Big name Grand Tour riders spend thousands on windtunnel time perfecting their TT position. But now the guys at A2 Windtunnel in Mooresville NC have opened up their state-of-the-art facility to racers of all levels with a testing package that costs less than a good disk wheel. PEZ went into the wind and got blown away…
We’ve all read the reports over the winter - big name Grand Tour riders hunkering into a wind tunnel to study, adjust, and perfect their time trial positions… translating to much faster times on the road. PEZ may not have any Grand Tour aspirants, but we figured there was plenty to learn from some tunnel time of our own under the guidance of wind/tech-maestro Mike Giraud.
I've often wondered about those wind tunnel excursions that every superstar seems to make to eke out that last little bit of time in a time trial - and how much could some tunnel time of my own improve my TT position?
My questions were recently answered as I booked in for a few hours with Mike Giraud at the A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina in early March.
If you're not a NASCAR fan or aren't from the South, Mooresville doesn't mean too terribly much, but to everyone else: this is NASCAR country, and the drive to the wind tunnel proved just that as I turned onto Route 3 - that's Dale Earnhardt's road, Big E.
Yeah, that's nice. Bikes are fast, cars...much faster. A2 is well established among the good ol' boys of Nascar.
Banks of computer screens report back all kinds of data.
When you first enter, you head in toward the control center and some very nice looking computers with lots of numbers and whatnot that meant absolutely nothing to me when I walked in the door, but a whole heckuva lot more when I left. And now, I'll forever be wondering about my coefficient of drag when I'm on the bike...even when I'm in a normal crit or road race it pops into my mind. You know what they say about knowledge...
Meet A2
I'll let the A2 boys take it from here for the technical nitty gritty on just how this bad boy works:
"A2 is capable of testing up to 85 mph, while allowing aero force calculations for virtually any speed by scaling the force data with fundamental aerodynamic calculations. Our tunnel utilizes a passive boundary layer system and an adaptable ceiling in order to make A2 an incredibly versatile wind tunnel, capable of testing many different types/styles of vehicles. We want to break the mold of expensive wind tunnel testing, and help educate racers who thought wind tunnel testing could never be possible for them."
In 2007 a new system was developed for testing bicycles in the A2 wind tunnel. A separate data collection system was added specifically for aerodynamic testing of the cyclist community. Also added was a digital video camera system (front, side, top) to give the riders a better understanding of what is happening with their position through the use of video playback and image overlays to see these changes. A separate platform was developed that allows spinning wheels (front/rear), ± 25 degrees yaw capability and is also integrated with a Computrainer® in order to give the rider realistic feedback. You can visit the website for more specific information about the bicycle testing program.
Walking into the wind tunnel's housing area is an experience in itself - it's huge, and the peculiarly shaped tunnel definitely beckons you inside for a closer look. I had never seen anything like it before, and I'm guessing I won't come across anything like it in the foreseeable future either.
If the A2 Windtunnel is good enough for George Hincapie, it’s good enough for me.
Down To The Real Work
Just visiting the wind tunnel would be very cool, but I was here to get on the bike and see just how 'aero' I am. The first thing Mike did was take some basic measurements from my bike to use as our base lines. He also did me the big favor of hooking me up with some aero wheels for the testing.
My initial position on the bike was fairly simple - somewhat upright, arms a bit wide apart. It seems to work for Millar and Wiggins, why not me, right? Absolutely not is the correct answer here...which I found out fairly quickly.
Mike told me that on the bike, your body makes up for 80% of the drag, which makes perfectly good sense that my body would cause a bit more drag on the air flowing over me than the tiny bike and wheels that I'm riding.
With this in mind, it becomes apparent just how much performance can be gained by working on my body position. People are willing to shell out thousands to whittle off a few seconds here and there via a disc, or tri-spoke, or TT bike, but a proper, fast as humanly possible position for your own body type will make those seconds you can buy with equipment look embarrassingly small. Mike mentioned two vital components that should come before that new TT bike and wheels (with aero bars being the permanent #1 must): aero helmet and skinsuit. Of course, when he said this, I blushed a bit, because I had neither.
Our starting point - wide bars and wide hands.
