Originally Posted by
queerpunk
...I wonder what that backward extension is about - it's on that new Pinarello that Wiggins debuted in his Hour, and I think it's on the Felt too.
Originally Posted by
taras0000
The fork tips are there to smooth airflow/eliminate (reduce) vortices at the tips of the fork blades. They act in a similar way to winglets on the end of airplane wings....
I can't make out the fork ends too well, but I can't see how that would work. I'm no aerodynamicist, but I am a (sadly noncurrent) pilot, so I have had an interest in the subject. I've always conceptualized the primary function of winglets as reducing induced drag by smoothing the interaction of the high and low pressure regions at the end of the airfoil, a bit like an aerodynamic fence. Even if you treat the fork blades as airfoils that both have an angle of attack that is producing lift (i.e., differential pressure) they'd need lateral protrusions. That seems like something that would give the UCI fits. They could just be fairings or extensions meant to smooth airflow around the wheelnut / axle area. I guess you can always make an argument for incremental gains....