Side Winds 2 - Performance Aspect



MichaelB

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Feb 10, 2004
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Whilst on the subject, do side winds have a tendency to slow you down? My degree covered aerodynamics and I cant say from a scientific point of view whether the effect would be negligable or not. It could affect the drag co-efficient but thats a difficult thing to predict accurately without data and a difficult mathematical analysis.

A recent ride convinced me that when the wind is a definate square on cross wind then it has little effect but this was just what it felt like that day. I used to think otherwise!
 
MichaelB said:
Whilst on the subject, do side winds have a tendency to slow you down? My degree covered aerodynamics and I cant say from a scientific point of view whether the effect would be negligable or not. It could affect the drag co-efficient but thats a difficult thing to predict accurately without data and a difficult mathematical analysis.

A recent ride convinced me that when the wind is a definate square on cross wind then it has little effect but this was just what it felt like that day. I used to think otherwise!
Well, depends on the wind speed, see charts in:
http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/wind.html

Antti
 
A 90 deg crosswind when you are stationany is not acting on you at 90 deg if you are moving.

eg If you have 10kph cross wind and you travel at 10kph. Therefore your apperent wind that acting on you is at 45deg head on at a speed of 14.14kph. You must apply a greater force to tavel at 10kph then if there was no wind.

The charts put forward by sidewind back this up.
http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/wind.html
 

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