TECHNICAL AERO BENCHMARK TESTING FOR THE CYCLING INDUSTRY. Winter 2017/2018. Bikes Helmets Wheels

Transcription

1 TECHNICAL AERO BENCHMARK TESTING FOR THE CYCLING INDUSTRY Winter 2017/2018 Bikes Helmets Wheels

2 Introduction: One of the driving forces for sales in the high-end cycling industry has always been innovation, to be able to drive the end consumer towards the stores the industry needs to improve its products continuously. For a large part of the high-end cycling community better equals faster. So, for these customers a faster product is a better product. Over the past decade, fast was often related to stiffness or weight. At the moment, an increasing number of cyclists realize that the easiest way to make a product faster is to improve its aerodynamics. As we can see at every tradeshow, and in nearly every magazine more and more brands have picked up this message and display values related to aerodynamics in adds and other marketing outings. However, unfortunately, there is no uniformity in these communications. Consumers get confused and as a result the power of the innovation decreases. Flanders Bike valley has the ambition to support brands, manufacturers, and designers to identify their products relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of aerodynamics. To start with this process Bike Valley will offer benchmark testing for bikes, helmets, and wheels. Different from most of the other comparison testing done, these benchmark testings primarily do not have a marketing goal, but are purely focussed on identifying the relative position of products in the market to be able to discover if and how much room for product improvement there is compared to other products in the market. To get a representative number of the products on the market, the investment for the brands in terms of timing, staff and money has been minimized. Which altogether lowers the threshold for participation for any brand who really wants to excel.

3 About the test facility: The only accurate tool to do real life benchmark testing is obviously a full-scale wind tunnel facilitated to test bikes, related parts and accessories. The Bike Valley wind tunnel is a unique, independent, low speed wind tunnel designed specifically for cyclists and the cycling industry, where aerodynamic drag and turbulence can be measured for manufacturers, product developers, and athletes. Our purpose-built wind tunnel can lead to higher overall accuracy and repeatability than those built for aeronautics, aviation, motorsports, or other scientific research. General specifications: Open circuit wind tunnel (~35.5m in length) Maximum wind speed 30m/s (108km/h) Test section 2.5m x 2.5m x 6.5m (two cyclists in succession can be tested) Wind tunnel design allows for high level of laminar flow, which leads to very accurate and repeatable results Test platform easily accessible for subjects as well as analysts Possibility to shield test platform for confidentiality reasons Balance measuring system to determine weight and drag forces up to 0,1N 3D machined dummy of cyclists can be made for sustained or laser measurements Advanced testing options: Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to visualize velocity and direction of the air 1 For more information on the wind tunnel please have a look at the white paper in appendix 1 In the benchmark testings this technique will not be used

4 General information on the tests: The first series will consist of 3 different tests Bike Benchmark testing 11 December 15 December 2017 Wheel Benchmark testing 28 January 2 February 2018 Helmet Benchmark testing 5 March 9 March 2018 Protocol: All the tests will be run according to a protocol developed by Bike Valley. Although Bike Valley decides on the final protocol all participants will be given the opportunity to give input before the final test. Once all input is taken into consideration the final protocol will be shared with all the participants. Generated data / shared information: All participants will get all the aerodynamic data on the products that have participated in the tests. All participants will also be informed which other brands and products participated. Participants will not get the brand / product names together with the data of the other participating products. This to ensure that the data are only used for technical reasons and copying each other s products is not stimulated Data format: All participants will get the data in digital form. These data will be presented in a full report as well as RAW data files. Bike Valley will hire a photographer to take pictures of the actual testing. These pictures will be shared and can be used for marketing purpose. Since we work confidentially only pictures displaying your own product will be shared Confidentiality: All tests and test data will be treated as confidential. This means that access to these data will be limited to authorised staff only. After the tests, Bike Valley will not keep a record of the individual datasets. Besides that, all participants declare that they will not use the relative data for any marketing purposes. (although participants will not have the product names and values together it is not allowed to publish information like we became number x in the bench mark test ) Logistics: In order to participate in the benchmark testing the participants send their products to Bike Valley. The products need to be at Bike Valley minimum 5 days before the actual tests start. Bike Valley will take care of the products during the tests, and will inform the participant when the products can be picked up after the tests. Bike Valley will ensure that the products will only be used for testing and are stocked properly during and after testing.

