Riding Position into head/side winds
Clever Pun
Posts: 6,778
A friend mentioned that for side winds you should adjust your arms & shoulders to use the wind much like a sailboat would...
Anyone care to shed and light on this?
thanks
Anyone care to shed and light on this?
thanks
Purveyor of sonic doom
Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
Fixed Pista- FCN 5
Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
Fixed Pista- FCN 5
Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
0
Comments
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Possibly. Here is one piece of text about about side winds:
"Where should you carry your drink bottle? In the following cases, the base case is the rider riding on the brake hoods. It appears that a drink bottle provides an advantage particularly with strong side winds. One explanation is that the drink bottle provides a "sail effect" that acts to reduce drag"
if it works with a bottle, I imagine it will work with your arms and body.
Here's the link: http://www.analyticcycling.com/RiderAeroStudy.html0 -
Clever Pun wrote:A friend mentioned that for side winds you should adjust your arms & shoulders to use the wind much like a sailboat would...
Anyone care to shed and light on this?
thanks
A sailboat adjusts its wing to generate forward force from side winds. It can do this because the sail is an aerofoil - think of it as a wing, with forwards being "up". Your arms and shoulders are NOT aerofoils, so your friends theory is incorrect. I would therefore suggest that you continue to optimise the position of your arms and shoulders for i. hanging on to the bike and ii. not getting a crick in your neck.
However, riding a safe distance behind your friend in windy conditions should be great for a laugh - if you get one of those gusty uncertain winds he'll look like he has disco fever!0 -
meanwhile wrote:
However, riding a safe distance behind your friend in windy conditions should be great for a laugh - if you get one of those gusty uncertain winds he'll look like he has disco fever!
Purveyor of sonic doom
Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
Fixed Pista- FCN 5
Beared Bromptonite - FCN 140