I’m looking to do some home aero testing and struggling with a suitable route. Local to me I have access to a closed 1km cycle track that I can use anytime. The trouble is one of the bends is a little too tight to stay on the pedals, I shouldn’t have to break just ease off and coast round, hoping I can stay aero for this. See photo attached.
How is the best way to test using this track? Should I use each full lap including the coasting corner or should I lap the recording at the same point into and out of the corner each time? Any other suggestions? Or should I find some place else to test?
The wind is your enemy in this. Try to have a day with as little wind as possible, anything else will mess with the results. I believe indoor velodromes are pretty reliable, outdoor ones good if you have a calm day (rare).
Thanks all, I have read the platapus thread twice now and feel as though I have a good understanding of the methodology.
I gave the track a go but it just wasn’t suitable, the corner in question comes after a slight decent so I found I had to coast the majority of one side so I didn’t hit the corner too fast.
I then tested out a loop from my house, it’s a little longer than recommended but it’s the most repeatable. Has a good mix of elevation and no traffic early doors and don’t have to come off the pedals. I think it also gives a better representation of how well I hold position.
I wish I had started this process before now as I certainly have room for improvement! Whats nice from my first attempt is that changing my stack height -20mm up to +20mm didn’t change much, in fact the higher stack tested the lowest cda of all and I felt much stronger in that position! I think it allows to me hold my head lower for longer.
I will keep on testing when the wind allows and will update all my findings in my other thread on aero improvements!
I wish I had started this process before now as I certainly have room for improvement! Whats nice from my first attempt is that changing my stack height -20mm up to +20mm didn’t change much, in fact the higher stack tested the lowest cda of all and I felt much stronger in that position! I think it allows to me hold my head lower for longer.
I will keep on testing when the wind allows and will update all my findings in my other thread on aero improvements!
I would start with making no changes, then doing loads of repeat runs. To check that consistency is definitely there and what external factors affect the results.
Then make big changes where you are pretty sure you already know the outcome. For example, Road helmet vs TT helmet or shallow wheels vs deep wheels. Check the result come out as expected.
Going straight to position changes seems a risk until you are 99% sure that the testing is giving reliable results. Especially when you don’t already know what is likely to be faster going into the test.
But should say I don’t actual have much experience testing.
Would love to be able to do my own aero sessions, but just can’t find a venue or road near me that gives consistent results.
Yeah I do agree with you, I did do multiple loops at baseline at varying powers to see what the data looked like. I jumped straight into the positional changes because I figured, ignoring the accuracy of the cda value, if all things are the same barring the changes, if one position is faster for the same power it’s a a safe assumption that for that position the cda should be lower. I know that’s quite rudimentary as it obviously matters how you apply the power round the loop.
For this instance, baseline and -20mm were very similar speed and power , +20 was faster by almost a km/hr. I did put out an extra 10ish watts without trying just because it felt so much better. So I’m going to run with it until I can test again.