Fairing on bike?

Was it serving any discernible purpose other than fairing?

ummm, whats "fairing"?

It seemed to be there to just be a fairing, which is what I immediatly thought of. I guess he could argue that it was to keep his gatorade off his shoes...

Going with first impressions, I thought it was a fairing, made to be simmilar to the waterbottle on a P4...

From your description, I would call it a fairing. Applicable USAT rule:

5.11 Bicycle Specifications. All bicycles and bicycle equipment used in USA Triathlon sanctioned events must conform to the specifications set forth in this Section. Any participant using a nonconforming bicycle or otherwise violating this Section shall be disqualified.

 (e) There must be no protective shield, fairing, or other device on any part of the bicycle (including frame, wheels, handlebars, chain wheel, and accessories) which has the effect of reducing resistance. Aerodynamic carriers for food, water, and or cycling provisions may be attached to or be an integral part of the aero-handlebars if they meet the following guidelines:

(i) the carrier can pass from front to rear, through a rectangular loop with dimensions of 10 inches (25 cm) in width and 8 inches (20 cm) in height.(ii) The front of the carrier is behind the cyclist’s hands when the hands are placed in their customary position on the end of the aerobars, and (iii) The length of the carrier is no greater than 10 inches (25 cm) front to rear.

When the carrier is an integral part of the aerobar, this integrated unit must be able to pass through the rectangular loop defined in (i) above and the carrier portion of the unit must meet criteria (ii) and (iii). In the event that compliance with this section is in doubt with respect to any particular carrier or integrated unit, a member of USA Triathlon may submit the carrier or integrated unit to USA Triathlon for evaluation.

OK, Bear, thanks for the clarification. Maybe it's been explained before, maybe not, maybe you can explain it to me. If the F4 water bottle is "legal" (is it legal?), why does the rule not apply to that?

Just making an educated guess that either A) Cervelo or a USAT member has submitted the design and/or the unit to USAT for evaluation as mandated under the section of the rule I cited, or, B) no one has has ever questioned it in competiotion..

The P4 bottle is not UCI legal, which is why the Cervelo Test Team had to fabricate a bottle mount in the area and use a normal bottle.

What the guy did does not sound legal to me.  But I'm not one of the race officials for the event.

This thread is concerned with the P4's illegality within the UCI.  Cervelo's Gerard Vroomen maintains:

"With regards to the water bottle, we thought the rules are also quite clear. You cannot add anything merely to make the bike more aero, but items that are on the bike can be shaped in an aerodynamic way. A fully-functional water bottle like on the P4 is clearly the latter in our opinion; it’s most definitely a water bottle that happens to be aero and not an aerodynamic shape that happens to be a water bottle."

And further states "...the P4 bottle remains fully approved for all triathlons and virtually all time trials (as the UCI rules don’t apply there)..."

No "Why? " is discussed.


Edited by the bear 2009-08-17 2:06 PM

LOL, sorry, but I just glanced at this thread title and thought it read "Far*ing on bike?"  like what is the prorper etiquette for passign wind while on a group ride or something LOL  ...just made my afternoon.

Back to technical water bottle design discussion....

OK, the rule states that nothing can be added just for aerodynamic advantage, at least that is what it says as I interpret it.  It also specifically mentions wheels.  So, how do disk wheels come in as legal?  Were they in play before the rule, or do they have some additional, non-aero advantage?

Scott

Disc covers do not add a fairing but are of solid construction with maybe an overlying skin. Disc covers, which could be described asa fairing, are specifically allowed:

(g) Except as otherwise determined by the race director in the interest of safety, the front wheel may be of a

different diameter than the rear wheel, but the front wheel must be of spoke construction. The rear wheel may

be either spoke or solid construction. Wheel covers shall only be permitted on the rear wheel.

 

That is addressed:

5.11 Bicycle Specifications. All bicycles and bicycle equipment used in USA Triathlon sanctioned events must conform to the specifications set forth in this Section. Any participant using a nonconforming bicycle or otherwise violating this Section shall be disqualified.

(g) Except as otherwise determined by the race director in the interest of safety, the front wheel may be of a  different diameter than the rear wheel, but the front wheel must be of spoke construction. The rear wheel may be either spoke or solid construction. Wheel covers shall only be permitted on the rear wheel.

(h) No wheel may contain any mechanism which is capable of accelerating the wheel.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: -- I guess I'm a bit too slow on the post !!

Edited by Bone Head 2009-08-17 5:40 PM

It depends on if it:

1) Gives you forward propulsion
2) Impedes on other competitors races

The aerobottle is about the same as THIS.  The difference is...the frame manufacturers carry a helluva lot more weight with the UCI than Profile, FSA, or other component manufacturers.  It's a blurry, political line.

BTW...The dealio in the link is illegal, as ruled by UCI.