Wednesday, February 5, 2014

isn't it just a fairing?

The estimable Dave C sent me a link about this some time ago, and I've just run into it again:


From the associated article:

According to Petkovsek and his business partners, the drag coefficient of the Speed Up Bag is 60 percent lower than that of a standard handlebar bag. Additionally, use of one of the bags is said to lower the rider's own drag by approximately 15 percent, as it channels air away from the concave wind-catching surface of their chest and abdomen. This reportedly results in an average cycling speed increase of 6 percent, or 10 percent more range in the case of an electric bike.
If the use of an item increases speed by 6%, it doesn't matter if you can put something in it or not. If it were legal for racers, I'm sure they'd already have them. I'm reminded of that fully-faired recumbent on Winter Larry's ride in early December that I found so disheartening (the ride, not the bike... well the bike, too, but for a different reason).

 Besides, it's ugly. No thanks.

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