“Maybe slowman could clarify and support this bold claim for me?”
let me clarify this bold claim for you, and support it by leveraging the strength of all my experience and knowledge. i’d like to make it perfectly clear. no ambiguity. no equivocation. no faltering and no wishy washy, half-hearted attempt to play both sides against the middle. the visiontech bar is the world’s fastest aerobar…
…maybe
I heard that NASA were using it on the next shuttle …
On a more serious note, I think you can fairly put the advertisement down to “mere puffery”.
Aerodynamic efficiency, which minimizes air resistance on the leading edge of the bicycle, is essential in reducing energy expenditure and helping the rider gain time. Wind tunnel tests at Texas A&M have determined that the streamlined Vision Tech time trial bar reduces overall drag by 0.2 - 0.3 lbs., compared with a conventional aero bar/bullhorn setup. This reduction in drag can translate to up to a minute time difference in a 40K time trial. The extended use of airfoil shaped contouring and tubing throughout significantly decreases air turbulence.
The following chart lists projected times for a 40 km time trial based on wind tunnel tests at Texas A & M University on January 11, 1999
Here is the data: http://www.visiontechusa.com/aerodynamic-chart.htm
They are indeed the fastest.
Kraig
in those aerobar test results that you are selling on your web site, were the aerobar tests done with the rider actually in the aerobars?
how does the rider being on and off the aerobars affect the bar aerodynamics?
do different positions in the extensions affect the aerodynamics of these bars? was this verified by the rider being in and out of the aerobars?
just trying to get an idea when comparing your data to other tester results.
Hi Kraig,
FSA conducted a rigourous, controlled study to determine that their bars are the fastest darn bars available:
Study #1
Drink beer.
Load "a big bunch of HIC aerobars in big brown box
Shlep big ass box to top of corporate headquarters building, pausing 1/2 way up stairs to finish beer.
Pour box of bars off roof.
1st bar to hit ground is fastest! Vision wins!!
Study #2
Drink beer
Place assortment of bars on big damn table in corporate headquarters
Call warehouse on intercom; ask them to send in the BMX guy who does shipping and receiving.
Finish beer
Ask BMX guy which bar is fastest
Vision wins!!!
Study #3
Dan there Mr. Tibbs advertises his Team Secondhand Racing scam as “sponosred by the masses” and “racing for the hell of it.”
Is he really sponosred by the masses? I mean a good number of people have given to his scam but is really enough to be considered “the masses?”
What about “racing for the hell of it”? Do we really know why he is racing? Maybe he is racing to get away from his family or to stalk ironclm or to steal things from the trasnition areas.
Do you really know? Why are you allowing this?
Gary,
You said you were aiming for 56, or anything under 57 for the 40K. What was your time, and what were the conditions?
“How does that “maybe” make you feel?”
it might make me feel warm and fuzzy all over. that’s the wrong question, however. much more interesting than how i feel is who i feel. or is that whom?
since the 1980s my competitors were advertising that they made the world’s fastest wetsuit. it’s all unprovable. i’m numb to it.
“Is he really sponosred by the masses?”
that was a misprint. it should read, “sponsored by the misses.”
Careful Kraig, a cynical man might think you presented this challenge in order to drum up readership of your site to see which bars YOU think are fastest.
I’m simply asking Doug Stuart and Peter Fraiman (FSA president/VT brand manager) to present the evidence that supports the claim in their ad that they are the “world’s fastest aerobar”.
If they have the evidence, let’s hear what it is so that it’s merits can be evaluated. If they don’t have the evidence, shame on them.
What is a shame is that they could take any aero bar…have a Navy Pilot carry it with on a training mission - hit say Mach 2 and then they would in theory have the worlds fastest Aero bar! How many Profile or Hed bars have gone Mach 2?
Careful Kraig, a cynical man might think you presented this challenge in order to drum up readership of your site to see which bars YOU think are fastest.
This may be pushing the evelope of good sportsmanship.
Kraig has been one who is presenting factual data. I’ve subscribed to his site on occasion to see data that was pertinent to decisions I was making. I believe his pursuit of real data and asking component makers to verify their claims is serving all consumers.
Like all data pertaining to aerodynamics, one must take what they read and hear with a grain of salt and a dose of reality. I think Kraig is making a reasonable request of FSA.
I’d also like to know how they make that claim. Would it be reasonable to make that claim if I rode that bar to a state TT championship in my age group? If I won, then I would be fastest wouldn’t I? So would my Litespped Saber and Oval A700 bars also be the fastest?
“Apathy in this case gives me the impression that you condone the behavior. Is this what you are trying to convey to me?”
numbness does not = apathy. apathy does not = assent. they JUST had the national spelling bee. that should’ve prodded you toward a precision in wordsmithing. maybe you’re just numb to it all.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t take issue with Kraig wanting some facts here. Seems reasonable enough to me. There are those who might see it differently though…
" the same site that used to advertise that Wipperman chains"
that ad is still there. i wrote it for them (i volunteered my services).
i’ll take an easy to clean, easy to install, no-stiff-link, german-made high-precision chain from a 100-year-old chain making company over an oem, hard-to-clean, hard-to-install chain made in the third world any day and, yes, i’ll put those extra watts in the bank.
there are two kinds of people in the world. those who do. and those who bitch and complain about those who do. i’m so glad you’re in the first category, rip, and not in the second.
Here is the data: http://www.visiontechusa.com/aerodynamic-chart.htm
Am I just stupid, or is there a conspicuous absence of the HED and Oval bars in that comparison?
“Well, there is one thing I don’t ‘do’”
okay, now for the other list…
What is a shame is that they could take any aero bar…have a Navy Pilot carry it with on a training mission - hit say Mach 2 and then they would in theory have the worlds fastest Aero bar! How many Profile or Hed bars have gone Mach 2?
Well, now that you mention it…I hit 62 mph on my old Scott Clip-ons in 1992 coming down one Sierra road or another. So, those Scotts would be the fastest that I’m aware of.
“but attempt to silence those like Kraig”
i don’t believe i’m the silencer of people like kraig, but the answerer of people like kraig. kraig asks, i answer. if you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question.
Yes I believe most people consider that to be an answer.