A riding buddy and I have been toying with the idea of getting a tandem and trying to see what kind of crazy speeds we can achieve. For fun I have been trying to calculate our times on various courses, but I don't know what sort of CdA to use for these estimates. We are both similar dimensions (193cm, 195cm, 98kg, 95kg) so we could switch being captain on long rides, so it might be fun and FAST.
So what is a resonable CdA guesstimate? For myself in the drops I use . 35. How much more would a tandem be?
A riding buddy and I have been toying with the idea of getting a tandem and trying to see what kind of crazy speeds we can achieve. For fun I have been trying to calculate our times on various courses, but I don't know what sort of CdA to use for these estimates. We are both similar dimensions (193cm, 195cm, 98kg, 95kg) so we could switch being captain on long rides, so it might be fun and FAST.
So what is a resonable CdA guesstimate? For myself in the drops I use . 35. How much more would a tandem be?
Joseph
Dear Joseph,
There's a racing tandem radio-button and explanation on this speed calculator:
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 02:55:07 -0700, "[email hidden]"
Quoted message said:
Hi All,
Quoted message said:
A riding buddy and I have been toying with the idea of getting a tandem and trying to see what kind of crazy speeds we can achieve. For fun I have been trying to calculate our times on various courses, but I don't know what sort of CdA to use for these estimates. We are both similar dimensions (193cm, 195cm, 98kg, 95kg) so we could switch being captain on long rides, so it might be fun and FAST.
Quoted message said:
So what is a resonable CdA guesstimate? For myself in the drops I use . 35. How much more would a tandem be?
Quoted message said:
Joseph
Dear Joseph,
There's a racing tandem radio-button and explanation on this speed calculator:
You know that trick where you cover one eye and hold your gaze on one spot and part of your field of vision disappears as it is obscured by the optic nerve (or some similar discontinuity of the eye)? That is the only explaination I can come up with as to why I didn't see that earlier.
I rode a couple of time trials on a tandem with a friend a few years back. Individually we both had a best time for 40km time trial of just under 58 minutes (that's on TT bikes with rear disk and aero bars). The tandem had no aero gear - just normal spoked wheels and drop handlebars - the only concession to the time trial was to swap the wide range freewheel for a close ratio unit. We rode 56 minutes on our first attempt, and on the second, where we'd had a bit more experience riding as a team, we reduced that to just over 54 minutes. Aero gear might have been worth another couple of minutes maybe...
Nick
<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hi All,
A riding buddy and I have been toying with the idea of getting a tandem and trying to see what kind of crazy speeds we can achieve. For fun I have been trying to calculate our times on various courses, but I don't know what sort of CdA to use for these estimates. We are both similar dimensions (193cm, 195cm, 98kg, 95kg) so we could switch being captain on long rides, so it might be fun and FAST.
So what is a resonable CdA guesstimate? For myself in the drops I use . 35. How much more would a tandem be?
