When I was at John Cobb’s Tyler shop a few months ago I saw a female IM pro’s bike. The bike had the normal round tubed Al cowhorns, except the last few inches where it turns up had been cut off. The brakes were mounted so that the brake lever was rotated 90*, in other words, the brake lever was between the cowhorn and aerobars. I asked and it was done for aerodynamics.
So, anyone tried this? Could this really have a measurable aero savings? At the same time, how many aero savings do you get for free? It looked like it would be a little tough to use the brakes, maybe not something you’d want to use on a really technical course but then, most of us have never even been on a technical course.
I guess worst case, I guess it would cost you $35 to replace the cowhorns and $15 for bar end tape. I ask b/c I’ve currently got my bars untaped while I’m replacing the cable and housing.
This sounds like a bad idea. I can’t imagine that the drag savings amount to anything. I don’t use my brakes much in a race but every once and a while I need them in a hurry. Last year I had a driver ignore a uniformed police officer stopping traffic at an intersection. I had to brake hard to avoid a collision. You are already at a disadvantage having to come off of the aero-bars. Why risk an awkward and unfamiliar brake placement?
why would it provide any savings at all? It presents the same amount of frontal area turned 90 deg, 45 deg, or 180 deg. The air doesn’t care which way it points. The flow MIGHT change marginally behind the thing as it interacts with the bars, but who knows. Was this configuration tested?
Although I have never met the man, I have been told that Cobb does have sort of an unusual sense of humor - maybe the bike was under going maintenance and he was simply having fun at your expense?
measurable aero savings, no matter how tiny, add up significantly over the distance of an IM. Cobb’s psycho about aerodynamics, so it’s entirely possible that it’s real. on a flat, safe course, dropping weight and reducing drag in that manner is not that bad of an idea. it’d keep your arms closer in, too.
Although I have never met the man, I have been told that Cobb does have sort of an unusual sense of humor - maybe the bike was under going maintenance and he was simply having fun at your expense?
No, the bars were definitely cut so that they had no bend upwards. It was tucked away, I only saw it b/c I was waiting around and looked through the bikes.
I would imagine the aero savings comes from 1. not having the levers upturned, you only have the thinnest lever profile into the wind. 2. turned like that, the levers disrupt the air that is about to hit the cowhorns anyway.
I still don’t imagine that the aero benefits are going to be substantial enough to compensate for the bad breaking. Also, with sweaty hands the upturn on the bars is nice to keep your hands from slipping.
the faster you go, the more aero savings that would have. the farther you go, the more aero savings, too. a pro going IM might save 30 seconds off their bike like that. 30 seconds is a lot of time to a pro and can make the difference between getting a paycheck or not. almost everything aero now was once considered stupid and “not worth it.”