5 Specific information on Benchmarking tests for Bikes: Bikes specifications The first Benchmark test will be the test for Bikes. To do a good benchmark test the bikes should be comparable. To achieve this Bike Valley will define 3 categories of bikes, being Aero road bikes TT / TRI bikes Non-aero road bikes The participant defines for his own bikes in which categories they would like to be 2 To get comparable results, Bike Valley will demand uniformity in: Saddle height Saddle tilt Handlebar width Handlebar height Crank length Positions of brake levers All bikes will be tested with the same wheelset. In case of the wheelset being part of the full set up the bike will be tested with both the standard wheelset as well as with the reference wheelset used by Bike Valley. Tyre pressure and width will be standardized as well. All bikes tested should be available on the market. (No prototypes or special adapted bikes). To be as comparable as possible Bike Valley prefers bikes to be equipped with Shimano Ultegra components Bikes will be tested as bike only, as bike with (non-moving 3 ) mannequin and as bike with a (non-moving) rider 4 Test protocol The full test protocol will be sent to all brands that have shown interest in participation. The tests will include several windspeeds and jaw angles, as well as different bike-rider configurations (see above) Cost The cost of participation will be (ex. VAT) for 3 bikes. Any brand that wants to participate with more than 3 bikes will be charged (ex. VAT) for every extra bike. Costs for shipping to Bike Valley as well as the cost for sending the bikes back are at the expense of the participant. 2 In case Bike Valley feels that a bike is tested in a non-logical category this will be mentioned in the results 3 Since the expected differences are small a non-moving dummy / rider will be used in order the measure with less variation in the signal 4 Bike Valley has a video controlled contour replication system

6 The standard payment term of the invoices is 10 days nett. No data will be released to the participant till the full invoice amount has been paid. Number of Participants: The goal in terms of number of participating brands for the first Bike Benchmark testing is 10 brands. If there are less than 5 brands participating the test will be delayed / cancelled. More information: This document contains an application form. Please fill in the form to confirm participation. For any remarks questions feel free to contact Bike Valley. Niels Heuvelman Niels.heuvelman@flandersbikevalley.be

7 Specific information on Benchmarking tests for Wheels: Wheel specifications To do a good benchmark test the wheels should be comparable. To achieve this Bike Valley will define 3 categories of wheels, by rim height Category 1: rim height less then 40mm Category 2: rim height 40mm 60mm Category 3: rim height more than 60mm Bike Valley will measure the rim height uniformly, and selects the appropriate category All 3 categories will have a non-disc and a disc variation. Bike Valley will mount a standardised tyre with a well-defined pressure on the different wheelsets. Wheels that are offered in combination with a certain tyre will be tested both with the standard tyre, as well as with the reference tyre. This Benchmark will not be open for clinchers type wheels only. Test protocol The full test protocol will be sent to all brands that have shown interest in participation. The tests will include several windspeeds and jaw angles. Both separate wheels 5 as well as in combination with reference bikes 6 Cost The cost of participation will be (ex. VAT) for 4 wheelsets. Any brand that wants to participate with more than 4 wheelsets will be charged (ex. VAT) for every extra wheelset. Costs for shipping the wheelsets to Bike Valley as well as the cost for sending the wheelsets back are at the expense of the participant. The standard payment term on the invoices is 10 days nett. No data will be released to the participant till the full invoice amount has been paid. Number of Participants: The goal in terms of number of participating brands for the first wheel Benchmark testing is 10 brands. If there are less than 5 brands participating the test will be delayed / cancelled. More information: This document contains an application form. Please fill in the form to confirm participation. For any remarks questions feel free to contact Bike Valley. Niels Heuvelman Niels.heuvelman@flandersbikevalley.be 5 Frontwheel only 6 2 different bikes, 1 disc, 1 non disc

