,

arn't track bikes geometry "special" ie higher bottom bracket, and pedal lengths shorter. could be a compromise based on that.

Any idea how a shaved, bald head without a helmet fares aerodynamically? Is it better than even the best helmet, of somewhere in between a regular helmet and an aero helmet with a tail?

Aren't they using an adapted Speedmax TT? This seems to be the common thread among hour records -- the sponsor's top-flite TT bike with 120mm chainstays.

If you're on the racing line at speed, then pedal clearance is a moot point. Agreed on using a smaller crank length.

That said, tall-in-the saddle is more indicative of his knee angle than the absolute height. And there are a healthy number of spacers under those pads.

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The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock

with regard to looking tall in the saddle ect, arn't track bikes geometry "special" ie higher bottom bracket, and pedal lengths shorter. could be a compromise based on that.

I mean leg extension and drop from saddle to bars. Just one data point, but when I had a position like that, my CdA pretty much sucked.

When he set the competition record for 10 miles in the UK, he posted his file to Strava, but with power data removed. At the time, you could download files from Strava via SNAP, and someone had mentioned what he said his average power was at the TT, so I did a simple aerolabbing of the ride, just adding in a power field that was constant at the supposed average power. Obviously it's not perfect for determining CdA, but as far as it went, his CdA didn't suck, it indicated it may well be <0.19 in a wind tunnel based on comparisons with other riders on the same course with known wind tunnel CdAs.

That is certainly decent. Of course he wouldn't be a good TTer otherwise. It just looks like he might be able to gain a lot. I guess my eyeball deceives me.

So what exactly is wrong with Catlike?

edit: (ok, admit the "snubby" helmet is very ugly)

Bare head short hair is faster than a road helmet. Even a covered road helmet like the one Boardman wore for his Athletes Hour is less aero than short hair. I reckon short hair might be more aero than many aero helmets, so a bald head may well be faster than an aero helmet.

Helmet manufacturers won't want people to know how areo a bare head is and the Helmet Taliban will just pretend helmets are aero like they pretend they are protective in a crash at speeds over walking pace.

Someone like Steve Irvine or chaps who have been in a wind tunnel may have some data.


It probably depends on head size and the rest of the set up. The only aero helmet I tested was a Louis Garnau Rocket. It was slower than no helmet for me.

I once tested with and without a bobsleigh on my head. The bobsleigh was fared, you would expect it to have decent aerodynamics. But without was faster, go figure. Therefore I determine that short hair and no helmet is faster than the LG P-09.

Of course in the UCI general provisions 1.3.031 paragraph 1 it says that you have to wear a helmet on the track, so a bit of a moot point here in this discussion. Appreciate it if you could start another thread or find one of the many old ones if you want to discuss whether or not helmets add any safety, thanks for helping to keep this discussion on track (pun intended).

I wasn't looking to start a safety discussion but rather was just curious whether the riders of days past without helmets partly made up for their bikes lousy aerodynamics by going helmetless.

I know mate, sorry if you thought I was commenting on your post, it was aimed at Trev's. And it was a bit tongue in cheek! It is an interesting hypothetical question, for sure.

any predictions on distance then? It's only a few days away ....

I fancy him to beat 53km.

And in other news, Wiggo posted this on instagram the other day. If he could hold that pace for an hour that would be just over 55km..!! Assuming this is a teeny little bit above his hour power, it would still appear to bode well for his attempt.

https://instagram.com/p/15NBM8zL9-/

But back to Dowsett, yeah I reckon just beating 53km would be a very good day at the office. If I have to pick a number I'm going with 53.2km.