So we spent 3 years trying to develop a completely new method of tunnel testing when I was at Zipp, by using the ARC tunnel here in Indy which is the sister tunnel to the Mercedes tunnel in England and is rolling road.
The key to remember about the rolling road is that you essentially cannot touch it.. the models have to hover just above it, or touch it with almost not force as the frictional increases involved with touching it are very large. Models tested in tunnels like this are held by a 'sting' which is an aero arm extending from the ceiling and containing the balance.
We pretty quickly learned that while rolling road seems amazing, it has big issues for testing with riders and pretty big issues when testing equipment only.
Out of this, Michael Hall at Zipp conceived and then we developed an amazing tunnel concept that we had quoted for construction in 2010 by the same team who built the ARC and SRAM determined it was just too expensive.. the problem with this sort of thing is sort of similar to helmet safety or chronograph accuracy.. selling somebody on something that costs 5-10x for much higher accuracy is really hard, almost impossible unless you have unlimited funds. In the end, we should have pitched a much cheaper tunnel that was primarily focused on low operating cost and marketing focus, as specialized built this tunnel a few years later and it is still considered the standard for the industry despite considerable shortcomings.. but few people really care about those.
http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc
The key to remember about the rolling road is that you essentially cannot touch it.. the models have to hover just above it, or touch it with almost not force as the frictional increases involved with touching it are very large. Models tested in tunnels like this are held by a 'sting' which is an aero arm extending from the ceiling and containing the balance.
We pretty quickly learned that while rolling road seems amazing, it has big issues for testing with riders and pretty big issues when testing equipment only.
Out of this, Michael Hall at Zipp conceived and then we developed an amazing tunnel concept that we had quoted for construction in 2010 by the same team who built the ARC and SRAM determined it was just too expensive.. the problem with this sort of thing is sort of similar to helmet safety or chronograph accuracy.. selling somebody on something that costs 5-10x for much higher accuracy is really hard, almost impossible unless you have unlimited funds. In the end, we should have pitched a much cheaper tunnel that was primarily focused on low operating cost and marketing focus, as specialized built this tunnel a few years later and it is still considered the standard for the industry despite considerable shortcomings.. but few people really care about those.
http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc
Last edited by:
joshatsilca: Apr 22, 19 4:47