
The transition between those areas creates friction that creates drag. The air over your body is stationary the air passing over you is fast moving and free. There is friction between your body and the air particles moving over you, as well as friction between the layers of air around you. Aerodynamic shapes reduce this pressure drag by minimizing that difference in pressure and allowing the air to flow more smoothly over your front and reduce the low-pressure wake behind you.

The difference in air pressure from your front to your back creates a drag force. Pressure DragĪs you ride, you slam into air particles, which get compressed when you hit them and then become spaced out after they flow over you. Here’s a quick refresher on the two major types of drag you face: pressure and skin friction. While aerodynamics is the study of the properties of moving air and the interaction between air and solids moving through it, cyclists should also understand drag reduction. By the time you hit about 30 mph, 90 percent of your power goes into overcoming air resistance, or what scientists call aerodynamic drag. At speeds over 9 mph, it’s the dominant force of resistance. Even on a perfectly windless day, you create a lot of wind as a cyclist, and the faster you go, the harder it blows.

But barring a trip to the moon, it’s impossible to avoid air. You can avoid the latter by staying on flat ground. Of all the forces you have to overcome on your bike, the two greatest watt-sappers are: air resistance and ( when the road tilts up) gravity.
