Originally Posted by
Maelochs
Aero resistance ramps up exponentially as speed increases so it takes a Lot more power to go from 30 mph to 32 mph than it does to go from 15 to 16. And at 15 mph aero drag, while still the biggest thing you back, is minuscule compared to drag a to drag at 20.If you are not expending that many watts to begin with, the savings are going to be pretty small—probably not noticeable. .
Originally Posted by
asgelle
To set the record straight, aero drag goes quadratically as speed, not exponentially. It takes 21% more power to go from 30 to 32 mph; it also takes 21% more to go from 15 to 16 mph. The drag at 15 mph is 56% that at 20 mph.
Originally Posted by
seamuis
translation: pretty much nothing matters, aerodynamically speaking, at speeds below what pro racers average. So a skin suit is perfectly designed for the people it’s designed for. Therefore the cost is irrelevant. If you’re not one of those peoples, you have no reason to even care that they exist, much less wether they’re worth the cost.
Originally Posted by
asgelle
You completely misunderstood my post. If you have something to say, say it yourself. Don’t hide behind someone else.
Actually, @
seamuis pretty much translated my post.
I am not a mathematician. I do understand that aero drag increases at a rate in multiples of speed, not directly, so that id you go twice as fast, the drag quadruples ... or some such. I thought it went by the square of the irate of increase ... but the basic principle is the same. if you go slowly, drag is relatively low. If you go a little faster, drag increases even more quickly. if you go way faster, drag balloons and gets to be huge.
Therefore ... if you are riding at 15 mph, the aero drag isn't huge, but if you are riding at 25 it is. if you are trying to get from 30 to 32 mph, the wattage increase is proportional to the increase in drag, which is Way more than the increase in drag going from 15 to 16 mph. (And yes, I see where @
asgelle claims it takes the same watt increase to go from 15-16 as from 30-32---but since the aero resistance is about three times as great or more, i don't see how that makes sense since you need power to overcome resistance and the resistance is not growing in a linear fashion... why would required wattage? Whatever.)
So, while anyone Can wear a skinsuit, it might not make much of a difference---spend the money on hiring a coach or something. or buy a skinsuit and wear it proudly--I don't care.
I have seen a couple different charts showing how much each alteration translates into a time advantage---but those all presuppose a person riding flat-out over a 40-k TT or some such.(I notice they all claim radically different numbers, which makes me totally doubt their accuracy. Science is performing the same experiment and getting approximately the same result. if one gets a number twice what the other got, someone is doing it wrong--maybe both.)
Also, this chart lists aero bars and an aero position ... but how can one achieve an full aero position without aero bars? Hmmmm .....
In any case ... even a hardcore pro TT expert isn't going to gain much from wearing a skinsuit when he is riding around the block with his kids on their bikes with training wheels. So, pretty much, at speeds below what the really fast riders ride, that skin suit is likely not the most effective investment.
Still might be the right purchase. That is a personal thing. I never see sea lions while out riding.