Nibbles?
I reckon Wiggo to do well (hopefully very well) with Froome much closer than he was at the tour as he bailed from the road race early (unlike Wiggo who looked broken) and did more work on the tour.
As for the bike, it’s anything UCI aproved, and the UKsport bikes are supposedly as aero as a TT bike and stiff enough for road raceing so they just get a swap of wheels and handlebars. The reason they look different is the UCI specify a 3:1 ratio for aerofoil profile tubeing. Which means either very small sections (not stiff) or poor aerodynamics. The latest designs use a virtual aerofoil that looks like a normal one with the rear third chopped off. The theory is that the turbulance fills the void where the aerofoil should be so the tubes can be closer to being as stiff as possible whilst being just as aero as a full aerofoil. Where it’s really benificial is in a crosswind as the ‘tail’ of the aerofoil is always pointing downwind, so the harder the wind blows, the more the aerofoil generates lift in the opposite direction keeping the bike stable. The other place this has become important is wheels, where they used to taper down to the spokes they’re now almsot as round as the tyre profile on the inside as 50% of the time this is what faces foreward, and the old designs therefore had the front half od the wheel acting like a sail and the rear stalled which is why they handled badly in crosswinds.
Posted 11 years ago
