![\"A](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Velo-Podcast-1-30-header-image.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe data is clear: Aerodynamics provided a massive efficiency gain, allowing me to match a significantly stronger rider on the flats. Here is the math, plus the latest on the Vingegaard fan crash.<\/p>\n
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(Photo: Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n
Published January 31, 2026 10:30AM<\/p>\n
Most people think of aero gains as small efficiencies. They help, but they aren\u2019t a big deal\u2026right? Except maybe they are. Would you believe I was 30% more efficient than a friend over the same piece of road? Can aerodynamics really bridge a 70-watt power gap?<\/p>\n
I dug into the data to find out. A friend and I covered the same 20-minute distance; he was on a steel bike, and I was on an aero setup. With both of us pushing as hard as possible, he was stronger but still slower. I break down exactly why he had to hold 288 watts to go slightly slower than me holding 221 watts. We also talk about how you can get the same advantage on your next ride and why no amount of \u201cWeight Weenie\u201d upgrades could ever help as much on the climbs.<\/p>\n
Speaking of gaps, Jonas Vingegaard crashed earlier this week while apparently trying to drop a \u201cstalker\u201d fan who was following him on a descent near M\u00e1laga, Spain. The two-time Tour de France winner was bloodied, and the incident raises serious questions about fan interactions with professionals. I lived in LA, so I\u2019m practiced at these interactions, but it turns out Lisa had her own moment of \u201cstalking\u201d a pro in Girona, and Levy embarrassed himself in front of an F1 driver.<\/p>\n
In an unusual move this week, we also took time for listener Q&A. Levy, Lisa, and I answer questions about gravel bike suspension, including how Lauf\u2019s leaf-spring fork actually compares to the Cane Creek Invert and why your Salsa Cutthroat is begging for a suspension upgrade. I also have to defend my critical take on Pinarello\u2019s new Grevil MX mountain bike conversion, and there\u2019s disagreement between the crew about LifeTime\u2019s drop-bar ban at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Articles covered in this episode:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The data is clear: Aerodynamics provided a massive efficiency gain, allowing me to match a significantly stronger rider…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,68224,69110,232794,140709,105,67883],"class_list":["post-450096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-parent_category-road","tag-tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-tag-princeton-carbonworks","tag-tag-velo-podcast","tag-technology","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}