So, in the market for a new set of aero sleeves, and I have seen a couple of brands releasing new stuff.
What´s out there? What are the Pros on for 2024?
Here is a couple of these, that I am looking at myself:
Swiss Side: Can a wheel manufacturer be trusted to do aero apparel?
Zoot: This looks like a new model… ?
Fusion: Magnus/Daniel/Laidlow are not even using these…
Compress Sport: Are these the Laidlow sleeves? Isnt he in socks?
https://huubdesign.com/…-sixteen-calf-sleeve
This may (or may not) be obvious but HUUB’s naming of these sleeves references the time the Skipper TTT (major HUUB team contingent in wheels #1-#7) took for 180km at the Sub7 challenge, riding the distance faster than anyone has ever done; and possibly ever will.
Difficult to trust that an aero sleeve has any benefit, when riding last in a 6 man train 
But HUUB has some pedigree in aero indeed
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Swissside or Huub.
Swissside has built their own, smaller wind tunnel for fabrics / small parts. This allows for prototyping and multiple iterations testing. My colleague, who works at Swissside as an aero engineer, speaks highly of the new calf sleeves.
Huub has a well-known aero pedigree, not only thanks to Dan Bigham. Sub-7 was just a great testing environment. I personally use both the Huub Anemoi suit and the aero calf sleeves (if they don’t work, then worst case they at least protect me from sunburn).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6KQ7LMi8Y8&t=709s
There’s actual testing on them. You don’t have to try to compare one company’s marketing to another.
Yes - I have seen this video, and it´s good, but 1) it´s 2023 and 2) its not taking more than 3 products into consideration…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6KQ7LMi8Y8&t=709s
There’s actual testing on them. You don’t have to try to compare one company’s marketing to another.
Yes - I have seen this video, and it´s good, but 1) it´s 2023 and 2) its not taking more than 3 products into consideration…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6KQ7LMi8Y8&t=709s
There’s actual testing on them. You don’t have to try to compare one company’s marketing to another.
Yeah that’s fair. I don’t anticipate much of the physics has changed since last year, and the the fundamentals remain the same. No wrinkles but don’t stretch them out so much that the ribs flatten. My take home is find the ones that fit properly first (I know, that’s the hard part) and then of that subset buy the ones with the deepest ribs.
Difficult to trust that an aero sleeve has any benefit, when riding last in a 6 man train But HUUB has some pedigree in aero indeed
I tested those HUUB sleeves on several people already this year. Mixed bag. Slower than others for some and bare legs, faster for others.
The answer to are they faster, at least based on what I’ve seen this year from my testing, is it depends, still.
I’ve raced in the Rule 28’s, Zoot, and Swiss Side calf sleeves. No clue how they test, but I find the Swiss Side’s to be the best fitting. They have the most coverage and are just tight enough across my entire calf. The Zoot’s and Rule 28’s pinched the top of my calf a bit too much, and were too wide near the ankle. Fitment alone the Swiss Side’s have been my favorite.
Did anybody manage ID the sleves that:
A) Ditlev used in Roth ?
B) That odd combo that Laidlow used in Vitoria, looked like a white aerosleeve with a black sock over…
Difficult to trust that an aero sleeve has any benefit, when riding last in a 6 man train But HUUB has some pedigree in aero indeed
I tested those HUUB sleeves on several people already this year. Mixed bag. Slower than others for some and bare legs, faster for others.
The answer to are they faster, at least based on what I’ve seen this year from my testing, is it depends, still.
The testing continually seems to be mixed, though unlike helmets there’s not an obvious variable like head/body position. Any thoughts on what differences may account for the variability?
Personally they work very well for me, so I’m always scratching my head a bit when I see riders with legs similar to mine test and get zero/negative benefit.
The testing continually seems to be mixed, though unlike helmets there’s not an obvious variable like head/body position. Any thoughts on what differences may account for the variability?
Personally they work very well for me, so I’m always scratching my head a bit when I see riders with legs similar to mine test and get zero/negative benefit.
Shape of calves would be one factor. The more cylindrical calves one has, the less aerodynamic they are and the more they’ll benefit from having aero layer. Shape of the fork and its relation to the Q-factor would be another factor. The wider the fork (up to the extreme case in that funny GB track bike), the less aero drag is created by the calves themselves.The sizing is yet another factor. Calves sleeves are made of a stretchable fabric material. It might be aerodynamic when properly worn, but once stretched it loses its aero properties.
This seems to be Laidlow in Vitoria this weekend. Strange aero sleeve setup innit? Explanations ?? (disregarding in this thread his DQF or what not)
Aero calf sleeves plus (running) socks, both from Compressport. I was also surprised, because he was riding like this. My suspicion is, that he might’ve had some blisters or wounds and didn’t want to damage it further in those warm & humid conditions (maybe his Kona/Nice stockings were a worse solution this time for him).
Could be an explanation. The temps were 27 deg celcius tops and humidty below 50% - so nothing bad, really…
Aero calf sleeves plus (running) socks, both from Compressport. I was also surprised, because he was riding like this. My suspicion is, that he might’ve had some blisters or wounds and didn’t want to damage it further in those warm & humid conditions (maybe his Kona/Nice stockings were a worse solution this time for him).