Mirinda Carfrae Visits The San Diego Wind Tunnel
- By Nils Nilsen
- Published Feb 17, 2011
- Updated Jul 1, 2011 at 10:21 AM UTC
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Because the wind tunnel is located next to the San Diego airport, visitors don't have to travel far.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Mirinda's new Felt DA that will be used to tweak her position after she completes IM New Zealand.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
The wind tunnel projects information in front of the rider for real-time readings.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Jim Felt and Mirinda chat about the aerobar set up on her DA.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
The LSWT crew removes Mirinda's bike as Jim Felt oversees the operation.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Pete Coulson of Felt shows off his ingenuous aero helmet design.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Dave Ripley of Zipp chats with Rinny while the Felt boys switch out her current bike with a new one.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Jim Felt and his crew build the test DA to the exact same measurements as Mirinda's current DA.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Once the wind passes over the rider it is sucked through this grid and sent through the turbine once again.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
The honeycomb grid situated directly in front of the rider straightens the air for an accurate test.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Given the twitter war between Rinny and friend Julie Dibens, Rinny takes every opportunity to social network.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Kona bling: the championship ring on Mirinda's right hand.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Profile Design had several aerobar combinations on hand to test with Rinny.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Jim Felt puts the finishing touches on the test DA.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
A wealth of knowledge, Jim and Mirinda talk aerobars.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Before testing them out, Mirinda get a feel for her new Zipp VukaR2C shifters.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Hands on is how Jim Felt rolls, here he adjusts the new aerobar extensions in between tests.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
More fine tuning for Jim and Mirinda.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Check and recheck, Mirinda's position is under review after every bar change or adjustment.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Bolted in for the test.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
The rear wheel spins this drum, which in turn spins a drum for the front wheel during the tests.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
A cadence sensor is added so the rider can see the difference in drag between different spin speeds.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Dialed in and ready for the next test, Mirinda gets her legs moving while Jim Felt takes one last look over.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Displayed on the ground directly in front of the rider is a wealth of real-time information.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
With a dry erase marker in hand, Jim Felt personally traces Mirinda's position with every tweak and change.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
The white board in the command room tracks every configuration.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Mirinda takes a break in between test runs.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Someone found the cookie jar! Rinny grabs a sleeve of Oreos while waiting for a new handle bar setup.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
Jim Felt's attention to detail finds him personally modifying some aero extensions.
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World Champion Mirinda Carfrae Visits San Diego Wind Tunnel
A view from the command room: Rinny runs through a test.
Triathlete photo editor Nils Nilsen had a chance to catch up with Ironman world champion Mirinda Carfrae and her new bike sponsor Felt Bicycles in the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel. While Felt is somewhat of a regular fixture at the tunnel, this was Carfrae’s first wind tunnel experience. On hand was a small staff to test several new aero bars and positions with the goal of getting the reigning world champion the data to explore several new aero positions and refine her fit on her new ride, the Felt DA. Take a look at the behind the scenes images captured by Nilsen.
FILED UNDER: Photos / Uncategorized TAGS: Felt DA / Mirinda Carfrae / Nils Nilsen / San Diego wind tunnel / testing a bike in the wind tunnel
