Why don't sprinters use aero frames?

[Dini77]

Got in 116 miles meself this weekend. While riding I came up with the following scenario. (I can think and ride my bike at the same time.) Let's say McGrady's leadout gives him a 2 bike length lead on McEwen and an even longer lead on the rest of the field. The wind is calm. McEwen is the stronger sprinter. ...But wait because McGrady has a more aerodynamic frame, which includes airfoil shaped tooling, and because he is clear of the rest of the field there is largely laminar flow in his axial direction, he wins the sprint. "Drat that aero tubing", says McEwen.

I'm not arguing the point that sprinters desire stiff and light frames, and that those two properties may even be more important that aerodynamics. However, you have suggested that aerodynamics has no importance in a field sprint because of the absence of laminar flow. I submit that in the above scenario there is indeed a presence of laminar flow.

You're not serious are you? Firstly, this scenario is ridiculous - McGrady and his lead out on a 2 man break from Robbie with bigger gap to peleton??? You ever watched/ridden a race? Do you think a top sprinter like Robbie would try to chase down a break on his lonesome or get dropped by Stuey and a lead-out? No sprinter would make an effort to get in a break only to be stranded in no mans land. But let’s draw a more realistic situation for you and say he’s trying to chase the 2 man break of Stuey and co that’s got off the front for 100km. Robbie (or another team) would get their boys to work on the front and haul-ass up to the 2 man break – peleton will always be able to chase down a break if it wants to. Buried in there is your money man sprinter and he won’t appear until the last 150m. That’s why a sprinter doesn’t need an aero frame, they’ve got the best aero aids to sit behind!



So, McGrady has laminar flow around his bike, he's in an efficient position and on a break doing 45mph. This is not a field sprint situation. When Robbie catches Stuey (and he will) behind his men and accelerates by him, frame aero accounts for nothing. In sprints, its all about positioning (bike & rider), timing and acceleration.



Frame aero does have a place and we never said it didn’t matter – we/I said aero of frame is negligible in a field sprint situation due to the non-ideal positioning of the system of bike and rider and that other factors were more important. To quote Jim Martin on the Cervelo website: "Although much attention is focused on the aerodynamics of equipment, the most important aerodynamic consideration for a bike and rider combination is the rider" Stand in front of the system of bike and rider and tell me which has the greatest frontal area. Then go run some wind tunnel tests on a sprinter in a sprint positions (will be a dynamic test as you want the overall impact considering body & bike motion) and tell me whether there were any noticeable aero benefits of the frame.