How low can we go...? Let's find out.
The front end of my bike would be the focus of today's work. How could we eke out as much of an aerodynamic advantage as possible? How tight and low could I go before I went too far? There is obviously a limit, and once you cross that, it doesn't matter you aerodynamic you are if you can't pedal hard.
The short answer to all of this? Bring the elbows as close together as possible and drop the bars. That sounds easy, but there was a lot of work to be done to find out exactly how close, exactly how low.
We did at least 15 different set-ups. Each time, Mike came in, made an adjustment, told me to get ready, and then VRAAAAAAAM! the fans turned on, the air blew cold and fast (do NOT forget your sunglasses), and I tried to pedal as evenly as possible and move as little as possible to help get the most accurate reading - the pedaling sections of the day were definitely not more than a minute, but probably around the 30-45 second mark, and yes, they do begin to wear on you after multiple, multiple samples.
After which, he'd come out, we'd discuss a bit, he'd tell me the results, and then we'd try another tweak. My initial position was scrapped immediately. The first change we made was bringing the bars closer together. That went well, so the next change brought them entirely together. It still wasn't a problem for me, because my shoulders are narrow and roll over nicely allowing me to keep breathing with a very narrow frontal area.
The arms are closer, the back lower... I'm starting to look like a TT racer.
After that, it was time to move the bars down and keep monitoring how I felt with all of the changes. Every time Mike came out, the numbers got better and better. Every change we made was a significant improvement to the last.
After a certain point, we had seemingly maxed out my low end on the fork - but Mike knows his way around a bike fairly well after wrenching for some awesome teams like the Saturn juggernaut and Rona - he took the top cap of the headset off and voila a little more drop created and an even better position.
The final tweaks were some of the most interesting because at this point the intuitive nature of the process started fading a bit. At one point, we pulled the bars back a little bit toward me in hopes of making me more ball-like, but instead of bringing down my drag coefficient (CdA), there was actually a significant jump, as the shape of my back actually made such a move impossible. An effective position for me is definitely on the more stretched out side of things - of course, whilst remaining within the pesky UCI limits.
That paragraph is obviously specific to me, but that's the point, everybody is different on a bike, and each person's basic physical characteristics really impact their position on a time trial bike, and the guys at A2 have the knowledge, experience, and creativity to find what works best for any individual.
How’d I Do?
At the end of the session, we discussed in detail what we had learned. He had been keeping me posted on the data throughout, but once I got a chance to actually sit down and look at it, the changes became very apparent. The changes to my frontal area had reduced my CdA by 15%, which in more real terms resulted in a 10% reduction in my aero-wattage required to pedal at 30mph in the tunnel. This measurement doesn’t account for rolling resistance or drive train friction, but that 10% saved wattage is a pretty good indicator of more speed on the road.
And I still have even more improvement to be made just by adding a TT helmet and a skinsuit.
I was able to look at myself on the computer (always a plus) from three different angles (front, top, side) in every position I tried that day. This filming was then burned to a dvd, and now I'll have that forever to be able to go back and check on. The raw data was also copied to disc along with the exact measurements of my new position. It's a fantastic opportunity for me now to go out into the season with this knowledge, and be able to always go back and have this day's work as a baseline.
The final position of the front end set up reduced my drag by almost 15%.
The Vital Part
The cost. Surprisingly, for something so precise and so pro (I mean, we're in Lance Armstrong territory here), the costs are reasonable. A2 has officially lowered their pricing to $390 per hour, and the typical session will be in the 2-3 hour range. That's less than the cost of a good disc wheel - !
They're open for business and it's not that hard to get booked in right now - although that could change after a few of you read this article...
Time trials aren't everything, but to anyone that takes them even mildly seriously, it's very nice to have this kind of top level tech and expertise available to everyone. This kind of testing was once reserved for top pros only, but now the rest of us can make some real headway into finding that position for going REALLY fast. Of course, it still all comes down to pedaling your bike as hard as possible, but it's sure nice to reap every bit of reward possible out of what you've got.
Book Yourself In!
• Visit www.A2WT.com
for more information or call the office at (704) 799-1001.
