Originally Posted by
carleton
Any speculation as to why Mavic won’t publish any wind tunnel data? Just the ole cycling marketing lines where you sprinkle “lighter”, “stiffer”, and “faster” randomly on the product page.
Pretty much you nailed it above as to the lack of data. (Which, over ~20 years, Mavic no doubt has) It's not the fastest wheel. But if you've got the most popular wheel... you definitely don't want to tell people it's not fastest
As for the test protocol
One average rider - depends on your thought process as to what's "worse" for your data results - having a bike with no rider, bike with a dummy that is stationary or having the bike + a rider who introduces variance
One high-end frame
Drop and aerobars - Again heavily rider dependent. Any data from drops/aerobars will not help anyone else except the rider in the test.
Multiple wheelsets - You need to standardize tires probably as much as possible. (can't just run 1 on all of them though... as the optimal tire for an iO and for a Firecrest/modern rim will be vastly different. You can probably get away with a 19mm and a 22/23mm though) *also worth noting changing wheels in a tunnel takes a lot of time. ($$$) especially the rear.
Publish the plan here. Get feedback and tips - heh...
Test at a wind tunnel - I know a guy
Publish the results here - I've heard you acquire sainthood for posting private data 
All that said, one reason I generally don't throw out my own data from tunnel visits is that it's so hard (even in a tunnel, the most controlled setting) to be confident that what you're saying is true... well, let me rephrase, that it's true for the reason that the spreadsheet says it is.
ie - So if I go to the tunnel and do a run comparing 38 (fairly standard) to 33 (narrow) handlebars and come up with a cda difference of .323 and .30 then the automatic conclusion is 33's are way better. If you were the 33 bar manufacturer... you stop right there but if you're the rider trying to learn/share something useful... you need to figure out WHY going 5cm narrower dropped your cda. was it just less surface area of the bar itself (unlikely) or was it your shoulders changing width, more/less of your bicep/forearm in the wind... elbows tucked in or splayed out? (not to mention trying to standardize the reach between the drops of two sets of bars) - sure in the end you get *your* answer - 33's are faster than 38's. But you didn't help anyone else or even figure out exactly why. The unfortunate reality though is you can't chase these rabbit holes without an inexhaustible budget, and most of us can't afford more than an hour or two. :/