Velo Podcast: The Aero Math Behind “Bra Maxxing” and the Reality of 32-Inch Wheels

This week, the crew is quite small, as myself (Josh Ross) and Logan Jones-Wilkins were both out. That left Lisa Charlebois and Mike Levy in the studio to discuss the big, dumb rides they are both doing, plus touch on some Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift news.

The first thing that Charlebois and Levy get into is, well, once again, 32-inch wheels. Levy is still hanging on to the Salsa Fargo 32, and he continues to try and really figure it out. What does that look like? How about a 160k of brutal Fraser Valley “gravel” riding (some would argue a mountain bike actually makes more sense) and continuous rain. The two talk about how a stranger’s campfire saved him, but also get into why the 32-inch wheels continue to impress Levy, alongside some of the strengths and weaknesses he is starting to see in that particular bike.

From there, the pair transition to Charlebois and a welfare check. Charlebois is doing a century every day this week. As I type this, she should be on her last day at 700 miles, but at the time of the recording, she was only at 400 miles. Levy wants to know how it’s going, and you might be surprised to hear how well Charlebois is actually doing. Would you be that lucid after that many miles on a bike? She is, but she also gets into how hard it is to deal with both riding the 700 miles in the week while continuing to human. She also talks about the unexpected bike she chose for this crazy challenge.

Then there’s the big news of the week… Bra maxxing. Otherwise known as bra doping or bra boosting, this one is all about aero gains. One of the most interesting parts of this conversation might actually be the amount of time that a rider stands to gain, or lose, with this practice and how much it could change the results. Given that Levy rides 20-30% gradients and Charlebois uses a bar bag, the pair don’t always pay the most heed to aero gains, but they shared what was possible, and it’s an eye-opening discussion. Charlebois thinks maybe bra stuffing should be fair game—is that the right angle to take?

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro
02:13 – Mike Levy does a huge ride on a 32-inch bike
11:22 – Lisa and the daily century week
28:37 – Bra doping at the TDFF

Articles covered in this episode:

• Bra Boosters Are Causing a Clothing Controversy at the Tour de France Femmes
• UCI Warns of Checks for Illegal Bra Doping at the Tour de France Femmes
• Bra Booster Testing Rollout Blasted by Riders’ Group