Removed fairing

Went for a short ride last evening and decided during the ride that I'd take that fairing off. I've used it only in spring and fall anyway but have decided that it really is not doing me that much good other than slowing me down.

The reason I got it originally was to help keep my feet from freezing. Last evening I was very happy to arrive back home and get my feet warmed up! So from now on I'll wear the booties and put heat packs in my shoes if needed.

I know most folks think a fairing will help to increase speed on a bike but that is not necessarily so. I know that on the Bacchetta SWB bikes they will slow you down some. Nothing great but certainly no gain. I lose about 1 mph probably. That is not a lot but at the speed I have to ride it is very noticeable. So it is now off but I probably won't get a chance to ride today as there is too much going on.

 

A front fairing will help more if the rider is close to its trailing edge. That tends to favor bikes that have more upright seating, such as TourEasys and Lightnings.

What makes this so is the airflow. If the air goes over the top and swirls behind the fairing, or hits the rider in the chest, then all the aero benefits are lost. For best results, the airflow has to go over the rider's shoulders, ideally to be reshaped behind the bike by an additional device, such as a shaped tailbox or bag.

Most SWB bikes are too reclined for a front fairing to do any good. Plus, the mounting is more elaborate and thus more costly. That's why aero tail bags are more popular for SWB.

 

Well the mounting is not so elaborate as there are only 2 hose clamps to fasten it on. Actually it works quite well for helping to keep the feet from freezing as long as the wind isn't too strong. I've just decided the rest of this spring will be without it.

btw, when I bought it I had no intention or no idea that it might help with speed and was hoping I wouldn't lose too much. At the speed I go I can't afford to lose much more else I couldn't stay upright! lol

 

Complexity is comparative. For a TourEasy, there's some bent steel brackets at the fork and some at the handlebars. For a SWB, there's a stinger and a riser (if I got the terms right.) That is, a metal frame piece that sticks out in front of the pedals, and one that sticks up from the boom or the shift tube. Manufacturers don't provide hard points, so the mounts must play nice with your paint. They don't have to be all that complicated, but commercial offerings typically charge more for the fairing frame than for the fairing itself. Or at least they always used to, back when I designed my setup.

The fairing I built for my V-Rex cost about $40 total; and the frame is reasonably simple. But it's still more elaborate than a LWB fairing.

​

 

OK need some input I got the grant to fix old faithful my EZ 3 SX was wondering where did you mount your light if your rode at night or at 0 dark thirty in the morning by 0 dark I mean when it's like 3 a.m you're trying to do your second century or if you are anywhere for too long and darkness catches up to you. Where do you mount you Head light.

 

You could use a helmet light. Or, in the case of a Coroplast fairing, it's not very expensive to experiment with making a removable flap, so you can mount the headlight to shine through a hole at the front of the fairing. You could put reflective tape along the sides, for better visibility from those directions.

 

Helmet light that's totally cool why in the world didn't I think of using one.
What I use to use was one of those head band lights around my helmet or wally world has them.

 

Hi Shawn,

I picked up a good light from REI that I use on my helmet so I always have a good light to ride with (currently have 3 bents, 2 LWB, 1 SWB). I have the ones that flash mounted on the bike, but they're for having me be seen by others. The one on my helmet is a NiteRider MiNewt Mini-Plus LED Bike Light that works really well. Since it's on my helmet, it's always putting light where I'm looking. I do a lot of early morning rides (starting around 5 AM) and sometimes get caught out at night. The MiNewt makes seeing to ride really easy.

I would imagine there might be some less expensive places to get a MiNewt, and there might be other good lights that can be put on a helmet as well.

Curtis