An experimental study on aerodynamic performance of time trial bicycle helmets

Aerodynamic efficiency is one of the important criteria for racing bicycle helmets, especially in time trial event. The physical characteristics of a bicycle helmet especially its venting geometry, position and number of vents play a crucial role in the aerodynamic efficiency of the helmet. Despite the importance of this, little information on aerodynamic behaviour of racing bicycle helmets is available. In this study, a series of commercially available time trial helmets were investigated in a wind tunnel environment over a range of wind speeds, and yaw and pitch angles to understand their aerodynamic behaviour. In order to obtain as realistic a data as possible, an instrumented mannequin was used in the wind tunnel testing. The experimental findings indicate that the aerodynamic performance of current production time trial helmets varies significantly. The results also show that helmet length as well as vent geometry and vent area have significant effects on aerodynamic drag of a time trial helmet. A time trial helmet having longer length and smooth vents with minimum vent area can reduce aerodynamic drag significantly.