Commuting - Fairings-- but not on recumbents

Anybody ever try one?

Anybody ever try one?

Yes; I have one of these http://www.zzipper.com/Products/prod_upright.html

in some informal roll-down-the-incline tests I did it was good for about 1 mph increase from a full upright posture on a bike without the fairing.

Yeah, that's the brand I've seen. Have you tried them in winter riding? Seems like they might keep the hands warmer, and **maybe** the cyclist drier?

Yes; I have one of these

Are you still using it?

Do you have visibility problems with it? like at night?

Does it torque you with side winds?

I thought the expected gain was .7mph and not a full 1.0 mph.

Thanks for letting us know.

I thought the expected gain was .7mph and not a full 1.0 mph.
Either way, is such a speed gain on the downhill sections of a commuting trip considered "huge" enough to be worth the expense/effort? BTW what is the speed gain/loss when going uphills or in cross winds?

won't it flash a portion of your headlights back at you at night?

Most here were polite enough not to laugh to loudly
when I put a small universal motorcycle windshield
on my utility bike awhile back.

It works out fairly well but I don't do the speed thing so
it just keep me dry in the rain (until I stop) and adds some
frontage to the bike for visiablity. I bought it on e-bay for a
very few dollars. It's so small I doubt that it works very
well on a motorcycle but it's very OK on my bicycle.

Either way, is such a speed gain on the downhill sections of a commuting trip considered "huge" enough to be worth the expense/effort?

Thriller, for road bikes, weights 2.75 lbs and costs 325.
Mtn bike, weights 13 oz and costs $225.
No price listed for OS ZZ, unless it's $175 and weights 1.5 lbs with mounts.

Note warning that lights will be reduced in effectiveness even with clear fairings. Motor cycle fairings do not obstruct the lights as they will get scratched, catch bugs and slowly cloud up.

Gain: downhill about .7 mph, uphill will be slower because of the extra 2 lbs. Bent riders are going so slow they don't care and brag only about the downhill portions of the hills.

Company is still is business, BUT there is no evidence of continuing research.

I'm still waiting for an owner to describe actual experiences. I'm just going on theory. Some of the early testing had riders reported of handling issues when passed by semis. I don't know if that is still an issue or not. Because of the high profile of DF, you don't see many fairing or tail fairings made for them.

Switching to riding in the drops will give you about the same speed gain as a fairing. But you won't have a discussion starter. If you ride in superman position on aero bars, you'll gain about another mile per hour.

I'm less interested in potential speed gains, more interested in potential winter commuting gains-- staying drier, staying warmer, etc.-- contrasted with potential downsides.

Plus it's a good discussion starter. :)

it's a great discussion starter and not talked about enough.

Don't know it would help that much unless you are regularly facing 20+mph winds.
At speed a motorcycle fairing will keep most water off you, but at low speeds it only covers about 1/3 of fairing area. Fairings are more needed on motorcycles for warmth to cut down on wind chill. Check the wind chill table, and you can see the effect of a 10 to 15 mph wind reduction in wind chill. The thriller should help keep the hands warmer.

I think fairings should be a plus on a road bike just like they are on bents. There is more experimentation with bent fairings than with road fairings. What I would like to see:

1- front fairings with openings for head lights
2- sloped to angle backwards toward the rider like bent fairings
3- wind tunnel/downhill coast studies
4- more owner reports of experiences
5- test reports of dual fairings: head and tail fairings

Years ago there was a light wieght bike fairing. The key was to keep it tight. A friend made some speakers that fit nicely inside. It did have a decent effect on drag. Havent seen one in 16 years.

Yeah, that's the brand I've seen. Have you tried them in winter riding? Seems like they might keep the hands warmer, and **maybe** the cyclist drier?

I got it this spring, so this will be the first winter I'll be using it. It will be wet enough around here (Seattle area), so I'll also add a pair of road fenders. We'll see how it works out.

Are you still using it?

Do you have visibility problems with it? like at night?

Does it torque you with side winds?

I thought the expected gain was .7mph and not a full 1.0 mph.

Thanks for letting us know.

Yes, I'm still using it. I don't ride much at night if I can avoid it, but I don't think I've used it at night.

