Air resistance felt by cyclists based on where they are in a group, relative to what would be felt by a cyclist riding alone.

Visualization made with excel and figma

Data from Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610518303751#sec5

Original post on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaRr8iR6kl/?hl=en&img_index=1

Posted by Upstairs-East6154

13 comments

  1. Air resistance felt by cyclists based on where they are in a group, relative to what would be felt by a cyclist riding alone.

    Visualization made with excel and figma

    Data from Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics here [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610518303751#sec5](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610518303751#sec5)

    Original post on Instagram here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaRr8iR6kl/?hl=en&img_index=1](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaRr8iR6kl/?hl=en&img_index=1)

  2. It’s kinda interesting that even the lead cyclist gets a boost from riding in formation rather than alone

  3. Why would a cyclist choose to be the lead cyclist? I understand there are teams, but wouldn’t entire teams prefer not to be at the front? It seems to be a position with all downsides and no upsides

  4. OH not the exercise bike. I was super confused for a second.

  5. you need to show what the wind direction, wind speed, and peloton speed is.

  6. The riders in back Yell “HONK” to encourage the rider in front.

  7. Why would the lead rider experience a 14% decrease in drag compared to a lone cyclist?

  8. The bicycle club I used to be in did something like this for tours. We’d form a line two abreast and rotate positions every few minutes.

  9. As someone who cycles occasionally, this reminds me of 2 things:
    – When these clusters crash, they crash bigly.
    – When I’m out cycling, other random cyclists get way too close to me. Please stay away from me. I don’t want to be within 7 feet of you, bare minimum.

  10. It took me a minute to realize they weren’t talking about stationary bikes.

  11. Not pictured: The guy who got shelled out the back and is breathing through his asshole trying to get back onto the wheel

  12. Shame the authors didn’t make more of an effort to validate the findings, for example by using peleton riders bike computer data (including their power output)

  13. Even just in casual riding, the difference between being first and a few people back is extremely noticeable. Riding 20mph feels like you’re riding 18mph when you’re drafting 

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