{"id":1698322,"date":"2026-01-31T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1698322"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:30:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:30:41","slug":"30-more-efficient-the-math-behind-aero-vs-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1698322","title":{"rendered":"30% More Efficient? The Math Behind Aero vs. Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Published January 31, 2026 10:30AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Most people think of aero gains as small efficiencies. They help, but they aren\u2019t a big deal\u2026right? Except maybe they are. Would you believe I was 30% more efficient than a friend over the same piece of road? Can aerodynamics really bridge a 70-watt power gap?<\/p>\n

I dug into the data to find out. A friend and I covered the same 20-minute distance; he was on a steel bike, and I was on an aero setup. With both of us pushing as hard as possible, he was stronger but still slower. I break down exactly why he had to hold 288 watts to go slightly slower than me holding 221 watts<\/b>. We also talk about how you can get the same advantage on your next ride and why no amount of \u201cWeight Weenie\u201d upgrades could ever help as much on the climbs.<\/p>\n

Speaking of gaps, Jonas Vingegaard crashed earlier this week while apparently trying to drop a \u201cstalker\u201d fan who was following him on a descent near M\u00e1laga, Spain. The two-time Tour de France winner was bloodied, and the incident raises serious questions about fan interactions with professionals. I lived in LA, so I\u2019m practiced at these interactions, but it turns out Lisa had her own moment of \u201cstalking\u201d a pro in Girona, and Levy embarrassed himself in front of an F1 driver.<\/p>\n

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In an unusual move this week, we also took time for listener Q&A. Levy, Lisa, and I answer questions about gravel bike suspension, including how Lauf\u2019s leaf-spring fork actually compares to the Cane Creek Invert and why your Salsa Cutthroat is begging for a suspension upgrade. I also have to defend my critical take on Pinarello\u2019s new Grevil MX mountain bike conversion, and there\u2019s disagreement between the crew about LifeTime\u2019s drop-bar ban at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race.<\/p>\n

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Articles covered in this episode:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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  • Which Gravel Suspension Is Finally Worth It? RockShox vs Fox vs Cane Creek<\/li>\n
  • Jonas Vingegaard Crashes While Being Tailed by Amateur during Training Ride<\/li>\n
  • If You\u2019re Going to Ride with the Pros, Don\u2019t Be an Idiot: 7 Rules Every Super Fan Should Know<\/li>\n
  • 2 Gravel Pros Attacked the World\u2019s Longest Paved Climb on the Same Day by Coincidence. Only 1 Took the KOM.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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    Published January 31, 2026 10:30AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Source URL: https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/aerodynamics-math-aero-vs-steel-power-gap\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Published January 31, 2026 10:30AM Most people think of aero gains as small efficiencies. They help, but they aren\u2019t a big deal\u2026right? Except maybe they are. Would you believe I was 30% more efficient than a friend over the same piece of road? Can aerodynamics really bridge a 70-watt power gap? I dug into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1698323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1698322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1698322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1698323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1698322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1698322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1698322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}