THANKS! to the folks at Blue Bikes for providing me with a bike that I could work with and proved more than capable in the wind tunnel. Make sure to have a look at the burgeoning company at BlueBikes.com.
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
As the final Madison got underway the arena was packed to the rafters, all the talk of Six Days in crisis forgotten for now. The finale was ... More....
Six Day racing comes to Berlin for the 99th time on Thursday, 28th January, 2010 with the great tradition of winter track racing in Germany in a ... More....
American Classic spent the last couple of years reworking their line up and the 420 Aeros are the latest to leave the bench. Take a look at the new ... More....
A couple years in the making, Pez head up to see arguably the top custom builder on the planet. We hit Serotta's NY shop, take a peek at their ... More....
You’ve still got today and all of tomorrow to ‘git ‘er done! Your holiday shopping that is… and armed with the complete set of 4 gift guides ... More....
If the stocking's not full - somebody's not doing their job. Good thing we're here to help with a big ol' bag full of the kind of stuff we'd love to ... More....
Winter riding is almost upon us - except for you lucky Aussies - and that means less riding outdoors. But with an indoor trainer and a Netflix ... More....
Many ergogenic aids, both legal and illegal, have been touted as the magic bullet that will improve cycling performance. What about something that ... More....
Having goals is one of the important first steps in achieving your dreams. They can be small goals or they can be big goals, but without them you’ll ... More....
Is cycling your religion, or at least one of them? If so, you’re not alone. Many people define themselves as “spiritual,” even if they don’t practice ... More....
Post-Giro Roadside: I love Scotland; but there’s no Gazzetta in the morning, most of the coffee tastes like John Wayne brewed it beside the ... More....
Sunday July 20th 1969; that’s 40 years ago now but I remember it clearly as the day that I first became aware of professional bicycle racing – I was ... More....
Roadside Recap: As we make our merry way through the rounds of the PEZ Looks Back, Ed is up for his retrospective on the Tour that was. As the ... More....
Coming on four years ago, Saul Raisin was one of THE big things in US pro cycling. Top 40 in a hard Tour de Suisse and mountain king at the Tour de ... More....
The last time we spoke to Garmin's Steve Cozza was after the 2008 Paris - Tours; where he produced another solid performance from a consistent and ... More....
Just about to start his second season with Cervélo - thanks to strong Classic rides and his first Grand Tour finish, in the Giro - Englishman, Dan ... More....
In October, nine-time Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu announced that he would be Director Sportif of the Ohio-based KENDA Pro Cycling p/b ... More....
With so many (too many?) others looking back to best-of-2009 or decade highlights, why not look ahead? A new decade beckons, after all, so who better ... More....
We first talked with Lostende Bike Tours owner and avid cyclist Allan Reeves about his Pyrenees Cycling Challenge, from the Atlantic to the ... More....
So, riding in Texas is mostly flat, with only tumbleweeds and armadillos to avoid right? Well, not exactly. You see, Austin is situated in what’s ... More....
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
Race report: Alejandro Valverde stayed upright to seal his Vuelta victory – the first Grand Tour win of his career. On such a short stage, ... More....
Race Report: Today David Millar won his 5th stage in all his Vuelta’s, he was given one of the swords that Toledo is famous for along with the ... More....
The loss of Franco Ballerini is not one that will be forgotten anytime soon. The sport's best are at a loss and two of the greatest riders of our ... More....
Updated! Hallelujah, they're racing in Qatar, and I just got back from celebrating with every other New Orleanian on Bourbon Street. There's ... More....
It was a dark Sunday morning in Italy when the news services announced that Franco Ballerini, ex-professional, former dual Paris-Roubaix winner and ... More....
The maracas shake, 'Cara mia, mine !' blasts from the PA. Bang! The little cannon fires and the hall fills with smoke. Yes, this is the right place, ... More....
When the K-Mart Classic of West Virginia stormed through the state in the mid-90s, it opened awareness as to just how great the bike riding is in ... More....
After riding the final 17 sectors of Paris-Roubaix yesterday, and typing to you with still swollen, sore, and blistered hands, I understand to my ... More....
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/amclass/amc420alarge.jpg",900,698);)
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/serotta/meilarge.jpg",2000,1244);)