8 Specific information on Benchmarking tests for Helmets: Helmet specifications To do a good benchmark test the helmets should be comparable. To achieve this Bike Valley will define 2 categories of helmets Category 1: Road / MTB use Category 2: TT / TRI specific use The participant defines for his own bikes in which categories they would like to be 7 To get comparable results, Bike Valley will define a head shape (circumference) that the helmet should fit. Besides that, Bike Valley will assure that helmets are tested with the (dummy)head in the same position Test protocol The full test protocol will be sent to all brands that have shown interest in participation. The tests will contain several windspeeds and jaw angles. Helmets will be tested on a dummy head. Both road bike as well as time trail position will be tested. Cost The cost of participation will be (ex. VAT) for 4 helmets. Any brand that wants to participate with more than 4 helmets will be charged (ex. VAT) for every extra helmet. Costs for shipping the helmets to Bike Valley as well as the costs for sending the helmets back are at the expense of the participant. The standard payment term on the invoices is 10 days nett. No data will be released to the participant till the full invoice amount has been paid. Number of Participants: The goal in terms of number of participating brands for the first helmet Benchmark testing is 10 brands. If there are less than 5 brands participating the test will be delayed / cancelled. More information: For any remarks questions or if you just want to confirm your participation feel free to contact Bike Valley. This document contains an application form. Please fill in the form to confirm participation. For any remarks questions feel free to contact Bike Valley. Niels Heuvelman Niels.heuvelman@flandersbikevalley.be 7 In case Bike Valley feels that a helmet is tested in a non-logical category this will be mentioned in the results

9 About Bike Valley: Bike Valley ( The Global Cycling Center ) was established in 2013 as one of the first bottomup clusters in Flanders. As an Open Innovation Center for the Cycling Industry the cluster was founded by 4 local SME s (bottom-up) which are lead plants in their sector, together with one knowledge institute: Bio Racer (a cycling clothes manufacturer), Lazer Sport (helmets), Ridley Race Productions, Voxdale (a specialist in aerodynamics who e.g. engineered and designed for IndyCar) and Flanders Make (a knowledge centre for the Manufacturing Industry). Bike Valley focuses on 6 major topics: Mobility, Sports (involvement of Belgian Cycling Foundation and Belgian Olympic Committee), Safety and Healthcare, Science & Technology, Industry & Government and Tourism. Although the cluster started recently, the number of members grew to more than 70 within the first months. This number will still increase in the coming years. More than 50% of the members are other SME s which come from a diversity of sectors (not only the cycling sector) like electronics, design, ICT, Healthcare, Bike Valley organizes partner matching events (often together with other clusters/valleys), is setting-up breakthrough open innovation projects for multiple partners and will also focus on joint internationalisation and incubation in cooperation with its Incubator. Since cycling is anchored in the roots of the Flemish People (as early adopters for new cycling technologies) and all involved SME s are globally leading innovators in the cycling world, Bike Valley is considered as a smart specialisation cluster for the Flemish Region.

10 Flanders Bike Valley vzw Tervantstraat 2 Bus B 3583 Paal-Beringen BE / nore.dykmans@flandersbikevalley.be APPLICATION TECHNICAL AERO BENCHMARK TESTING FOR THE CYCLING INDUSTRY Name organization General Info Address: Street Postal Code City Country VAT TVA number Company Contacts ( + Phone) First name + Surname Contacts Function Personal contacts ( + Mobile) 1/2

11 Flanders Bike Valley vzw Tervantstraat 2 Bus B 3583 Paal-Beringen BE / nore.dykmans@flandersbikevalley.be Select the the benchmark test that you would like to participate in and fill in the details o Bike Benchmark testing December 2017 o Standard package (3 bikes) (ex. VAT) o extra bikes (ex. VAT) (per bike) o Wheel Benchmark testing 28 January 2 February 2018 o Standard package 4 wheelsets) (ex. VAT) o extra wheelset (ex. VAT) (per wheelset) o Helmet Benchmark testing 5 March 9 March 2018 o Standard package 4 helmets) (ex. VAT) o extra helmet (ex. VAT) (per helmet) Applicant Signature 2/2

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