Doing a flat IM in the fall and wondering if it’d be worth it to purchase an aero helmet. What time gain could I expect over the course of 112 miles? riding say between 18-20 mph? recommended purchase?
Most of the aero helmets that I see on most of the AG’s are a net loss in time. They just are not that effective when the rear end is pointing up like a shark fin towards the sky…
Before this fall go and watch (even better, help out) at another IM race prior…you will see what I mean. If you can not maintain a proper position of the rear end it is slower than a stadard (and cooler) helmet.
R10C, Fleck has hijacked your account!
Most of the aero helmets that I see on most of the AG’s are a net loss in time. They just are not that effective when the rear end is pointing up like a shark fin towards the sky…
Before this fall go and watch (even better, help out) at another IM race prior…you will see what I mean. If you can not maintain a proper position of the rear end it is slower than a stadard (and cooler) helmet.
I think that the tunnel data was that an aero bucket with the tail sticking up was still faster than an regular helmet. Cobb maybe? Would have to search for the thread and am not interested enough to do so but thought I would point out that YOU ARE WRONG 
Oh and your bike is gay to boot 
Fleck would not ask you to marry him…cutie
(I just got to the hospital and not yet in a pissy mood
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You had better get your fire-proof suit out Chip 'cause you know what is going to happen now.
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Don’t flirt with me unless you’re trying to make Ted MacGreggor and BottomFeeder jealous!
CAn you explain further? you mean, their heads pointed too low and back to high? wha?
pointing up like a shark fin towards the sky…
in basic, he means when you look down at your hands/aerobars (like people do when they get tired), the point of your aero helmet sticks up like a sail. Another time it’s fairly common is when people are up on the bullhorns looking around, stretching, whathaveyou.
Now it’s a matter of determining whether or not it’s actually STILL faster to have it on when you are not “tucked”… I wish I had saved the Cobb thread… it’s somewhere on here though. His test (I believe it was only on ONE helmet though) showed it was still faster in the tunnel having one on, even when the tail was up.
Look on the bright side… You’ll look faster, guaranteed!
but fleck is not an idiot
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Or, you MIGHT look like the slowest person in an aero helmet on a disk wheel 
And, in the Cobb thread the helmet in question had no vents - that is ALWAYS a bad decision on hot days.
Even an idiot can point out that it is just plain foolish to think one can “buy speed” when they are MOP - or even point out the fact that when you are fighting (with your Visa card) for 275th place in your AG it just might not matter.
I have yet to post about the race I was working at where shit bag “newbies” just could not understand why it was that they could not wear their iPods on the bike, had to wear a helmet (other than a hard hat from a construction site), were not allowed to draft and had to stay to the right on the bike course.
I suppose they were just there to have a good time and meet friends ]insert roll eyes here[
This is in Cobb’s article “Where Does Air Go?” here:
http://cobbcycling.com/articles.cfm
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Yup. From my notes at a power clinic by Dr. Lim in 2008 at Vq in Chicago. The Garmin boys bury the heads and occasionally look up:
. After wind tunnel testing, Garm-Chip found out they could save 30 watts by filling the hole in the TT position. You stick you head straight down and look at the top tube. Watch for future TT’s and the riders with their heads down and aero helmets pointing up (during straight sections). He talked about the trust level, and the riders have no idea where they are going. Their radio unit keeps them from ending up in a ditch. Look for a new TT position for VDV, they’ll be in the wind tunnel for a week in Nov. They want him riding in the new position all winter to improve power in that position.
So according to Cobb, aerodynamics are really tricky, and having the tail up COULD actually be more aero. (at least, I think that’s what he’s saying)
I really hope people do not take that advice when they are riding near me in races. Its scary enough out there.
so you agree then. It’s settled.
To review:
- yes you CAN buy speed. the slower you are the more time you save per $ for any given decision you make to buy a certain item.
- An aero helmet, which is one of the MOST effective AND cheap ways of buying speed is faster than a standard helmet tail up.
- when people who show up to do our races that don’t know the rules and norms of our culture, it’s not because they are “shitbag newbies” it’s because they haven’t been told yet, haven’t been shown an example, or haven’t been assimilited into our culture.
with asshats like you out there, it’s no wonder. Looking forward to your next ignorant, racially and culturally insensitive post.
Excellent explanation / pictures and link
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Then to those people I say…
you should have sprung for that Sub9 disc…