The QR PR series springs to mind as does the Speed Concept though you might want to study pictures/physical samples to be sure.

Hello Travis R and All,



While changing the steering axis could help alleviate wind gusts affecting cycle stability .... it seems to me that the wind force on the front wheel is the prime cause.

This is demonstrated by bicycles that have wheels with narrow rims having less stability problems than those with wheels with deep rims.

How to lessen the wind effect on the front wheel?

One way would be to have 'blowout devices' a series of small vanes attached to the spokes that would 'blow outward' .... pivot on the spoke to unload the gust. Adjusting the friction of the vane pivot would control the amount of blowout.

Methods could be devised to differentiate the release or 'blowout' utilizing vanes on the spokes forward of the steering axis from those aft of the steering axis to nulify the gust effect on stability.






And the Zipp 454 wheel will help ...... http://www.zipp.com/...-carbon-clincher---/

https://www.technologyreview.com/...pired-wind-turbines/

Marine scientists have long suspected that humpback whales’ incredible agility comes from the bumps on the leading edges of their flippers. Now Harvard University researchers have come up with a mathematical model that helps explain this hydrodynamic edge. The work gives theoretical weight to a growing body of empirical evidence that similar bumps could lead to more-stable airplane designs, submarines with greater agility, and turbine blades that can capture more energy from the wind and water.
Finspiration: The bumps on the leading edge of the humpback whale’s flipper give it a hydrodynamic advantage. Researchers are discovering that similar bumps could make wind turbines, fan blades, and airplane wings more efficient.
“We were surprised that we were able to replicate a lot of the findings coming out of wind tunnels and water tunnels using relatively simple theory,” says Ernst van Nierop, a PhD candidate at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard. He coauthored the study with mathematics professor Michael Brenner and researcher Silas Alben.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

I've been looking at side shots, and the QR PR series was actually one of the ones I had up, as I am helping a customer decide between a few bikes.

I don't mean to pick on any particular brands or bikes, but the QR is a good example of what I think I'm seeing. I drew a line where I think the steering axis is. It could be off, considering my mad MS Paint skilz. lol! This is where the fork rake seems to push more of the mass forward of the steering axis. It appears that this design would compromise steering torque in an effort to increase front center.


Edit 2: I forgot to mention the Speed Concept. The fork design on that is deceiving, and the stem makes it difficult to see where the approximate steering axis is. I'm not quite sure where it is, but I thought it was back, which gives me the impression most of the mass is still in front. I could certainly be wrong.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

When I get home I'll take a look at mine.

I can't comment on other bikes that may be good in this respect. I do, however, own a Garneau Gennix TR1 TT bike (and an A1 road bike). The TR1 is very stable in windy conditions, even when running a disc and 404. Whether that has to do with the fork design I can't really say. FYI mine has the UCI legal fork rather than the deeper tri fork.

Wasn't the Carbonaero fork that was on several QRoo bikes in the 90's designed to counter some of that steering torque, by increasing surface area behind the steering axis? I thought I had read that somewhere, a quote or something from Slowman himself...

The later version of the Black Hole front wheel "system" also enclosed the area in the inner wheel behind the steering axis, IIRC also to counteract steering torque, from what I remember.

What's old is new again...