Whether it's the bike, helmet or aero socks. In the end, cycling is all about one thing. Be the fastest. But what are really the fastest aero socks? And how much does it matter?
Being the fastest is in Sockeloen's DNA. Half of the employees are active competitive cyclists. The other half were competitive cyclists or had someone in the family who cycled competitions. During the lunch we will talk about the results of Liège Bastogne Liège. Which VO2 max blocks are on the training schedule this afternoon. Or about how many grams of carbohydrates you can absorb per hour.
When we decided that we were going to develop the fastest aero sock for cycling in the world, one thing was certain. We're not going to write a bull-shit marketing story. We want to develop a sock that we would buy and put on ourselves with confidence. Supported by data from scientific research. Read below how we arrived at that sock.
Download the complete and independent research report from Eindhoven University of Technology here.
TEST SETUP
How are we going to make a valid test setup in which you can demonstrate the difference between 2 aerodynamic socks? As realistic as possible. So no tube in a wind tunnel with 2 different fabrics around it, as some competitors do. But approach the actual cyclist as closely as possible.
To this end, cooperation has been sought with Eindhoven University of Technology. There have been many talks and discussions with the technical staff in the wind tunnel led by Bert Blocken. We wanted to get as close to reality as possible, but to be able to measure the small difference between 2 different socks in a reliable way.
In the end, we concluded that testing with a real person gives too much difference between two runs to measure a fair result. That is why it was decided to measure with a dummy sitting still, in a fixed position. The advantage of this is that the difference between 2 different socks is always exactly the difference between the two socks. The disadvantage is that the doll's legs do not move and are stationary in 1 fixed position.
During the tests, we spent most of the time putting on the socks on the doll. We put on all socks at exactly the same height and put the sock on the doll's leg as perfectly as possible. All tests were performed with the same wind angle of 0 degrees. We did this in consultation with the wind tunnel technical staff and SPEECO for two reasons:
1. Firstly, because we think that cyclists will not determine their sock choice depending on the wind direction.
2. Secondly, because we preferred to test more different socks than the same sock under different wind directions.
PARTNERS
In order to use our precious time in the wind tunnel as effectively as possible, a collaboration was sought with SPEECO, the guests of Jan Willem van het Schip's aerodynamic steering wheel. They have the same DNA as Sockeloen and are always looking for demonstrably the fastest set-up.
Together with Jules and Noah, several Aero tests were attended in the Eindhoven wind tunnel with top athletes. This is to learn how an Aero test works in practice. And how we could measure the fastest sock in the world as efficiently as possible.
To determine the initial situation, we have collected all existing Aero sock variants on the market. And of course specifically the ones that claim to be the fastest. So that we can compare the current offer with our socks. These were:
1. Sockeloen 1.0 AERO
2. Aero Cyclinggear
3. AGU
4. No Pinz
5. Defeet
To determine how we could develop an even faster sock than what is already for sale, we came up with all kinds of concepts and made samples of them. From latex fabric, to aero socks with seams that break the wind. All possible options have been incorporated into samples for testing.
Then, during the wind tunnel sessions, we started to determine which direction was fast based on the results. When something was fast, we started testing several variants of that concept sock. This enabled us to test efficiently and to respond quickly to newly acquired knowledge.
