-I'm sure you've all heard this before,
but I'm going to say again,
roughly 80% of air resistance that you experience
when cycling comes from your body,
remaining comes from your bike kit and equipment,
all of which is important and should be taken
into consideration.
If you do want to go faster on the bike,
obviously a fitness plays a big factor,
but your position and your equipment should not be overlooked.
Today, we've teamed up with the Notio.
We're going to be giving you five ways
that you can test your cycling aerodynamics.
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Let's start with probably the most basic of the tests,
and this is the roll-down test.
Now, this one's really quite simple.
You can perform yourself out on the road,
but with that does come some slightly more rough results,
but it does obviously provide a very nice indication,
and it can be performed about a power meter.
Ideally, you need to find a nice downhill that kicks straight
into a bit of an uphill at the end, a bit like a ski jump.
Then, from a standstill, don't paddle,
just roll down the hill and see how far up
the other side you get before grinding to a halt.
Simply track the time, speed and distance
that you get for each of your runs as you compare
different positions or kit.
Now, the only thing to be wary of with all of these tests
that are outdoors is that the weather isn't changing.
The wind and the air pressure remain the same throughout all the tests,
or obviously as close to you as you possibly can.
That means performing all the tests at the same time on the same day.
In addition to that as well, a very important ground rule
with all aero testing is that you shouldn't change
more than one variable or one thing at a time.
For instance, you don't change your position
and a piece of kit at the same time,
because therefore it'd be quite hard to decipher which has had
what effect in your results.
Then, moving on a level, I guess we have
the standard back yard field tests.
As the name suggests, this is another one
that you perform yourself out on the road,
with this you'll need a power meter and some way of measuring
your speed.
With that just comes some slightly more accurate results
when you compare it to the previous roll-down test.
This is one that I've performed numerous times before myself,
so, yes, I think if I can do it, pretty sure you guys can do it.
It's really quite simple.
What I've found, best practices using a nice flat
and relatively straight section of road
between two to three kilometers long.
I've actually known people to use existing Strava segments before,
or even going as far as creating a Strava segment,
so they've got the same start and endpoint on each of their runs.
The idea is quite simple really.
You try and travel at the same speed on each of your runs.
You monitor and track your power difference
between each of those.
For instance, if you're able to travel the same speed,
but put out less power,
that means you're more aerodynamic and you're onto a winner.
Obviously, the biggest issue or the biggest hindrance
may be actually being able to travel at the same speed.
Again, from experience, suggestion here,
it's having a good role in before the segment starts.
You hit that start point at the same speed
on each of those runs.
Another thing to bear in mind is that you can't control
all the variables such as the weather,
but you may unintentionally change your position
when you shouldn't have.
Also, just make sure you do a number of runs
on each of your setups to get the best results possible.
Following on from that, we have the Chung method
developed by Robert Chung.
Again, one that you could perform yourself out on the road.
Now, this is one that I've not actually done myself before,
but it does seem to be incredibly popular,
partly because it's a little bit more accurate, again,
than the previous two tests, but also because you can test
several variables off in the space of around 30 minutes.
You'll need a power meter and you need to find a quiet stretch
of road with a definite,
ride down one side of the hill and up the other side,
turning around at the top without touching your brakes
and repeating a few times over for each test
while staying in your position the whole time.
That is it really, the hill naturally allows you to slow down
without having to touch your brakes, or even move from the position
you're in on your bike each time.
Then, it's just simply a case of downloading your data
from your head unit or from your watch
into a free bit of software, which some of you may be familiar
with called "Golden cheetah."
Within this, load up the Aerolab Chung analysis tool
and enter a few specifics such as weight,
air density, and rolling resistance.
Don't worry. You can actually find the last two online quite easily.
Once these variables are entered, the software will be able
to calculate your drag and compare each of the runs.
Yes. This one's meant to be a very good option.
It's certainly been quite popular in the past.
It is definitely starting to sound a little more sophisticated as well,
but I must admit, it is also starting to sound
a little bit more complicated too.
Then, of course, you've got the option
of the velodrome or the wind turn.
Now, the benefit of both of these is, obviously,
that they're in a controlled environment.
In theory, they should provide more accurate and better results,
because we haven't got interference from external factors
and, hopefully, haven't got abnormalities,
the results from that.
Now, on the velodrome, the idea is quite simple.
You try and hold the same power on each of the runs,
and then track and monitor a change in your speed.
Very similar to that, the field test, just obviously
a little bit more accurate.
The drawback, however, is the cost, and then also the fact
that you can't just retest and pop into a velodrome
on any day of the week.
Typically, the higher the velodrome and for the testing will cost you
anywhere in the region of 400 to 600 pounds per session.
That cost and exclusivity just increases,
again, I'm afraid, for the wind tunnel,
because you're looking upwards of 700 pounds per session.
However, it is arguably the most accurate.
That is why so many brands use the wind tunnel for testing
of their products during the development phases
and pre-release,
because you can control and change everything,
including how the wind interacts with a ride
or a product at different speeds and even different angles.
Not only is there a downside in the cost,
but also the fact that it's not like the real world.
Now, so many riders come out of the wind tunnel
with a super low CDA
and then just cannot replicate that outdoors.
That's because maybe they had their head down super low.
That's really common in the wind tunnel.
Obviously, you're not going to do that outside,
but also they may have got themselves in a position
that they can't sustain outside and push the same power outside.
That's where I think it's time to talk about Notio.
In my opinion, this is a perfect blend
of that high accuracy whilst being readily accessible
and easy to retest.
Now, essentially, this device is a pitot tube,
like that you may have seen on F1 cars
or maybe even aeroplanes.
This device has got a bunch of sensors built into it that,
when you link that with a power meter
and a speed sensor,
can calculate your CDA, and your own bike performance
in real-time.
Now, I'm actually going to give this device a bit of a world today,
just a simple experiment, gilet fastened versus unfastened.
I think you'll know the results on this one,
but that's the idea, anyway.
For this, simply I've got to connect the Notio device,
the power meter and the speed sensor
to the Notio app, then just input a few specifics similar
to that "Golden cheetah."
In this instance, it's the bike weight,
the wheel circumference, and the role in resistance,
which, again, you can find very easily online, and that's it.
I think it's time for me to get going.
For this test, I'm using a good three to four kilometer flat section
of road as recommended, with no sharp turns
or anything that might cause me to decelerate.
I'm going to maintain 35 kilometers per hour throughout all my test runs
as I ride out along the section turn and then ride back all in position,
a total of approximately six to eight kilometers.
Wow, I've done my runs.
I've got all the data stored here on the Notio app.
You can also record it and collect it onto your head unit
as well if you like.
Now, no surprises, I think here really.
I did have a lower CDA and a quicker time
with the gilet fastened up.
They think I've really shocked anyone with that one.
The cool thing was, I had all that data
and very accurate data for that matter
within seconds of finishing the test and in a way
that I could quickly and easily understand.
In fact, you can go a step further.
If you've got a Garmin head unit, you can see that all in real-time
as you're riding along, which is a very cool feature.
They're planning to roll it out across other brands and devices soon.
Now, this Notio device will cost you in the region of $950,
which is similar to that of maybe wind tunnel testing.
The beauty with this one is that you have that to own,
to keep it, to use as of when you like.
If you do get some new kit or you change
and tweak your position,
you can quickly whiz out and verify that and check it.
Pretty cool, in my opinion.
Now, if you do have any more questions on aero testing
or the Notio device, please do drop them
in the comment section below.
I will try and get back to you.
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