Originally Posted by
79pmooney
The Zzippers are surprisingly good in crosswinds and a strong cross-tailwind can be very fast! With the fairing acting like a sailboat spinnaker. Much faster than downwind.
repechage, so you are sticking with "Reducing aero drag? Doubtful"? What is your evidence or experience? I ask because my "correction" was based on thousands of miles riding fairings. I regularly gear my fix gears up a tooth when I put on a fairing. (I'd go more, but the fairing does not help when the gear is the hardest; going uphill.)
Ben
Editing a quote to totally change the meaning is bad form.
I stand by my statement that for cold weather protection they work, in a crosswind they are bad, it places a large volume ahead of the steering center, not good for control. As an aerodynamic drag reducer they will be quite variable. On a descent where speeds can predictably exceed 25 mph, probably, except that problematic center of volume ahead of the steering axis. A fairing does not reduce frontal area, best it can do is help direct airflow around a portion of the rider. On a recumbent where the fairing could fully extend to the frontal perimeter of the rider I can fully see that being of assistance, but the lateral surface area is still biased forward, if mounted to the frame and not the steering, that might help a bit.