Aerodynamic Assessment

Make no mistake. The effect is huge.

At racing speeds 80-90% of a cyclist's spent overcoming aerodynamic drag.  Approximately 70-80% of that drag is caused not by the bike, but by the rider ^(1,2).  It is clear that rider position has a huge effect on potential speed, and this must be considered in any fitting where speed is a priority.  For those riders concerned with speed, all our bike fittings at the Bike Energy Lab  include an assessment of aerodynamic drag and considers methods to reduce it. Indeed, speed and comfort are not necessarily mutually exclusive and we always strive for a position that is comfortable and fast, for all fittings.  For those athletes who are performance-oriented, we always consider the effects of drag while making positional adjustments, for free.

However, we also provide a more advanced service for those athletes interested in quantifying any improvement in their aerodynamics.

This aerodynamic assessment is the best possible estimation of drag coefficient available, short of a wind tunnel test, at a small fraction of the price. If you have a powermeter, we provide you with a protocol to validate this estimation using the Chung Method.

Cost:

• $800, stand alone frontal area determination and of estimation of CdA drag coefficient
• $400, added to any fitting

^{1) Kyle & Burke (1984)
2) Hill (1993)}