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Old 04-09-08 | 11:57 AM
  #9  
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TheBrick
Tinkerer since 1980
 
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 922
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From: London

Bikes: Coppi racer, Old school BMX, some random a fixed wheel convertion

The key to minimizing wind resistance is to minimize boundary layer separation. This is why aero helmets are tapered. While this bit of software is useful it is designed for a rider on a bike by the looks of things so extending it to a loaded bike or a bike + trailer may be difficult. More about what model assumptions are used would be needed. At a guess I would say this is an empirical model and thus that point of source from the data my drastically change how applicable this model is. It seems like it may a useful tool for comparing different setups but don't take too much notice of it because you don't know how the model came about / what data / assumptions are used. Fluid flow is very complicated and frequently counter intuitive or at the least gives surprising results.
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