Originally Posted by
zze86
OK, last time I'm going to talk about fairings, I wasn't intending this to be about fairings.
No, fairings are not hard tech but to pull it off in an aesthetically functional way does require effort.
I firmly believe if the Pro's were significantly cutting down their times in a semi-attractive package, we'd see the amateurs adopt it and then the road bikers etc. and eventually it just becomes the norm.
Just look at STIs/brifters. Remember how bulbous and weird looking they were? 30 years later however they are completely mainstream.
The idea that everything trickles down from racers is just wrong. Disc brakes and flat bars, for example, flowed from mountain biking, and really are descended more from motorcycles than any kind of UCI racing. Faring is used a bit in motorcycles, but it definitely isn't the norm. Never used it myself on a bicycle, but basically it looks like it would be awkward and inconvenient, and the nature of the item is going to require a fairly large minimum size.