Originally Posted by halfspeed

All of the "super serious roadies" I know ride all winter. In Minnesota.

Originally Posted by cycledogg

You failed to simulate a hard effort while riding. Coasting is a relaxed form and and easy position as to "wave" if one chooses to. I wave most times out on the bike. But in a concentrated effort, while hammering on the bike, both hands clutched on the bars, I will by no means lift my hand to return a wave. As doing so my jeopardize my health with a nasty crash. I ask that you please add another test, this time going in an all out effort, eyes fixed on the road ahead, concentrating on your position, form and speed, cadence and projected power output. Then, think of waving added in. If this is possible, then you are not training hard enough. Casual riding, yes, by all means wave at the fellow rider. Otherwise, get your mo-jo on and RIDE!
Cheers

Originally Posted by Gus90

Ok so waving is out, what about flipping the bird?

Originally Posted by wphamilton

Should that be a casual, over the handlebar bird or an emphatic stretched out over the shoulders bird?

Originally Posted by Gus90

Guess it depends on if the approaching rider is in a recumbent or not.

Originally Posted by wphamilton

Oh no I meant for a test, not social commentary.

Originally Posted by cellery

Climate change denial scientists would be proud.

Originally Posted by wphamilton

But this is ... not phony science mocking real concerns.

Originally Posted by cellery

It was only a joke. In all seriousness, your effort was real science addressing real concerns, and for this we should all be proud.

Originally Posted by wphamilton

BTW, I felt like a lunatic waving my arm around while coasting down the hill at 26 mph.

Originally Posted by njkayaker

And then you sustained the feeling by making this thread!

Originally Posted by rjones28

Can we look for your full paper in International Journal of Aerodynamics (IJAD) - Inderscience Publishers ?

Originally Posted by wphamilton

It comes up with such frequency, and is debated with so much passion, that it may be one of the most important questions in the sport of cycling, yet no one has really examined it scientifically. Until now.

The roadie in full regalia, his steely gaze is focused and intent, you give a wave and you're ignored. What's up with that? Would it really hurt him to wave? That's usually a rhetorical question but I set out to find an answer. What does it cost him to wave?

So I took my road bike to a local hill to perform some coast-down tests while simulating a roadie in training. I selected a hill with a relatively gentle grade so that speeds would be similar. In half the tests I coasted in a regular roadie position, and in half I waved all the way down while trying to maintain the same position. I wanted to make the simulation as real as possible so I wore an actual jersey, tight, and spandex cycling shorts. Helmet, sunglasses. All tests were with hands on the hoods (since careful observation has indicated that training roadies ride on the hoods, or with the same back angle while in the drops).

This is the test rig: although it's Fredded up it is, as you can see, a road bike with standard road bike geometry, normal saddle to bar drop, 700x25c tires.

To complete the simulation I strapped on a HR monitor and also turned on Strava, as if I were doing hill repeats. For you doubters out there Bike Ride Profile | Coast-down test repeats near Alpharetta | Times and Records | Strava although I didn't use Strava data since my flight recorder box is more accurate. I did three tests coasting, three waving, with no pedaling at any time. Except uphill of course. I started each test at precisely the same point in the road, with the magnet positioned 1/8th of a wheel behind the sensor.

I threw the second waving run out because passing traffic distorted the data. The final repeat in Strava was not a test run - I just did it because just coasting is pretty boring. Here is the result:

The vertical axis is miles per hour, the horizontal is units traveled (unit representing approximately 7 feet, one wheel revolution)

It's pretty clear that waving costs a significant amount of speed, presumably by adding drag. If we need a number, how much drag, here is a real general estimate. Assuming that the highest speed is the terminal velocity for that grade and object (I haven't proven that, but I've been up and down that hill a lot and it is or is close to) then the drag force is equal to the force of gravity. The force of gravity is the same for both roadie and waving, and therefore the ratio of CdxA (Coefficient of drag times area) is the inverse ratio of squared velocities. From the basic drag equation.

In this case, that comes to about 12% greater drag created by waving. So there you have it: drag is increased by 12% when he waves.

Originally Posted by Northwestrider

Nice, but I'm more of a Fred than roadie, so what would I know.

Originally Posted by KonaRider125

Thanks for sharing your results.

My experiment: I wave to every cyclist I see and about 50-60 percent return the waves. Most all ladies, casual riders and older folks wave back at me. The 20-something to mid 40s guys with expensive bikes and outfits are the ones typically who do not wave back.
Don't think that at all I
IMO, The real reason some "roadies" don't wave back is they are judgmental A-holes plain and simple. If your not as cool as they are, you don't deserve a wave.

Originally Posted by halfspeed

How did you come to this conclusion?

Originally Posted by profjmb

What if instead of waving with your whole hand, you wave with only one finger?

Originally Posted by VaBeachTennis

LOL, why not just say hi or smile or give a head nod or all three?

Originally Posted by smarkinson

It wasn't until I had almost finished reading the 1st page that I realised this was a 3 year old thread.

I'm not angry, just disappointed, that no-one in the three intervening years has repeated the experiment to verify the findings.