burnthesheep wrote:
DrAlexHarrison wrote:
Bingo. Keeping air from interacting with messy areas = faster than a nice overall shape, when the object is not a uniform solid.Wasn't that theory behind the British new Lotus track bikes? Wide front forks to be in line with legs or something?
Same with the old Obree bike with no top tube and super narrow bottom bracket. Idea was to get the knees in closer to behind the bike parts.
I can't speak to the intentional rationales behind the Lotus bike, but it seems more of a matter of allowing reduced air resistance to wheel movement, and maybe softening the air before it hits the legs with the ultra-wide fork. This is all less of a tactic of deflection around certain areas though as just putting the things that catch air mostly in line with each other.
Victor is probably deflecting air mostly around his thighs rather than just "softening" it. I would bet that there is effectively a pocket of air under his chest & belly that is moving right along with him because of the very closed off front end. I have no evidence for this. But I think that's essentially the goal of an air deflection strategy, rather than a strategy of just breaking the air first before it subsequently impacts another component of the rider-bike system albeit with less effective velocity than it would have if unimpeded.
Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Last edited by:
DrAlexHarrison: Mar 10, 21 9:20