burnthesheep

I thought about this one a good bit before deciding to respond.

What I find weird about the folks that are super fast on low watts is that the modern ideas behind some of the positions basically make things a "one trick pony".

In other words, that guy or gal might be silly fast at 25mph on only 200w.......but their CdA will not be that great for 28mph or 30mph.

Why?

Things like the tilted cockpit stuff with arms and hands, most of the long tail or broad tail or big body helmets, doesn't lend itself well to "high yaw" situations. High and medium yaw is what your average "Ironman finisher" will experience on an average day doing about 20 to 23mph on the bike leg of an Ironman. Medium yaw is the same if going probably 23 to 26 or 27mph. Low would be the same above 27mph.

I made a spreadsheet where I can put in the day's wind speed and direction and have it spit out an estimate of yaw angles based on rider speeds.

Back to the Nate guy doing 25mph on 200w. That's awesome, but modern idea is that probably won't work out super great closing in on 30mph. Your position's CdA can vary based upon your airspeed. Airspeed affects yaw angle, and yaw angle can alter CdA and drag.

Also, there's certain days and routes that can really make you seem faster. When I did the Charlotte Speedway TT years back, the wind that day was coming from a direction that when you should have had a headwind, the huge front bleachers were blocking it! Then the entire backstretch, they don't have the tall bleachers/grandstand blocking the wind. So the tailwind is just pushing you along! That day a LOT of people put out times at or over 25mph on some silly low power. I think I only put out like 225 to go 25mph.

So, I'd take some of this stuff with a grain of salt. And if a pro has a CdA of 0.190 at 33mph.................at 20mph that is likely probably worse. Still really "good".......but probably an order of magnitude worse than at 33+ mph. Like, going from an 0.190 to over .200.