(triumphant music plays)
- Since retiring, I've been wondering just one thing.
Can a beer belly make you faster?
- How? I hear you ask.
Well, there is a precedent for this.
Back in 2011, Frank Schleck wore a CamelBak hydration system
backwards, on his front, during the
Critérium International time trial.
And at the time, the Gazzetta dello Sport claimed
that this offered a significant aero advantage,
as much as two seconds per kilometer.
- Oh! That's quite a lot, that.
The UCI then investigated this, and subsequently banned
all riders from using hydration packs, or CamelBaks,
on their fronts, as these act as a faring,
giving the riders an aerodynamic advantage.
- We have spoken to cycling aerodynamics guru,
Dan Bigham at WattShop, who it turns out
has actually tested this for real
on a number of riders. - No.
You mean other people are as crazy as we are?
- Yeah. - Ah!
- So he sent over a load of data,
now, we anonymized this for the riders in question,
'cause they don't want their data shared,
but, I can tell you it does contain men, women,
world tour riders, and competitive amateurs alike.
So, it's pretty interesting stuff, and it was all tested
in a controlled environment of a velodrome,
and in each case, there was either a CamelBak
or some padding fit to the rider, below
the heart rate strap on their tummy.
We've got data from six riders here.
Now, rider one was 11 watts faster
at 48 kilometers an hour with some padding attached.
Rider two was three watts faster at 48 kilometers an hour.
Rider three was 2.5 watts faster and that was
their fastest speed at 53 kilometers an hour.
Rider four was six watts faster at 45 kilometers an hour.
Rider five, neutral, no benefit sticking the belly on.
And rider six was actually four watts slower,
so some riders gaining substantially from it,
some riders it wasn't really much different,
and some riders were slower.
But on the whole, the trend is, that it's actually faster.
- Yeah, and what's five watts may not sound like a lot,
it is measurable, and that can be the difference
between winning and losing, or, in fact,
setting new world titles or not.
- Yeah, it can be a significant amount of difference.
This got us thinking here at GCN.
What if you have a natural faring?
One that you've spent weeks, months, maybe even years
down the pub, perfecting, honing, and sculpting
into the optimally aerodynamic shape.
- Well, if you do weigh more, you will be slower
when you accelerate uphill or on the flat,
but once up to speed, your weight has little impact,
and, in fact, aerodynamics become the dominant force.
- Yeah, and undeniably weighing more will have
a slight penalty when climbing,
but does every cloud have a silver lining?
Even potbelly-shaped clouds?
- Hmm, well, the UCI can take your CamelBak,
but they can't take your love handles, so.
- Well, you guessed it.
It's time for an experiment.
- Do we start at the pub?
- Not yet.
(upbeat techno music)
To try and replicate the results,
myself and Opie will both ride
a predetermined out-and-back section of road,
that's fairly constant in gradient,
allowing us to keep on the power,
and is around 10 minutes long,
well, depending on how fast we go.
This isn't the most accurate test in the world
but to make it as accurate as possible,
we're going to be riding the same bike on both runs,
both myself and Opie, and we're going to be maintaining
the same position on both runs.
The only variable that we're changing is
either having a belly or not having a belly.
Also, with regards to the power output we produce,
it will be slightly different,
we're going to aim to hold the same power output
on both runs, but any slight differences can be computed
and accounted for once we process the data.
(upbeat techno music)
- We've done our first runs, and now we need
to repeat the experiment, but with beer bellies.
It's gonna be tough, man, we're gonna have to
put in weeks of training with a strict diet,
loads of discipline, and dedication.
- A strict, but nonrestrictive,
"see food and eat it" kind of diet?
- Yeah. - Nice.
(retro dance music)
Come on Ollie, we all know you have data,
share the results with us. - Right.
I've computed them in the laptop
and the data appears to suggest an average saving, for me,
of about two watts when traveling at 35 kilometers an hour.
Now that isn't a lot, and almost insignificant
when I was going even slower than that,
but it increases the faster you go.
So at 48 kilometers an hour, the saving is actually
a few more watts than that and actually quite significant.
Now I don't travel at 48 kilometers an hour all the time,
contrary to popular belief, but it would certainly help
when descending, or riding with a strong tailwind, I guess.
- Yup. - Now, your results.
Now you rode a little bit faster than me
on out-and-back section, and-
- I was trying to.
- Yeah (laughs).
Perhaps, as a result, you saw a bigger aerodynamic gain,
'cause your average saving was nearer to five watts,
which is pretty significant.
- Yeah, I mean, you may or may not feel that
and it's kind of counterintuitive in my mind,
because we often talk about frontal area
and you would think having a bigger belly,
it'd be more frontal area,
but it actually fills the void
because humans aren't particularly aerodynamic on bikes.
- [Ollie] Yeah.
- And you know, otherwise, without that big belly there,
you're kind of like a parachute riding along.
- Yeah. I mean it's still really surprising to me.
- You know what, it did feel quite fast,
and, well, it was a bit of fun.
- So there you have it.
Now, you might not be concerned about saving
four or five watts, but next time someone accuses you
of having a belly, you can correct them.
It's not a belly.
It's actually a finely-tuned and sculpted
aerodynamic faring, designed to optimize
athletic performance against the clock.
- Well, I've heard a rumor that Dan Lloyd
likes a beer or two, so he will be thrilled
with this revelation, I'm sure.
And I bet he'll give this video a thumbs-up,
so make sure you do to,
and if you're in the need of a bottle opener,
check out the one we have available on the shop.
- It's our pickle. I like it, see always thinking.
And, if you're feeling hungry after watching this video,
then why not check out one of Emma's awesome videos
where she makes her oat cuisine porridge.