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The aerodynamic advantage of the Cádomotus aero shoes for long distances compared to traditional cycling shoes, tested with 8 different triathletes.

The aerodynamic advantage of the Cádomotus aero shoes for long distances compared to traditional cycling shoes, tested with 8 different triathletes.

The number of watts saved by wearing the Cadomotus aero shoes compared to the riders' base shoes is calculated and reported.

"Results between 3.1 and 9.0 watts"

RESULTS
The different cycling shoes of the triathletes were divided into two different groups.

The first group is the typical triathlon shoe group.

This shoe is designed for quick transitions that require a large instep, the shoes often have a single Velcro closure to secure the foot in the shoe. The disadvantage of this type of shoe is the "open" structure of the upper part of the shoe. Very often the foot is visible due to the presence of "gaps" between the Velcro straps, which is not the best choice aerodynamically. In addition, the irregular shape at the front of the shoe and sometimes even at the back causes turbulence and irregular air flows.

All athletes gained between 3.1 and 9.0 watts when using the Cádomotus long-distance aero shoes compared to their own "open" triathlon shoes designed for quick transitions in sprint races (Table 1).

Table 1. Comparison between the "open" baseline shoes and the Cádomotus aero shoes.

The second group of shoes does not contain the typical larger "holes" in the front, but the more common shoe for cycling.

The Specialized S Cycling Shoes have a boa fit system to close the shoes, which requires more time during the transition but provides a better and stronger fit of the foot. The Shimano TR9 and Sidi T-4 air carbon shoes are closed with Velcro, but the holes at the top of the shoe are significantly smaller than the baseline shoes with larger “holes” discussed in table 1.

In this case, the aerodynamic benefits of the Cádomotus aero shoes are between 2.1 and 4.5 watts (table 2).

Table 2. Comparison between the "closed" baseline shoes and the Cádomotus Chronos aero shoes.

EXPERIMENT

All aerodynamic tests were carried out at the Eddy Merckx velodrome (Ghent, Belgium) during the winter of 2022/2023. The riders rode approximately eight laps of 250 meters with their triathlon bike and shoes.

The riders repeated the procedure with Cádomotus long-distance shoes. The bikes were equipped with a Garmin speed sensor and a power meter. Athletes kept the speed as steady as possible to avoid errors and differences in rolling resistance and mechanical resistance. Power was kept just below race pace to prevent tired athletes from being unable to properly reproduce their position between runs and within the same run and to achieve Reynolds numbers close to those of a triathlon race.

The software used to calculate CdAs and the resulting ability to overcome aerodynamic drag under current conditions (reference speed, pressure, humidity, temperature) was developed in-house by Streamline. Occasionally, athletes run repeatedly in the same shoes to calculate standard deviations and estimate reproducibility.

The choice for repetitive runs often depends on time and money. An athlete tested shoes in the Bike Valley wind tunnel (Beringen, Belgium). The measurement time at the wind tunnel was 45s.

The tables above also contain additional information about the conditions of the measurements and athletes. (1) Greater errors are expected from riders with less track experience. The errors are due to the fact that the driving lines along the velodrome are less constant, leading to changes in rolling resistance and a small correction by body movements to return to the original lines.

The rider's velodrome experience was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with the highest rating for a highly skilled velodrome rider. (2) Using a traditional helmet increases the error in the measurement due to the relatively higher Cd coefficient of the helmet when moving through the wind. (3) The higher the reference speed and power requirement, the greater the difference between the basic shoes and the aero shoes, and the greater the measurement error.

Reference: http://streamline-cycling.com/

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blog-products-aerodynamics

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aerodynamica Cadomotus Triathlon Schoenen