Yes, tested at A2, removing the FD had no measurable difference at 0 yaw. But

Quote:

At -7.5°, no FD resulted in exactly 2 watts less. Bike only, NP3, 30MPh, A2 tunnel, April 1st 2015.

I'm surprised that there was no difference at 0deg yaw
I could understand no gain when the wind was coming from the non drive side, but from head on you are removing a pretty un-aero shape from the wind's path.

It just goes to show that the eyeball is a poor wind tunnel.

Somewhere I read (maybe Cervelo) the FD was a big anchor causing as much drag as the whole downtube? Hopefully someone with a better memory will clarify the facts.

---

BoulderCyclingCoach.com

That is a correct statement (that's what Cervelo said iirc) but the trick is that the downtube contributes less drag than you'd think to the whole system

Hey Dave, I would say that the real advantage to a 1X system is that it's so much simpler and more convenient. Our team has been riding Sram 1X all year and love it. The fact that it is slightly lighter, and might be slightly faster, is icing on the cake! But yeah I'm sure Rapp would agree that convenience and functional simplicity are by far and the best aspects