Modeling a Professional Road Cycling Race To Determine the Fastest Wheel-Tire Combination
D.J. de Boer (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
J.K. Moore – Mentor (TU Delft - Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)
Harm Ubbens – Mentor (Team DSM)
Piet Rooijakkers – Mentor (Team DSM)
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Abstract
Commissioned for Team DSM, a computational model for professional road cycling races is developed to answer the question: ``What is the optimal cycling wheel-tire combination, available to Team DSM in order to ride different road cycling races as fast as possible?''. This model is used to make an approximation of the wind that the cyclist experiences, using race data from Team DSM. Using this wind approximation, race times for different wheel-tire combinations are compared. A sensitivity analysis of the model for the coefficient of rolling resistance, coefficient of drag multiplied with the frontal area, mass and rotational inertia is performed. Taking the error in the measurements of parameters into account, the sensitivity analysis and race time results both point to the ``C60 tubeless'' wheel-tire combination to be the fastest combination out of the available wheel-tire combinations to Team DSM. If the weight of a C36 wheel-set was reduced, this wheel set could outperform the C60 wheel-set on mountainous race courses.