* * *
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Aerodynamic Drag Chart For Human Powered Mobility
This sort of thing might come in handy for your investigations. Thanks to Troy Rank, an engineering student at RIT and electric bike tinkerer, for showing me this. The chart lists the aerodynamic drag co-efficient and a host of other performance factors for human powered vehicles. I'm not sure of the true source of all this data but will duly give credit if I find out.
I'm glad to see you back, Ron! Spring is just around the corner...keep looking up and the rubber side down!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that table comes from the amazing book "Human Powered Vehicles" published by Human Kinetics back in 1995. However, I no longer have my copy, so I can't confirm that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1416582.Human_Powered_Vehicles
I want a moon bike now....
ReplyDeleteit's interesting to note the small difference in drag coefficient between the "perfect bike" (no bike) and the "aerocomponent". sounds like all the marketing by the manufacturers about their bikes being the "fastest" is just hooey. i'm not doubting the advantages of a dynamic component like wheels, but have always believed that rider position is where the differences are really made.
ReplyDeleteSuper info. Thank you, and to think that HPVs have absolutely nothing to do with the UCI's new development stagnation rules makes this something to cheer about.
ReplyDeleteGreat!
I have a suspicion (but can't confirm it) that the chart is from a 1978 paper by C.R. Kyle, V.J. Caizzo, and M. Palombo, titled "Predicting human powered vehicle performance using ergometry and aerodynamic drag measurements" given at the Human Power for Health, Productivity, Recreation, and Transportation conference, Technology University of Cologne, September that year.
ReplyDeleteKyle is (or was) in the Mechanical Engineering Dept at Cal State Long Beach and has published further work on this topic. The latest that I can find (which may not be that recent, but still) is titled "Aerodynamics of Human-Powered Vehicles" and published in the March 2004 Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Vol. 218 Part A: Journal of Power and Energy)
More on Chester Kyle and bicycle aerodynamics at Sheldon Brown's site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero/aerodynamics.htm
I'm looking at a nearly identical chart (slightly different formatting) from the December 1983 issue of Scientific American.
ReplyDelete"The Aerodynamics of Human-Powered Land Vehicles" by Albert C Gross, Chester R Kyle, and Douglas J Malewicki.
I'd LOVE a moon Bike now, have been wondering what to get next to add to my collection, such a Bike Nut ! x
ReplyDeleteit's interesting to note the small difference in drag coefficient between the "perfect bike" (no bike) and the "aerocomponent". sounds like all the marketing by the manufacturers about their bikes being the "fastest" is just hooey. i'm not doubting the advantages of a dynamic component like wheels, but have always believed that rider position is where the differences are really made.
ReplyDeleteHi Ron,
ReplyDeleteBlogFront.org is committed to uphold the quality standards of blogging. We strive to maintain and promote only the most credible blogs in their respective fields.
Spam blogs or "splogs" has been a problem for some time now and people are getting confused about which blog to trust.
We would like to thank you for maintaining such a reputable blog. We know that it takes time, effort and commitment to keep such a blog and as such, we have added your blog as one of the top Cycling Blogs.
You can see your blog listed here: http://blogfront.org/cycling/2
You can also claim your BlogFront Top Blogs badge at http://blogfront.org/badges/cycling
Thank you for keeping your blog credible. Let's keep the blog revolution alive!
Maria Blanchard
BlogFront.org
Blog Revolucion
I enjoyed your post. It’s a lot like college – we should absorb everything we can but ultimately you need to take what you’ve learned and apply it.
ReplyDeleteIt's really an interesting & amazing article.
ReplyDeleteRon,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed your blog when you were active? Why have we not seen you for sometime now?
Hey man,
ReplyDeleteWhere are you? Aren't you too young to retire?
Wow! What an insightful and informative article! Very interesting! Its good to know about these things! It might just improve a riders ergonomics, thus improving their speed and time. Great blog - Good to see you're back!
ReplyDeleteAn informative and well structured posting. The chart list the aerodynamic drag co-efficient factors seems to be of use for me, since i've been involved in this sphere for 2 years.
ReplyDeletechart list of aerodynamic drag co-efficient factors is much of use.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely blog site. I've saved it for future visits. thanks for sharing post. its a really useful list. good work.
ReplyDeleteA much reliable source for riders. Good to see your post! More power...
ReplyDelete