Comments on: Drafting Aerodynamics

By: some numbers we didn’t know about cycling in a row « Alex’s Blog

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:11:30 +0000

[...] some numbers we didn’t know about cycling in a row Jump to Comments Drafting Aerodynamics [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:29:18 +0000

I have a friend who used to race motorbikes. He told me that when you draft someone at 200km/hr, you could use the infront motorbike’s wake to actually make him unstable and knock him off if not careful. Not sure how true this is

By: Jorge

Jorge — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:13:37 +0000

I have definately noticed the wheel sucker effect on fast downhills. It feels like you get a little push when someone comes into ones draft. I think that to feel this you have to be going at least 50 mph.

By: jittery hubbard

jittery hubbard — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:01:29 +0000

I tell you what if you can hold dylan’s wheel when he is in full flight you can forget about all the percentages .. you are just doing well !

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:46:21 +0000

I have a feeling the research was funded by Wheels Suckers Association :-)

By: Cmoore

Cmoore — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:43:55 +0000

I think Dylan Newell of Praties wrote a paper on this effect and came to the same conclusion.

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:01:17 +0000

The psychological drag co-efficient of the wheel sucker is at least 3% so at best it’s neutral. I say cut them loose from the herd like a wildebeest.

By: MikeonHisBike

MikeonHisBike — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:33:17 +0000

That is good stuff to know. Guess wheel suckers are a good thing after all.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:21:24 +0000

Wouldn’t the fourth rider be expending more energy than the third rider in the 4-man pace line? After all, the fourth rider has no one behind him?