A small British engineering firm has presented a new road bike design that the company says is capable of cutting aerodynamic drag by up to 30% more than today’s top racing bikes. The bike, called AeroX, has a frame shape and integrated elements that its designers say is a giant leap forward in bike aerodynamics.

The most obvious design aspect of the AeroX is the highly unconventional frame design. In contrast to the diamond frame typical to road bikes, the bike incorporates a monocoque carbon fiber structure with highly arched tube profiles. The downtube and seat tube are connected through a ‘Y’ shaped junction and the tail section is teardrop shaped while the top tube is almost invisible.

Other innovations include fully integrated brakes within the frame and fork and a handlebar stem which is said to reduce frontal area almost completely. There is even a new drivetrain for the bike, in the form of a fully enclosed chain drive which is claimed to reduce drag even further.

Dr. James Wilkinson, who used to work as a Formula 1 aerodynamicist, and his team that was working on the AeroX spent three years in designing the bike utilizing CFD modeling and wind tunnel testing. Recall, Wilkinson said, ‘We came to this project with no preconceptions at all – it was a blank piece of paper we were starting with. ’ “When designing a bicycle, there are certain assumptions that are made about how it is supposed to look and function but in this case, all of these assumptions were thrown to the bin in order to come up with the most aerodynamic bicycle imaginable. ”

Some of the early test data published by the company indicates that AeroX generates less drag than the existing top-end aero road bikes in different yaw angles. At zero yaw angle, the bike is said to be more than 30 watts more efficient than the best existing options at 45 km/h.

However, some critics have raised their eyebrows at the assertions made by the industry players. Dr. Anna Chen, a bicycle aerodynamics specialist said that although the design looks innovative, it would be impossible to achieve a 30% reduction in drag “We would have to wait for more evidence to believe this. ”

There are also questions about the bike practicality and adhesion to the UCI regulations in case of competition use. Some of the possible drawbacks of the radical frame shape and integrated components are related to the problems of maintenance, adjustability. Also, one can only wonder if the design would be compliant with the UCI’s equipment standards for professional races.

However, the AeroX may face these challenges and yet it has received a lot of attention in the cycling industry. Several professional teams have showed interest in using prototypes and there are rumours that it will be used competitively in the next season.

At the moment, the major concern is on the improvement of the design and on the development of greater production capacity. It is expected that they are planning to produce a small quantity of bikes for sale to the luxury consumer market before the end of the year with the bike’s expected price tag of roughly $15,000.

Whether AeroX will meet all of its promises, only time will show, but it cannot be denied that the company has once again dared to offer the public a unique concept of a bicycle. As this pursuit of the incremental improvement goes on into the future, it might be that this period is considered as the moment that the racing bicycle was reinvented.