Commentary
on Aerodynamic
Drag Area of Cyclists Carl D Paton Sportscience 10, 70, 2006
(sportsci.org/2006/cdp.htm) |
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Any sport scientist or
coach working with competitive cyclists or triathletes will appreciate this
excellent piece of work (and associated spreadsheet) by Jim Martin and colleagues.
Aerodynamic drag is by far the most important retarding force in both road
and track cycling and reducing drag can lead to substantial improvements in
performance. Often little attention
is paid to improving a cyclist's aerodynamics, because calculating drag characteristics
generally requires expensive wind tunnel testing facilities, which very few
athletes have access to. With this spreadsheet all you now need to calculate
the cyclist's drag characteristics is a reliable power-measuring device (such
as SRM or PowerTap), a few cheap environmental measuring devices, and a
suitable cycling venue (and maybe a bit of patience). Interestingly, a new
power measuring device called the iBike uses a calibration roll-down procedure to establish a rider's drag
characteristics, which then allows power output to be calculated from speed. Using Jim's spreadsheet
will allow sport scientists and coaches to easily compare drag characteristics
between cyclists and, more importantly, allow an assessment of the effects of
changing a rider’s position on aerodynamics. I have little doubt that the
spreadsheet will provide robust calculations of drag characteristics and will
become widely used within the cycling-science fraternity. Published Dec 2006. Back to article/homepage
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