Most Aero Triathlon Shoes?
Aero Geeks, Assemble!
What's the latest on the most aerodynamic triathlon-specific cycling shoe? Or wrap my current shoes in packing tape?
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Aero Geeks, Assemble!
What's the latest on the most aerodynamic triathlon-specific cycling shoe? Or wrap my current shoes in packing tape?
Comments
http://www.orca.com/us-en/aero-shoes/
Current thinking is the S-works sub6 (see their wintunnel results), and the Giro Empire, but only after replacing the regular laces with special stretch laces. Google Thomas Gerlach's blog; he found something north of 12 watts savings (at yaw) using these in his tunnel testing.
Next down are the orca RS1 covers (6 watts), or velotoze toe covers (1-2 watts).
The bont rocket r1 also look promising, but I can't find any data.
Myself, I'm going to consider taking a old pair of Nike Poggios, remove the stitching fro the Velcro straps and punch little holes to run stretchy laces, and then put a stretchy latex cover (probably cut out of a old swim cap) over the laces. These seem to fit the order of being very very low profile, well-fitting, and have enough ventilation without worrying about the kona heat. Long weekend is coming up, and I'm going to look for a project between rides!
Oh- fwiw, the Orca rs1 are a great piece of kit, but Kienle decided against these for Kona and a very hot Frankfurt last year ... Despite being sponsored by orca, and endorsing them elsewhere.
Seriously though, I doubt we'll see independent wind-tunnel testing that objectively proves a single shoe to be superior. I researched this a while back, and concluded that the Specialized S-Works Sub6 and Giro Empire SLX were the best pure-aero shoes. But neither work well in transition due to the lace-up time. I actually bought elastic lacing to replace the stock laces -- and was planning to put an aero-shoe cover over whichever was better.
But then I tried fitting them to my foot. The S-Works just didn't fit. The Giro was okay, but the toe box was too narrow. I also looked at Bont (since Jan Frodeno uses them).
I wound up going with the Bont Vaypor+. It has two knob-type dials on the top, which may impede airflow, but they provide an incredible range of adjustability with a simple click of the dial. At about mile 70 it's pretty nice to be able to loosen the shoes to account for normal swelling. It doesn't come with a loop in the back, but you could easily drill a hole and put a rubber band through it if you're used to tying it to the bike frame.
Most importantly, the Bont fits. Frodeno wears the Bont Zero+ ... surely he knows something about aerodynamics?
http://www.thomasgerlach.com/2016/05/fastest-ironman-bike-shoes-aerodynamics.html
Buried in his post is this tidbit: In the wind tunnel, 4 watts saved over his Pearl Izumi shoes @ 0 deg yaw, 30 mph. 10 deg Given the speeds you and I would be doing in an IM (20 mph avg +/-), that;s probably less than 1-3 watt of savings. When you consider the geometric progression of wind resistance as speed increases arithmetically. Maybe for a pro, or a Rich Strauss, but not worth getting a new pair of $1000 shoes, then cutting out the tongue and putting in elastic laces.
I take your point, Al ... but what still stands out is that savings at yaw. 12 watts 10 degrees, even when adjusted from 30mph to reflect more realistic race speeds, is just something I can't ignore. Too much good cheese there.
Of course, I agree with your cost-benefit analysis ... but these can be had for about 200 bucks (so fair, that even *I* spring for some!), or if someone really wanted to go bargain basement, about $75 via the Louis Garneau 84s (drawback of these is the nylon sole and weight. Benefit is they have 4-hole direct mounting for speedplay, which would leverage the new aero cleat technology). And give the yaw distribution in Kona (see http://engineerstalk.mavic.com/yaw-...an-course/) ... I think the 'benefits' side of the ledger, and the dollars-per-watt saved calculation, begins to look very different.
Last piece: I agree about cutting out the tongue. Ruins the shoes. However, if you just weat the tongue *outside and on top* of the stretch lacing, and then tape the edges with flexible Gorrila Tape, you actually get to something that looks a lot like the Bont Zero+, and I would GUESS is even faster than the original version that Gerlach started to run.
Finally: ^ALL OF THIS IS A SIGN THAT THE TAPER IS STARTING TO WORK^
You enjoy the frankenbike... that said... you only live once & you can't take any of it with you... just as much as you like your new Tarmac Ui2 Disc.. I'd vote for getting a trigeekery bike.. just make sure you can work the setup to go smaller as the shrinking issue is there for a few more years until you quit...
Oh, and that future you've saved your whole life for... is NOW!
Just a follow-up to this: I've run the Empires all week, and went on to put a full RR on them after a few rides. I really like them, they fit true-to-size, and based on the eyeball wind tunnel test alone, these are much cleaner than my Bontrager Hilos. The overall profile is quite small (they make the bontis look like Crocks in comparison), the surface is almost entirely smooth (the Bontis have straps, big seams transitioning from one material to another, and lots of nooks and crannies), and I believe the lacing can be effectively replaced with an elastic, and then tweaked to keep the tongue inside the shoe and not get pushed down when sliding the foot in. In sum, I like them a lot and I think they are an improvement over the Orca or VeloToze shoe covers, from both a heat management and usability perspective. As noted above, I'm pretty well sold on the small gain these might yield. And heck ... it was time for new shoes anyways.