Most aero disc rotor (Sram/Shimano/others?)

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi,

I’ve recently read that Sram claims they have improved aero performance of their latest rotors (centerline Xr) compared to the previous iteration (centerline x).

Is there any study/testing out there that compares aero performance of Sram rotors vs Shimano rotors vs anything else? I wonder which rotor is the most aero and what savings you can typically get? I realize the savings are probably minimal, but I thought it would be interesting to hear people’s thoughts on that.

Thanks

2

I don’t think that there are any independent aero tests on rotors.

3

Most aero rotor is no rotor. :slight_smile:

4

Hi,

I’ve recently read that Sram claims they have improved aero performance of their latest rotors (centerline Xr) compared to the previous iteration (centerline x).

Is there any study/testing out there that compares aero performance of Sram rotors vs Shimano rotors vs anything else? I wonder which rotor is the most aero and what savings you can typically get? I realize the savings are probably minimal, but I thought it would be interesting to hear people’s thoughts on that.

Thanks

I did some WinTunnel testing on Dura-Ace vs. XTR and 160mm vs. 140mm rotors before I completed my bike set up for US Road Natz last year. The differences between those 4 options was small.

-Dave

5

It’s small but measurable:
https://www.parcours.cc/pages/aerodynamics_disc

Also I remember it being interesting to see there’s a measurable difference between a 160mm rotor & a 140mm rotor
.

6

I was going to say that.

7

Great thanks for sharing! Exactly the type of data I was looking for

I tend to understand the aero penalty of a larger rotor (160mm v 140mm) but I don’t really see how sram’s rotor that has much more holes in it can be more aero than the « surface-filled » equivalent from Shimano?

8

Yeah that looks like a nice graph of their wheels only, but how about when it interacts with real-world yaw (lets saw, up to 12 degrees) when the wheel is actually between a set of forks?

I’d also assume that the increase of 0.3w of drag moving from Sram to Campy or Shimano is within margin of error even at 30mph?