Several pro riders are moving to much narrower bars for the aero benefits. Steven Sweedler Plymouth, New Hampshire
On Mon, Feb 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM Garth <garth...@gmail.com> wrote: > Well yes Patrick, knobbies and wider tires in general catch more wind in a > notable way. Fenders add to this also. I study the designs and specs of pro > road and TT racing bikes and they are all pretty much on 700c 28mm tires, > give or take a few mm's. Aerodymanics is the current "frontier" of the > racing world. It's not just the dedesign of a given part, wheel > diameter/width, or the frame, but the rider and bike as one entitre unit. > They now consider aerodymamics even in regular road races as vital. As a > "normal/average" non-competetive rider it's easy to get so caught up in the > design of the bike and ignore that the riders own bodily form/position is > the largest form of resistance. That's if it even concerns one ! I also > surely notice a difference in ease of riding with drop bars at below the > saddle height contrasted to wide Albatross bars 2-3 above. Plus clothing > also, I'm wearing form fitting road stuff now and I can feel and hear the > difference. > > I'm not sure what TT racing Rodbikes.com is referring to because I see all > 700c wheels(save XS sizes) and 25-28mm tires in road and track TT bikes. > > > On Monday, February 24, 2025 at 2:04:28 AM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > >> Even though we are a month or more away from our strong spring winds, >> recent storm systems have brought cold, precipitation, and high winds to >> Albuquerque. I was out on a ditchbank road on Saturday and got caught in >> squalls; on Tuesday on a heavy-headwind return on an out-and-back; and >> today had a very pleasant ride, warm in upper 50s with mile high sun, with >> 13-15 gusts in 20s, this last time riding the Riv custom, Joe Starck fixed >> gear gofast. >> >> Every time I get back on the gofast, this over the 26 years (in April) >> that I’ve owned it, it just feels perfect: fit, ease of pedaling; it’s my >> bike geometry and saddle/bar position benchmark. I was struck today at how >> easy it seemed to pedal against a headwind of teens gusts to 20s, this >> despite the 76” gear that is higher than the flatland cruising gears on my >> other 2 bikes; tho’ I took it easy in the hooks. I did not move the chain >> to the 19/68. >> >> OTOH, Tuesdays’ return against admittedly stronger winds on the IGH >> Matthews was just plain old work, tho’ again, stronger winds and Ortlieb >> Bikepackers in back. OTOH again, I was in 2nd, 65”; it still felt harder to >> pedal. And the dirt road Matthews on Sat with 28 1/2” tall knobbies (small, >> closely spaced knobs on the Oracle Ridges) — even with fenders — was very >> certainly harder to push against the headwind, even geared down to 65” and >> 60,” with 175s instead of 170s. Deep in the hooks on all 3 of the bikes. >> Riding in the hooks of drop bars gives two headwind advantages, less area >> exposed to the wind, but just as much or perhaps even more, new muscles >> called into play. >> >> The gofast, stripped of all except 2 Iris cages, one with a bottle and a >> Ruthworks large saddle wedge, and its short* 24 3/4” tall*) 559X27 mm >> (actual; labeled 32) RH Elk Passes just seems to cut through the wind >> better. >> >> Saturday’s ride made me sore in the quads and, oddly, in the upper arms; >> this compounded by Tuesdays’ ride; but today most of it had gone. You feel >> it more at 70 (next month) than when younger. >> >> I remember 30 years ago when I started riding fixed in our ABQ winds: I’d >> fight them and get discouraged. It took me what, 5 years, perhaps more, to >> learn to back off and slow my cadence to match the resistance. I was glad >> today that I’d internalized that lesson, and the ride was very pleasant and >> the pace sustainable despite the harder work. >> >> I daresay this interests me more than it interests others, but over the >> years I’ve found it very interesting that headwinds certainly do affect >> tall and fat tires and above all, knobby tires. Pushing y Monocog 29ers or >> even the Bontrager Race Lite 26er with heavily knobbed tires was >> particularly painful against strong winds.. >> >> * Recall reading claims on the Rodriguez site that 650C (“see”, 571 bsd) >> is better for time trials because the shorter wheels resist the air less. >> I’m prepared to believe that. >> >> Patrick Moore, who will shortly switch from the Phil with 17/19 Dingle to >> the SA TC hub with direct and 86.54% underdrive — 76” and 66” for March and >> April winds.. >> >> -- >> >> Patrick Moore >> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing >> services >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* >> >> *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* >> >> *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f1efe4ce-cb12-4787-a98b-9116c3210331n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f1efe4ce-cb12-4787-a98b-9116c3210331n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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