Aerobar aerodynamic cover testing

Some time we’ve seen a widespread acceptance of some form or raised hand position for aerobars, ranging from minor angles for comfort, to “praying mantis” in the hope of better aerodynamics.

In the last couple of years we’ve seen various forms of single piece aerobars which appear to be designed to improve aerodynamics combined with these raised bar position.

Not being shy at EZGainz of trying to save some watts without splashing out a great wad of money (these can cost over £3000), we thought we’d try an attachment to see if it gave us any aerodynamic gains.

This is a 3d printed prototype, designed to not just cover the aerobars, but also the arms. The hope was that this would smooth airflow, and that would overcome the extra frontal area this entailed.

Testing this at the wind tunnel at Silverstone showed some modest improvements, mostly when direction of the wind was at an angle. At 45kpm it averaged out across the yaw angles as 3 watts gain.

It’s only a prototype and not yet enough to put into production, but it is encouraging that there are gains to be had with further refinement. Exactly how something like this performs will be much more personal than for wheels, as people’s front cockpit setups are much more diverse, but this could potentially involve some significant drag reduction.