Aero Socks Blog

With a wide variety of aero socks available on the market, choosing the best option for an athlete can become a tricky decision to make! Comfort and aesthetics are often a driving factor, however, should aerodynamics also be considered?

To find out, we recently benchmarked 6 different aero socks on our mannequin to highlight the differences in power required (to ride at a certain speed) you may expect to see when testing in the Sports Performance Wind Tunnel.

Testing protocol

The speeds selected for the test were 40kph and 50kph, across two yaw angles of 0 and 5 degrees, representative of what a rider may typically encounter when taking part in road race or time trial.

Unlike previous blog tests, we decided to test with a static mannequin on this occasion. The mannequin is held in a fixed position, maintaining consistency between runs, and reducing variability in the data.

Results

Conclusion

Whilst some of the socks performed similarly, the differential in power required between the slowest and fastest sock was quite substantial, with a maximal gain of 8.5w between sock 4 and sock 6 at 50kph (5 degrees yaw). 

In conclusion, the results from the test clearly demonstrate that there is the potential to find a notable aerodynamic advantage from selecting the optimal aero sock.

If you would be interested in arranging a session in the Sports Performance Wind Tunnel to optimise your own equipment choices, please refer to the Performance Consultants section of our website for further information – https://silverstonesportshub.co.uk/consultants/