June 1, 2004 (Toronto) – Cervélo Cycles and MIT’s Center for Sports Innovation have recently collaborated on an update of the test facilities at the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In the fall of 2002, Cervélo performed a series of wind tunnel tests at the MIT tunnel on various bicycle models, a standard Cervélo R&D procedure. By the time testing was completed, Phil White and Gerard Vroomen of Cervélo and Kim Blair of MIT’s Center for Sports Innovation (CSI) had decided to update test equipment at the wind tunnel in order to make it much more accurate and user friendly.
After a year and a half, the work was completed and the first to use the new facility were Cervélo-riders Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre of Team CSC. Together with team owner Bjarne Riis and their top mechanic, they had come over for a quick visit to MIT to have Cervélo fine-tune their time trial positions for the upcoming Tour de France.
What really makes the new set-up unique and opens up the possibilities for more varied applications is the new computer software and bicycle mounting system. CSI and Cervélo have developed the system by furnishing specifications for, and technical support of two MIT student projects. The new computer interface provides test engineers with immediate read-outs that are adjusted in real-time for wind tunnel temperature, humidity, airflow speed, barometric pressure, and tarre (the drag of the equipment without the test specimen) at each yaw angle (relative direction of wind). The single drag number is corrected to a constant air density and air speed so that immediate comparison with previous runs can be made. Presently this program is the only one of its kind capable of instantly adjusting the data for all these variables.
The 2004 version also has a new bicycle test jig that is able to test at large crosswinds without the bicycle support interfering with the data. “The new set-up allows us to test incredibly fast,” said Cervélo’s Dave Kennedy. “We did ninety runs in one-and-a-half days of run time. I have never seen anything this efficient before. On top of that, the repeatability was excellent, all tarres were within 0.02 lb and we could repeat Carlos’ final position to within 0.25%, a value often even hard to achieve with still objects. That demonstrates both how stable the set-up is and how smooth these riders can pedal.”
“Two MIT students have worked very hard over the last year-and-a-half addressing the specific needs of the cycling industry for aerodynamic testing,” said Kim Blair, Director of CSI. “In addition to the design of the test rig allowing for a stable but adjustable mounting system, we added the capability to provide immediate feedback of the aerodynamic data. The test engineers and team manager are able to evaluate the results throughout the test sessions and adapt the test schedule based on that feedback. The new set-up also directly projects the rider’s side view and his drag on a screen on the tunnel floor, so the rider in the tunnel can actually see what results his positional changes are having on the drag.”
“Optimizing time trial positions is always an interesting endeavor for us,” explains Gerard Vroomen of Cervélo. “Since it is a balancing act between aerodynamics, the rider’s power output, and the restrictions of the UCI rules. But we have a lot of experience with all three within our organization, so with the help of MIT we were able to find good aerodynamic positions in the tunnel, make sure they are legal, and verify that no power losses occur.”
“The time trials in the Tour will be challenging this year,” adds Phil White, Cervélo. “The first individual time trial is uphill, on the famed climb to Alp d’Huez, and the riders face a difficult equipment compromise between aerodynamics and low weight. For their own aerodynamics, they have to figure out when it is worthwhile to remain seated and aero, and when it pays off to stand up. With our race simulation software we are able to make recommendations to the riders in this regard. Overall there were significant improvements found for the riders, and the new wind tunnel set-up was a great success.”
About Cervélo Cycles
Phil White and Gérard Vroomen founded Cervélo Cycles in 1995 when their design for a new time trial bicycle, built at the request of a professional cyclist, failed to garner interest from traditional cycle manufacturers. Today, Cervélo Cycles is the largest time-trial bike manufacturer in the world. This Canadian company is internationally recognized as one of the most innovative and fastest growing bike manufacturers the sport has seen in years.
In 2002, Cervélo entered into a major partnership agreement with the successful Team CSC. According to Bjarne Riis, Team CSC Manager, and the 1996 winner of the Tour de France, “Every little edge I can find for my team can prove to be the deciding factor. That’s why we’ll be on Cervélos this year.” At the 2003 Tour de France, Team CSC riders won three stages and the team classification riding Cervélos.
Based in Toronto, Cervélo currently produces nine different models. Their products are available internationally. Please visit www.cervelo.com for further information.
About the Center for Sports Innovation
Founded by Kim B. Blair in 1999, CSI is a unique sports product development research and educational center. An applied research group, CSI develops new technologies and products enhancing all aspects of the sporting experience, as well as processes and technologies for related performance analyses. To date, CSI has engaged over 30 MIT student-athletes in a range of projects from early formulation of product concepts through final prototype design and testing. Please contact blairk@mit.edublairk@mit.edu for more information.