https://youtu.be/AU9V-RCRmsY?si=HWpAHXwUjKBJHUJ3
Ben Delaney tested narrower bars and deeper wheels at 20mph. His results:
42cm bars were 10w faster than 46cm at 0 yaw, which is about what I would expect from other tests I’ve seen. However, 42cm bars were 16w faster at 2.5 deg yaw, which is much more than expected.
The 45mm deep wheels were 10w faster at 0 yaw, and 8w faster at 2.5 deg yaw, which was actually a lot more than I expected. However, I suspect most of this is from the tire. The tire he used on the deep wheels does not have the same size shoulder knobs as the one on the shallow rim. My guess is the tire difference accounts for 2/3 of this drag reduction.
TLDR: narrower bars are a much more cost effective upgrade than deeper wheels for gravel.
Watch the video! It’s good!
by OUEngineer17
4 Comments
Yeah watched it earlier today and yeah it is kinda cool.
I personally hate wide bars as a large guy I never bought into the I need 44 bars garbage
I have upper body strength don’t need it for leverage or anything.
The first swap on a new cx bike back in the day was smaller bars. 40s work great for me.
The deep wheels I don’t do. I prefer to run xc MTB rims with more spokes. Making it thru the ride is still key. Saving watts is cool and all but durability always wins when you are a larger guy
Watts saved are fine really but my over built xc wheels probably come in lighter and way stronger. So at the end of the day it is a wash for me at my speeds really. I don’t know what 200 grams in rotation mass saves in watts but it is certainly in that ballpark of lighter.
Seems great in a wind tunnel, but look at the videos of the group ride. Their elbows are flapping around like they’re migrating geese which I’m sure costs more than 10w. Just try to keep a quiet upper body, like he did in the wind tunnel test. If you can’t do that than narrow bars aren’t going to buy you any watt gains.
Damnit. I have 44’s, but have been debating a new stem and 40cm bars. This video is gonna cost me some money (thanks for sharing)
I run with wide bars with aero extensions, when I am somewhere I can cruise along at a speed where those kinds of watts can actually be gained, I would normally be on the extensions which gets me lower with my elbows tucked. I highly doubt that narrowing my bars would make any difference due to that. I am long/lean marathon runner, so the extra leverage from wide bars is actually useful to me on some terrain.