cerebis wrote:
From 5 years ago, wind tunnel testing for a lace-up, buckled and lycra overshoe (on the buckled shoe) demonstrated that the fastest choice was the lace-up. The difference between the worst (overshoe) and best (lace-up) performing choice was ~ 5W.
Ref: Gibertini G, Grassi D, Macchi C, De Bortoli G 2010. Cycling shoe aerodynamics.
Sports Engineering.
Just chant "frontal area, frontal area, ..." when it comes to optimisation choices which don't affect rider power.
I think I remember that study, though I remember it as if they found the differences to be even larger and remember the results as kind of strange when looking close, so kind of dismissed the whole thing. I also found it strange they didn't test airproof/PU-coated covers.
I also remember the buckle on the tested shoe to be kind of bulky and on the outside of the shoe, i.e. in more or less clean air. Boa closures more on the top/front of the shoe are not adding nearly as much if any frontal area and *may* dissappear aerodynamically with an airproof shoe cover. Of course, they are very unlikely to be faster than laces, but if just as fast I would prefer them from a practical point of view. That's what I wanted Chris's input on. But I know it's a very hard thing to test and that they might not have tested both shoes against each other with an airproof shoe cover on both.
