Does anybody make aero arm warmers? I am going to race a tri that will be in cool but not cold weather and will likely wear arm warmers on the bike. Before purchasing I figured I’d ask the ST brain trust of Aero options. If I am going to buy I might as well buy something that saves a few seconds. There will be those who might scoff at the idea but just zip your pie hole if you plan on posting some snarky reply.
If you’re starting to feel cold, pedal faster.
I’m not sure but I would think most sleeves (that are lycra or something close) will be either faster or at least on par with bare skin. Usually covering skin (hair) is a good thing.
True. But Pearlizumi for instance makes aero skin suits with special fabric treatments/textures that are supposed to be more aero than plain Lycra. I figured somebody might make something similar in an arm warmer.
You could buy a really expensive long-sleeve skinsuit and cut the sleeves off. 
As has been said, fabric is generally regarded to be faster than bare skin. Even if you had to resort to plain old arm warmers, as long as they fit well with a minimum of folds and wrinkles, and you watch how you pace them either over or under any existing sleeves you may be wearing, you should be fine.
At the risk of sounding like an internet douchebag, how much time would aero fabric sleeves really save you over non-aero fabric sleeves?
If you have money that you are just dying to part with, send it my way instead.
If I am spending $20-40 on any sleeves and the price is comparable anyhow, then why not buy something that saves time? If it is $100 for aero versions then you are right not worth it.
Never heard of anyone taking warmers in to the wind tunnel to test for valid data. So how would you know
Agreed, if they are comparable then go for it.
But they would likely charge a premium because rich triathletes are willing to pay extra for this kind of stuff.
There is data however suggesting that that some compression socks (the kind that is not a smooth fabric; I believe that was CEP socks) are faster than bare skin or smooth compression socks. That posted here some time ago. The difference was very significant.
Edit: I think that was the test: http://www.powertri-blog.com/biking/preliminary-wind-tunnel-results-on-apparell.html
No details on the testing protocol though.
I thought I had remembered something similar but couldn’t find it.
I don’t know but in the winter, I’m easily 2-3mph slower because I hate being cold so I bundle up a lot, and end up being a 143lb fat michelin man.
If someone in the industry could make a vest and shorts etc that are tight, work down to 20F or so, are wind proof, that’d be pretty cool. And if this
exists already, someone please give me the link!
I’d recommend just finding arm warmers that fit fairly tight. Doesn’t matter the fabric/material really as long as you get warmers that are fairly thin and tight fitting, and that don’t wrinkle up.
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Castelli makes a wind proof jersey that works great in both long and short sleeve. As a bonus it is water resistant as well. The collection is called GABBA. Worn with a base layer it is great. It won’t protect down to 20 degrees but will get you down to 30’s in the long sleeve version with a thick undershirt.
How long until everything, including clothes, is made of carbon fiber covered in golfball dimples?
By the way I just saw that Castelli makes a full body cold weather suit.
This is what you need Francois…
I had some in my bag the day I tested just in case I had some extra time, but never got around to testing them. My guess is the difference is fairly small unless your arms are preposterously hairy, but skinsuits made of certain materials have tested faster than bare skin. Humans’ arms are a bluff shape, so inducing a turbulent BL (via fabric texture) to help prevent/delay flow separation should theoretically reduce drag.
I’m surprised that some company hasn’t started making them with dimples!