Mine's still somewhere in the garage, used it for winter commuting '80-'83 or so. Rode with it a bit at LAW's Gear-Up, when it was held in New Paltz, NY ('82?). Drew some interest and some snickers. Never felt much faster with it, but it did make winter riding a lot more pleasant.
It can be a little noisy over bumps, the plastic squirms and resonates. I never had issues with it fogging up, but I seldom tucked low enough that I was predominantly looking through it. The brake lever mounting brackets are soft aluminum and kind of primitive, never really fit the hoods well, made the hoods very thick (bracket plus wide velcro strap to hold bracket in place). Sometimes the brackets would "walk" out from underneath the velcro strap, I'd either have to stop and reset the brackets, or, more often, try to shove them back under the strap while riding.
I also had The Edge, a more-aero black plastic fairing. The Edge didn't have a quick-release mount, there were some internal struts that somehow bolted to the brake levers. IIRC, pretty hazy memories now. The Edge lived on my commuter for a while, kinda looked like a bad attempt at a faired BatBike. It came with a zippered nylon bag to hang between the struts, I'd keep my wallet and keys there. I rigged light switches in plastic 35mm film cans and mounted them inside the fairing. I eventually brazed a bunch of bottle cage bosses onto my fork for a more solid, direct mount. Also added headlight mounts, light wire guides and assorted other crap. I took it to Cuevas for paint, and Francisco smiled and shook his head when he saw my handiwork.
The Edge is long gone, I'll have to see if I can find the Zzzzippppppper.
Originally Posted by
holden west
This is inspired by the
Brands You Are Surprised Are Still around thread.
I remember ads for Zzipper fairings in the back of the old 80s bike magazines. I was surprised to see they were
still in business. I've never seen one in the wild. I've only seen fairings on recumbents, not on upright bikes, let alone racing bikes.
It was well known at the time fairings weren't allowed in sanctioned races and they were strictly for training or recreational use.
But they look like they would seriously cut wind resistance. Cyclists obsess over dubious tiny theoretical advantages of aero seatposts and saddles why not fairings? We ride sub-16 pound bikes although they are forbidden by the UCI--why not forbidden fairings? Is it the Fred factor?
