The new Rojo Vivo

As those of you that follow me know I have a burning desire to get faster on the bike. I know that this is where I can make up significant ground and the majority of that will come from training. There are other areas that can help me improve bike speed and that is with equipment.

For 70.3 IMCA I borrowed a pair of Zipp 404s and I could tell the difference right away compared to my stock wheels. I had to return then and since then I have been riding my stock wheels but I have gotten faster, thank you Coach C. My speed has been around 17mph without the 404s where I finished California at 18mph. Prior to the race I would average about 16.5 mph.

This past week there was a Groupon like offer from Schwaggle, that I received from Active.com. The offer was for TriSports and was $45 for $90 value. I purchase two and now had $180 to play with. Getting an aero helmet was my number one priority but after tweeting about it I thought about getting a new tri suit for the summer. Well to be honest that thought lasted 1 second as I knew I wanted an aero helmet. With $180 in hand I had my pick of the litter and I chose the Louis Garneau Superleggera.

This is one bad looking helmet and it fits in with El Diablo, Los Fumadores, En Fuegos, and the El Scorchos. So I went right for it and purchased it even though it was on backorder until May 6th. I could wait right? Patience is a virtue right? I am a patient man and so I clicked add to cart and waited. When the package arrived it was a feeling of euphoria.

When I opened the box it was like Samuel L Jackson opening the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. The helmet just seemed to glow at me and I knew immediately that it’s name would be ROJO VIVO. This helmet was sleek and since I got it at night I wasn’t going to go riding anytime soon and wore it around the house. Karen’s reaction to the helmet in the house led to this tweet:

CookTrainEatRce May 06, 8:21pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®

@TheLadyBaha is ignoring the fact that I am walking around the house in my new aero helmet that I got from @TriSports. Looks good too!!!

So the next day I had a 2 hour 30 minute ride that I wanted to test the helmet on. I knew from the day before that the helmet was light but I wasn’t sure about the venting and if I would be hot. Jeff of Dangle the Carrot made mention to wearing an aero helmet at 70.3 Galveston and that it was too hot so he went with a regular road helmet. I wondered if I could get used to it and if the vents would allow enough air it to cool me off. After all there are dimples on the front of the helmet to make it more aerodynamic and I figured this might hinder its effectiveness of cooling me off.

At around 10am I started my ride. I figured I would start riding at this time so that I could run in the heat of the afternoon since most of the 70.3 races I do will have me running at that time. Once I got on the bike I could feel the difference in the aero helmet versus my standard helmet. The wind seemed to go right around me and not be howling as I was pedaling. This was a great start.

In the aero position I could tell the difference as I was not cranking on the pedals and still maintaining a 17-18 mph speed on slight elevations. On the downhills I would hit 25-27 mph easily with no turnover. I am typically around 24 mph so I knew the helmet was doing it’s job. I wondered how this affect me on the climbs, and I don’t think it has any impact because I am typically out of the saddle when I climb. Aero helmet or not my body becomes a mast and slows me down. I stand because I am at a body weight and height where the difference between sitting and standing is negligible. I stand on some climbs and sit on others.

It wasn’t until about 1 hour and 30 minutes into the ride that I actually felt a sweat bead drip down my eyebrow and onto my sunglasses. For 1.5 hours the helmet held my sweat back which is amazing because my road bike helmet does not do that. I began to wonder if it would be a steady stream at this point but it was not. Since it had not bothered me to this point I was not even looking to see if I were hot in the helmet. Once the sweat began to drip I began to think more and more about the heat of the helmet and to my surprise it was not any hotter than my other helmet.

My road helmet that is still awesome

One area that was of concern to me was it’s ability to protect my noggin. This helmet looks big but when you pick it up it is as light as a feather and so the plastic covering the main head gear is thin, as you wold expect. Whenever I had to move the helmet I thought to myself is this going to protect me. On the ride I almost found out as I had to stop short and almost flipped over the handlebars. Fortunately I regained control and rode away from the car and the accident with no issues at all.

When I finished up the ride and took the helmet off to put on my visor I could tell I had been sweating but I looked no different than any other ride. I have fallen in love with this helmet and almost wore it to the gym this morning on the spin bike. It certainly provides the necessary protection but is lightweight and allows for cooling.

I would recommend this helmet to anybody that asks. The fit was perfect, the look is great, and I was never hot in it. Two CTER thumbs up for this product.

After writing this post I came across the following post in Active.com that goes into the aero helmet versus aero wheels discussion. It is interesting and informative. Enjoy the read:

Gear Face-Off: Aero Helmet Vs. Aero Wheels

Michelle Valenti/Active.com

By Sean Madsen, Boulder Center for Sports Medicine

Dear VeloNews Training Center,

I have a big time trial coming in a few months. I don’t have a huge budget for new equipment, but I’m considering investing in either an aero helmet or aero wheels. Which will help me the most?
-Todd

Time trial equipment is certainly expensive, but can afford the rider a quantifiable improvement in race performance. Prioritizing equipment can be a daunting task, especially given the marketing hype surrounding aerodynamics. To help in the decision making, let’s look at the scientific studies that have been performed in wind tunnels and real world settings.

Many studies have illustrated the primary resistance that a cyclist must overcome, especially at high speeds, is wind resistance. (Grappe et al., 1997; Kyle and Burke, 1984) Moreover, these same studies have pointed out that the body accounts for the majority of the aerodynamic drag, usually about 70 percent. If the body is the primary source of aerodynamic drag, then making changes to the body position can cause substantial changes in drag (Broker, 2003; Garcia-Lopez et al. 2008; Juekendrup and Martin, 2001).

These same studies have also pointed out that optimizing aerodynamic drag does not necessarily result in optimized metabolic cost and respiratory capacity. So there is a balance between aerodynamics and power generation. All of this leads to the conclusion that the most important use of your money is actually getting positioned properly on your bike.

Since you asked an equipment question, let’s delve into that a little more. Wheels and helmets are two distinct ways to change your aerodynamic picture. The body represents the majority of the drag (70 percent) the bike must then be the rest (30 percent).

Aero wheels can reduce the drag of the bike by 49 grams of force (Greenwell et al., 1995). An aero helmet can deliver much more of an aerodynamic advantage. A properly positioned aero helmet affects the drag coming from the body.

The 2007 Sidelko study and the 2008 Chabroux study each showed large variations in drag reduction across all tested yaw angles, in three different helmet positions. A recent paper from MIT (Sidelko, 2007) shows even the worst performing helmet reduced drag by 113 gmf! The best performer reduced drag by 175 gmf.

Interestingly, increasing yaw angles tended to produce even better savings. These kinds of studies are actually making manufacturers look at improving their non-time trial helmets, to see what advantages can be made.

Positioning of the helmet is critical. The 2007 Sidelko study and the 2008 Chabroux study, both showed large variations in drag reduction across all tested yaw angles, in three different helmet positions. Indeed, when the rider is looking down at the front wheel, and the tail of the helmet is straight up (think shark’s fin) half of the helmets tested were actually worse than a typical road helmet. This stresses the importance of being properly positioned on your bike.

There are other considerations with helmets, mainly heat transfer (cooling). Many Ironman Kona racers use a standard road helmet due to the hot conditions. As we all know, the metabolic cost of dehydration and over-heating will far outweigh any aerodynamic gain.

Looking at the published literature regarding both helmets and wheels, either can contribute to reducing your aerodynamic drag in a time trial or triathlon. Clearly it seems the best equipment for your dollars comes from an aero helmet, however the best use of your resources is to be properly positioned on your bike.

-Sean