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If only Aero was that simple.
Plenty of DH teams have tested in the past (most recently FMD and Canyon) but NONE have taken it further than that. There are just too many variables in DH. For example anything that helps with straight-line will have a massive negative when there is any kind of cross wind or need to turn.
I'm probably on a government watch list for this chatgpt query.... but, rough math shows the terminal velocity of a child vs an adult - the adult will go about 33% faster.
Scale that down however you want to world cup track speeds, but the fact remains, wind resistance cannot be disregarded when you're winning/losing races by tenths of a second.
I'd go as far to as to say that wearing a speedsuit could be the difference between winning a race and not even making it past LCQ.
This child vs adult terminal velocity question requires some real-world testing to confirm.
…requires MORE real-world testing to confirm.
Worth remembering tyre drag is noticeable, as is losses to smashing through rocks. A lot of the above numbers and deltas assume aero drag is the only drag force.
Here is the important thing to keep in mind, if everyone is in a skinsuit, the playing field is level again. There is limited advantage unless some go with aero solutions and others do not. If everyone is in a skin suit, then everyone is just that much faster.
Yes rider size/weight will continue to have advantages/disadvantages, but those cannot be accounted for to ultimately make even.
If DH goes to speedsuits, they need to do like FIS (skiing) and set specific regulations on what is allowed. FIS does not allow the rubber style suits used in top speed events and have specific parameters to what is allowed on air flow and such. Do we really want to add even more regulation to the sport?
That's the thing, whoever will be the first to tap this potentially big advantage field will have a massive advantage. Obviously it would be regulated soon after that or everybody would jump on the bandwagon, but you'd have a few races or even half a season of advantage easily.
Maybe I can finally start riding in my cross-country ski race suit at the bike park and not get made fun of.
Why haven't we seen more aero in DH?
0. No one wants to be the first to be running fairings on their bike, their saddle, etc. And then not win. Embarrassing, etc.
1. Until fairly recently, times were not close enough to really justify the cost/added complexity. That's changed.
2. Tracks are getting faster for TV
3. Bikes are all so damn good now that everyone is looking for advantages beyond suspension, brakes, etc.
4. Wind tunnel time is very costly (for accurate testing)
5. Fairings and gear are expensive to do when done well (won't fall off, actually work). With 3D printing, this gap is closing.
I don't know the UCI ruling on fairings in World Cup DH. But if they're allowed, I'd bet money that they show up on the forks of Loic and others. Along with more Rotor covers and tighter clothing/more Speedsuit level stuff. The big one, would be if someone could make aero wheels. If any of you have ridden a road bike with a box-section rim and gone to a deep dish aero wheelset--you know how much faster it is. Much harder to make work in DH and costly with rim breakage & rotating/unsprung mass.
I bet a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket would drop like a cannon ball.
Do aero fairings on downhill bikes really make sense? Considering that on road bikes, 80-85% of aero drag comes from the rider. On the bike, a large part of the aero drag are the wheels, where we have large and knobby tires, so how effective deep rim aero wheels would be needs to be tested. Considering the issues with cross-wind stability on these deep wheels, it could be outright dangerous to go over larger jumps at any kind of side winds with them.
I think that the easiest aero gains are to be had in clothing (aero socks, skin suits, helmets, goggles/visors) and that the bikes could benefit from smaller, unobstrusive aero modifications, like e.g. aero number plate holders, that also help to modify the air flow over the rider.
Maybe rules could encourage the use of safety gear by coupling it to aero: if you use a full set of body armor you are allowed to use a skin suit to offset the "disadvantages" of the armor. Worth a though on the regulation side of things.
Man I hope aero doesn’t get crazy in DH. It just looks way to dorky
There's a lot of work to be done in studying aero for DH. Let's just hope things don't head down the same road as time trial helmets in 2025 🤣. #stupidsexyflanders
Idk, if aero really gave you a 1s advantage, teams would already be doing it.
But riders are braking a ton, hitting sections at precisely the speed they need to (jumps, rough sections, turns), and fairings are not without costs. I'm sure on many tracks it can help for certain sections, but there must be a reason why literally no teams (since Sam Hill) have done much with it.
Dude, do you even watch DH racing? Goldstone wore an aero speed suit at every race last year.
I'd say the biggest gains would come from aero fairings for forks (as per Peak Torque) and maybe an aero front wheel. For the latter, maybe a clip on thing would be best. A proper carbon deep dish wheel will be too stiff anyway. With a clip on you can easily rebuild the wheel and have it tuned for compliance with a thin aero shell clipped on after the fact.
We already know you don't really need it in the back.
Do you know how scary a deep front wheel would be to ride with any kind of wind? At a Kamikakze style race with no jumps it probably would be OK, anything else I doubt it. Do you remember Camille Balanche's scary crash in Andorra off that drop/jump when she got caught by the wind? Andorra would be a race where this kind of deep wheel would be an advantage, but the risk is just not worth it.
That's why I'm talking about a clip on. Wind picking up? Throw the clips away in the start hut. With no performance changes to the wheel in regards to stiffness.
But no, I don't know. I don't do big jumps and I don't ride a road bike...
it needs an emergency eject button of course, with a few tiny charges attached to it, so you can get rid of it mid race
And he was serving the whole time. If he's pulling it off I wanna see who else can pull it off. Speedsuits for everyone!
For what it’s worth here’s a piece of advice that was pounded into my head when I ski raced.
“Never hold a tuck at the cost of executing your turn” aka if you can’t efficiently turn while tucked, don’t tuck. It is a lot harder to actually hold a good turn tucked than you might think.
Just cause these DH guys aren’t full aero stance from top to bottom doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying to optimize aero for the sections where they can be tucked.
Yeah I agree. I think it’s going to happen because that is the nature of racing. But I won’t like what it does to bikes.
Compare a moto gp bike from 2005 to 2025. It is absolutely criminal what the FIM has allowed them to develop. The new bikes are an assault on the eyes.
Was watching Sam Pilgrim's new video and noticed during his new bike check that there was something blurred on both wheels. The DT Swiss logo is still visible on the other side of the wheels. Any idea why/what might be blurred?
Sadly at the end of the day it doesn't matter what it looks like. It's not a beauty contest. It's a race against time, the fastest time wins and winners are remembered...
Food for thought, in the Pinkbike 10 year retrospective they posted an image of the M29 against the 951. And mentioned how the M29 looked weird at the time. And concluded by saying it's the opposite now. Same thing, is a bike without a fork fender weird these days or not? Perception changes over time. And these guys are pro racers, they don't need to look like park rats like us commoners do. Nobody dons a speed suit when they hit the slopes in the winter except racers 🙂
New Minion?
Unfortunately nothing so exciting - he's sponsored by Halo Wheels, but the bike comes specced with DT out the box so he's likely just blurring the logo's to be a good guy for the sponsors.
Naur.
We can just borrow the setup from my helmet visor device earlier in the thread!
More Breakaway Parts On DH Bikes in 2026
This forum is starting to sound like pinkbike.
Do we need to make a DH Aero Gainz thread? lol
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