Top tips for dialling in aerodynamic from pro Tamara Jewett’s velodrome testing

Canadian professional triathlete Tamara Jewett reveals the intricacies of aerodynamic testing at the highest level. Jewett takes fans deep into the process of dialling in that one per cent on the bike at the Milton velodrome in Ontario as she prepares for the upcoming season.

Insights gained from Jewett’s process can benefit age group athletes in optimizing their bike set up, position and technique.

With her team at Argon 18, Jewett shared how they optimized her bike performance through aerodynamics testing to determine precise bike position on her Youtube channel, to achieve efficiency when racing. The testing is aimed to  minimize drag and improve performance through meticulous adjustments. It involves measuring different bike positions, helmet aerodynamics, and the impact of various components on overall speed. Everything is on the line as Tamara prepares for her first full-distance Ironman event.

“The biggest change going into the 2025 season is that, for the first time, I’m going to try a full distance Ironman. I plan to do Ironman Texas on April 26. I’m excited but I’m a little nervous about that too. It’s going to be a big learning curve. It’s twice the distance of what I do. I think I will be a beginner at this in a way so it could be spectacular off the bat or it could be like a little rough at first. I have a lot to learn,” said Jewett.

Pro tip #1: Understanding aerodynamics

“It’s one thing to look aero, it’s another thing to be aero,” said Adric Heney, Argon 18 Aerodynamic and Structural Analyst. “That’s why we’re are doing the testing.”

Small gains in aerodynamics can be critical for elite athletes, as shown through precision adjustments during testing. Understanding aerodynamics is crucial to the testing and modification process. Dialling in these details is not only significant for elite athletes, but also for age groupers. Optimizing bike fit and rider positions can yield substantial benefits in performance. The essence of competitive triathlon lies in very small gains, transforming how one approaches training and setup.

Testing is essential in sports where fractions of a second matter. Regular adjustments and trials ensure athletes can pinpoint optimal setups. This methodology transcends professional levels and can aid age groupers who are looking to leverage every opportunity to get the most out of their bike and themselves. Efficiency becomes exponentially more important as race distance increases. At the Ironman distance, small improvements add up to massive savings in time and effort when calculated over ultra endurance events.

What Argon 18 learns from testing pro athletes also applies to amateur athletes.

“What we are doing today with Tamara is also very helpful for all of our customers and potential bike owners,” said JF Leclair, Argon 18 Global Marketing Director.

While you may not have the opportunity to work with a team of specialists, changes applied to Jewett’s set up by her team highlight the areas of adjustment that offer the biggest bang for your buck.

 

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Pro tip #2: Reduce air drag from wheels and helmet

The first step before testing and applying any changes is to get a baseline. Set up your bike on the trainer to tweak your position and move components for the most comfortable, baseline aerodynamic positioning possible, if you have not already dialled that in with a good bike fit. Each time you swap out a piece of equipment or component, revisit your baseline bike position to make any necessary adjustments.

“The idea with testing is, does this improve anything? And if it does in some way, then it would be about how do we tweak this to make it more feasible, and if it doesn’t then we don’t have to bother with that,” said Jewett.

Many bikes come with a great wheel set, but there is value in upgrading to reduce the air drag so you are slicing through the resistance with razor edge sharpness. If you can get on a track or a straightaway outdoors, you can run through a rudimentary testing process of riding at a repeatable effort, and taking splits while testing various wheel sets. The clock, power output, comfort and feel for the ride can provide great feedback even if you don’t have Argon 18 standing by with more sophisticated science on hand.

“What we are doing with pro athletes, couple of watts here and a couple of watts there, can be the difference between on the podium or not. It just turns into such small little gains over such a long distance, which becomes super critical,” – explained bike fitter, JP Raymond from Brown’s Sports & Cycle Co.

Testing various helmets should also include considerations for airflow as well as aerodynamics. Heat control is a huge component of racing well in hotter temperatures. Finding a balance between speed and heat management is key to optimizing your helmet choice.

Pro tip #3: Show me your hands

To dial in Jewett’s body position in the cockpit, the team tested out a few different positions, including her hands angled more upwards to bring her hands and head closer together in order to make them one bluff body.

Heney explained that for aerodynamic purposes there are two schools of thought around hand and head position in the cockpit.

“There’s being sort of up high with the head and sort of being down low with the base bar, as low as possible. So that’s kind of where we’re trying to test today to see whether she can be optimized in those two positions. Currently, she’s in a hybrid position of those, so we’ll see whether there is any noticeable differences with the track test,”said Heney.

As with helmet choice, hand and head position must factor in comfort. Riding for any significant length of time has to address rider comfort or it will create other conditions that will mitigate any gains made by the most optimal aerodynamic position.

“The test that we are doing today is interesting because it will illustrate how a rider, regardless of their level, can improve their position and really adjust the bike and the way they ride the bike, in a way that will perform good for them,” said Leclair.

“Performance being better power output, better speed, and also energy saving, being able to be comfortable and perform at a race at the level that they want,” he added.

For Jewett, finding that perfect balance between optimized aerodynamics and comfort is more critical than ever before. Taking on the new challenge of a full Ironman doubles the distance she has to ride, making both comfort and efficiencies critical to final decisions about equipment, components and position.

“I’m excited to see the today went when we process the data a bit more. hopefully that’ll give us a lot of confidence in some changes that we can make to to make my bike splits faster this season,” said Jewett.