SBRcanuck wrote:
Jim@EROsports wrote:
nightfend wrote:
Those Oakleys can't possibly test fast for anyone. lol
... so I would assume the shorter is faster for him, and the results I've seen so far would confirm that.....
The results, or the marketing? Honest question.
I just don't get how we go from, what, 15+ years of corporate wind tunnel testing telling us that tailed helmets like the javelin, advantage, etc are the fastest helmets, all the way back to now saying that a short round helmet with no tail, literally the complete opposite if what for years has been fed to us as the fastest helmet, is now testing the fastest for most people (and just happens to cost 500)....
Jim, when will the new bio-mimicry whale helmet be released by Oakley?
Anyway, I have no doubt that the pro's are using the Oakley 5 helmet because it tests faster for them. Has nothing to do with Oakley saying "Hey, we want you to wear this new $500 helmet for us".......
I'm speaking to the Aro 7, not the Aro 5. If you really want your mind blown, they developed this helmet with CFD alone...no aero testing during development. I believe Frodeno was the first to actually test it. The long tail was made for him by request. I have very limited numbers on it, but the short tail tested faster than the long for us and, as I understand it, others have found the same. Hence, I see no reason why they should make it.
I'll be interested to see how this performs for the general public when they begin using/testing it. I know our numbers are similar to others who have tested, but very few, and perhaps only two "age group" athletes have tested it. I don't know if I mentioned this in another thread, but one of our test riders is really an anomaly. Master's World Champ on the track, and one of my better test riders because he rides the velodrome so well and gives me consistent numbers run-after-run. The strange thing is, full aero helmets have never tested fast for him. I have no idea why, but they just haven't. For him, a Specialized Evade is always best. The Aro 7 was definitely faster when he tested. Go figure.
I believe I know why this helmet is working so well, and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with that that little nub at the tail. I have to keep that to myself, though, and it's only an opinion anyway.
Riders of Tony's stature typically have it in the contracts to ride whatever they find best for themselves. Hence, Bollema with an Aerohead, not a Aelous. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely pressure placed on the riders to use sponsored equipment, but some of the Pro Tour-level testing I do involves checking to see if certain sponsor's products are better or worse than anything else. If the athlete can show numbers a non-sponsored product is better, they can use it. I did that with a full bike last year. Equipment like helmets are not big money sponsorships. Results matter more to a team in the end.
Having said all this, no one should be over-reacting to a small, early season, race. Lots of testing going on right now for later in the year.
Jim Manton /
ERO Sports
