Aerodynamic Charts and Graphs
03-20-19, 04:50 PM
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Aerodynamic Charts and Graphs
Aerodynamic Drag ©1983 Douglas Malewicki
You may have seen some photos of my Aerodynamic Fairings. Most of my bikes have been upright bikes and Not Recumbents. I wanted to set up manufacturing for crates or panniers, molded in plastic such as HDPE or Polypropylene. When I started cycling the two main types of Bicycle were Racing or Touring. It was before Mountain Bikes. Nowadays, most "touring bikes" are actually Mountain Bikes. My theory was that a streamlined Touring Bike could go faster than a Racing Bike. Okay, keep in mind, Fairings are prohibited from Racing because they are "Cheating", and there are no timing officials to deal with on a transcontinental tour.
I've built a couple dozen prototypes, which I won't show here. Today I want to show the charts and graphs I studied before going whole hog into this project.
Some of these appeared in the December 1983 Scientific American , and are used with permission of the author , Douglas Malewicki.
Short Term Human Power
Long Term Human Power
Theoretical Aerodynamic Performance ©1983 Douglas Malewicki
03-20-19, 05:13 PM
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How does Malewicki define "first class athlete"?
03-20-19, 06:20 PM
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The second chart illustrates what I have been saying for years: A bar of soap is less aero than a can of spam.
03-20-19, 06:36 PM
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03-20-19, 11:34 PM
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03-21-19, 12:51 PM
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All I got is that I am, at best, a "healthy human."
03-21-19, 03:02 PM
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Okay, I was looking at the text, so to define "first class athlete" , it should be noted the researchers averaged together results from men and women, and made no regard for the cyclists weight.
03-21-19, 04:59 PM
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I'm going to have to ride 'perfect prone' Superman style tomorrow afternoon with 60 kph wind gusts. Now how the heck do I pedal?
03-22-19, 09:31 AM
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Unified Performance Graphs ©1983 Douglas Malewicki
Vector on the cover of Scientific American December 1983
Modified version of Douglas Malewicki's Unified Performance Graphs.
03-22-19, 05:10 PM
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03-22-19, 05:31 PM
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03-22-19, 07:53 PM
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Thanks. Very nice. I remember these from that issue of Scientific American. I kept it on my bookshelf for several years. These bring back pleasant memories.
