Got to interview a Specialized engineer yesterday...

[davidalone]

For thos of you who don't know, who Mark Cote is, he's an engineer and aerodynamicist with Specialized and one of the big people when it comes to aerodynamics in the industry. I got to interview him yesterday. He gives some interesting insights on where aero is headed and future things to come from the industry.

http://secondwindmagazine.com/is-aero-e ... mark-cote/

[itsacarr]

Cote has always been an interesting guy - cool interview. Thanks for the read, insightful.

[mariovalentim]

That's a very interesting interview and I am not a fan of Spz so you know it is a good read.

[Poulidor]

Full disclosure: I didn't read the whole interview. Sometimes it's hard to tell apart hype, advertising copy and truthfulness. In any case, it seems to me that a bicycle like the one in the picture will be aerodynamically great when the wind is coming straight ahead. However, in the case of an ever slight cross wind there will be a great deal of drag as is the case of a sail on a boat. But I'm no engineer.

[kgt]

Some interesting points:

"Well, I think aero bikes are definitely no longer a fad. I think what we’ll see is aero bikes and stiffness-to-weight bikes just turn into race bikes. And I don’t mean they’ll be the same.
Venge and Tarmac will continue for us to be distinct. But they’ll both be a little bit more complete. Venge for example will be heavier than a tarmac- there’s a weight penalty. But it is no questions asked fastest. So it will depend on the terrain and where you ride."

"Do you guys shave legs? I know a lot of triathletes don’t. Maybe I’m breaking all sorts of social norms, but shaved legs can save you on average 76 seconds over 40km."

"So my biggest advice isn’t to go out and buy a new bike, a new helmet, but paying attention to the small things."

[ergott]

I'm still reading, but this is interesting to me. If true, I'll buy one. Hate wind buffeting around my ears.

Commuting- we can make a helmet that is acoustically quieter.

[Calnago]

On that aspect, I've noticed a few out riding lately with what look like wind deflectors around their ears. I saw this guy riding with what looked like big huge blue sideburns, but they were wind deflectors so he could hear himself think I suppose, since it wasn't cold enough for ear muffs. And as silly as it looked I kinda get it although not on the wind free day I saw him. I have ridden in some terribly windy conditions and I dare say the social aspect of cycling goes right out the window. You can't even talk to each other. It's a heads down and just git er done kind of ride at that point. Think I'd prefer a light rain to a heavy headwind.

[mariovalentim]

On that aspect, I've noticed a few out riding lately with what look like wind deflectors around their ears. I saw this guy riding with what looked like big huge blue sideburns, but they were wind deflectors so he could hear himself think I suppose, since it wasn't cold enough for ear muffs. And as silly as it looked I kinda get it although not on the wind free day I saw him. I have ridden in some terribly windy conditions and I dare say the social aspect of cycling goes right out the window. You can't even talk to each other. It's a heads down and just git er done kind of ride at that point. Think I'd prefer a light rain to a heavy headwind.

Gregory Bauge (and some other french track riders) rides a Ait Attack with those flaps

[ergott]

On that aspect, I've noticed a few out riding lately with what look like wind deflectors around their ears. I saw this guy riding with what looked like big huge blue sideburns, but they were wind deflectors so he could hear himself think I suppose, since it wasn't cold enough for ear muffs. And as silly as it looked I kinda get it although not on the wind free day I saw him. I have ridden in some terribly windy conditions and I dare say the social aspect of cycling goes right out the window. You can't even talk to each other. It's a heads down and just git er done kind of ride at that point. Think I'd prefer a light rain to a heavy headwind.

http://www.cat-ears.com/

I actually have a set of the standard ones. They do work as advertised, but be prepared for the comments and stares. I haven't worn them in a while.

[cobrakai]

The most interesting comment to me was number 20 about the bike as an integrated system. The bike, handlebars, wheels, and tires all have to be designed as a system to get the best performance. If other bike manufacturers follow this trend I wonder how the component manufacturers will respond. Will Zipp for example start making Venge/Madone/Aeroad/AR/S5 different edition wheels, or will they get squeezed out of the ultra high end market?

[ultyguy]

"Our new Venge is more aero than our Shiv TT"

that one caught my eye, if it was true, why wouldn't Tony Martin by re-configuring a Venge for TTs?

[highdraw]

The most interesting comment to me was number 20 about the bike as an integrated system. The bike, handlebars, wheels, and tires all have to be designed as a system to get the best performance. If other bike manufacturers follow this trend I wonder how the component manufacturers will respond. Will Zipp for example start making Venge/Madone/Aeroad/AR/S5 different edition wheels, or will they get squeezed out of the ultra high end market?

If you think about it cobra...its a money grab by the OEM's. They basically want the revenue of the aftermarket and if they make parts proprietary...like the rear hub on the Diverge, stem and seat post on the Venge etc and increase this level of proprietary control they make more money. They sell aka market is under the guise of more performance. So yes the take away of discussion is integration but the driver is profit for extremely modest performance returns to the end user at a higher cost. Listen to what the engineer said...they are profiling riders in their data base and want to 'sell' them on a custom bike and we all know custom bikes cost more and this means more profit for big brother.

[ergott]

"Our new Venge is more aero than our Shiv TT"

that one caught my eye, if it was true, why wouldn't Tony Martin by re-configuring a Venge for TTs?

You still shouldn't change your position on the bike just because the bike might be more aero. TT geometry different from road.

[deek]

Full disclosure: I didn't read the whole interview. Sometimes it's hard to tell apart hype, advertising copy and truthfulness. In any case, it seems to me that a bicycle like the one in the picture will be aerodynamically great when the wind is coming straight ahead. However, in the case of an ever slight cross wind there will be a great deal of drag as is the case of a sail on a boat. But I'm no engineer.

Most bikes actually are faster at some point other than when the wind is directly head on:

[cobrakai]

Yes I think their motivation was made clear when they compared themselves to Apple. I'm a proponent of aerodynamics but not at the cost of being totally locked into a proprietary system, although I don't mind the seatpost as much as some of the other items. Realistically this isn't a bike that targets someone like me though.