We assume peak aero because the fastest bikes are converging. If that meant that now it is easier to make a fast bike because you can check off a list of known aero features, you wouldn't have so many drastically different design elements.
- Some down tubes hug the front wheel (most bikes), others have a huge gap (Scott)
- Some seat tubes hug the rear wheel (most), some have a gap (Shiv TT), and some have none (beams)
- Some use full foils, some truncate
- Some use deep sections, some not
- And on and on
I'm not claiming the Shiv is slow, because we don't know. But the fact that older Cervelo, Felt, and Trek bikes are still fast, doesn't mean that newer bikes can't be slow.
Granted, "slow" does deserve some context. It is reasonable to assume that the difference between the fastest and slowest modern bike by the big brands is far smaller than the difference between the slowest and a round-tube bike. But for $X,000 and especially $1X,000 I wouldn't want to have something slow relative to its peers.
- Some down tubes hug the front wheel (most bikes), others have a huge gap (Scott)
- Some seat tubes hug the rear wheel (most), some have a gap (Shiv TT), and some have none (beams)
- Some use full foils, some truncate
- Some use deep sections, some not
- And on and on
I'm not claiming the Shiv is slow, because we don't know. But the fact that older Cervelo, Felt, and Trek bikes are still fast, doesn't mean that newer bikes can't be slow.
Granted, "slow" does deserve some context. It is reasonable to assume that the difference between the fastest and slowest modern bike by the big brands is far smaller than the difference between the slowest and a round-tube bike. But for $X,000 and especially $1X,000 I wouldn't want to have something slow relative to its peers.