I've ridden both with it and without it down mountain passes with strong and swirling head and side winds and it didn't seem any worse with the fairing. Given the concave shape, I could see how winds that came from the side and rear might be more of a problem.

a good fairing on a bent will not have much effect on speed till you get to the 18 to 20mph speeds. then it has to be designed well. a tailbox can actualy do more. so if you want the effects to be faster speed you better be going faster.

Actually i'd just like a big handlebar bag that's mostly fairing. Make the frame out of an aero-shaped abs plastic with a little slide up windshield. Since the plastic would be part of the support structure of the 'box' it wouldn't add any real weight beyond what a typical h-bag. A little fairing might not sound like much, and i wouldn't use it to cover my hands etc... but a little bit could take a lot off a long day's ride.

Actually i'd just like a big handlebar bag that's mostly fairing. Make the frame out of an aero-shaped abs plastic with a little slide up windshield. Since the plastic would be part of the support structure of the 'box' it wouldn't add any real weight beyond what a typical h-bag. A little fairing might not sound like much, and i wouldn't use it to cover my hands etc... but a little bit could take a lot off a long day's ride.

What about some sort of clear bag that's attaches to the handlebar? similar to those old fashion photography hoods.

Yes, I'm still using it. .

Thank you for answering questions. I still may get one later. First I have to save up and get a new bike.

Yes SteveKnight, I knew about the speed needed for effect. I'm just starting to cross into the areas where it would be effective. Maybe in a year or two I'll be strong enough to warrant considering either a fairing or aero bars.

I got it this spring, so this will be the first winter I'll be using it. It will be wet enough around here (Seattle area), so I'll also add a pair of road fenders. We'll see how it works out.I live in Portland, so I'd be curious to know how it works out for you.

I forgot to mention another possible problem with fairings. We have bike lockers and the lights on the handlebar will not clear and so have to detach lights before putting bike in locker.

A fairing would definitely have to be unmounted and remounted to get inside the bike lockers.

The night problem is solvable by either cutting a hole in the plastic and putting the lights snug against the fairing or by just positioning the lights right against the fairing. It'd be a rube goldberg type of patchwork solution but would be better that light flash back.

What about some sort of clear bag that's attaches to the handlebar? similar to those old fashion photography hoods.

Actually i'm thinking that the shape of a handlebar bag be slightly adapted to a more fairing like nose shape, a small 'functionless' windscreen extending from the top would be the only actual 'fairing."

And the argument about the speed nessecary for a fairing to be effective is flawed. The research is flawed. It missed several things. Benifit over time vs just benifit over wattage or force. Then the argument of headwind, if fairings only work over 15 mph (or 20 or 25) then you'd only need to be moving 15 mph into a 5-10 mph headwind to get that nice big effect and i've ridden into worse. And the fact that every single peice of triatholon equipment designed to add 0.5% benifit would be totally and completely useless. (Arguable sure) But there is millions spent on aerodynamic shaping of seat posts, flushed bolts, internally routed cables and even aerodynamic flat profile handlebars... And yet a light fairing dosn't supposedly help? Math might look good but i know that dosn't work. Also, if you incorproated a handlebar bag into the design it becomes a functional device and the weight is less of an issue (since handlebar bags weigh 2-4 pounds and fairings about that it's a null equation...) Plus removing two waterbottles (i like them front mounted) from the slipstream has benifits...

I got it this spring, so this will be the first winter I'll be using it. It will be wet enough around here (Seattle area), so I'll also add a pair of road fenders. We'll see how it works out.Just checking in to see how commuting with a fairing turned out...

Sorry if this seems off topic, but if winter riding is the reason for a fairing, have you looked into pogies? A coworker/commuter uses them here and they seem like a good idea to me. Google "bike pogies" to check them out. Add a neoprene face mask and overboots, you can handle pretty low temps.

Yeah, those look like a good idea.

But what I was wondering with the fairing is whether it keeps you drier & warmer, as well as decreasing wind resistance. Seems to me that it has unrealized potential for winter commuters, and there's a guy in Seattle who's testing one out this winter, so I'm curious as to what his results are.