Got a burning question about Cyclingnews' Labs series? Ever wondered what bike surprised us most? Or what we really think about aero testing in the wind tunnel?
To kick off our new AskCN series, we're opening the floor for our readers to put any and all questions to our Labs testing team.
Our expert tech writers who have spent the last two and a half years testing dozens of bikes, helmets, clothing and more using various protocols, from wind tunnel aero tests to rolling resistance experiments, collecting data and insights you won't find anywhere else.
We've answered plenty of your questions along the way, but now we want to dedicate an open-call Q&A to anything you've wanted to know or ask us, with space for our team to give you in-depth, detailed and expert responses.
No question is too big or small, and you can ask as many questions as you'd like, on anything to do with Labs and testing. We'll pick out a selection to put to our Labs experts, and perhaps save some others for future tests or content too – watch this space.
Absolutely anyone can leave a question, and you can do so in the comments below, on our social media accounts, or by emailing us at engagement@cyclingnews.com. The all-important answers, though, will be just for our subscribers, so make sure you're signed up to see the answers next week. (If your question is answered, we'll endeavour to let you know).
Think up your biggest and best questions to put to our team, and come back next week as we lift the lid on Labs and everything you want to know.
Plus, watch this space for more exciting AskCN Q&As with some familiar and famous faces.
If your question is answered, we may use your username or first name in an article. Please indicate if you do not want us to do this.
New to CN Labs?
If you've not read any of our Labs reports before, here are a few to start with, and hopefully inspire some questions.
- Most aero socks are a waste of money: Here's the wind tunnel verified proof
- What are the fastest UCI-legal road wheels? Wind tunnel testing the big-name brands and Chinese contenders
- Stiffness testing: Colnago Y1Rs vs Cervélo S5, Specialized Tarmac vs Allez Sprint, steel vs carbon, budget vs expensive and much more
- We thought wider gravel tyres were always faster, but it's not as simple as that: New aero and rolling resistance lab tests combined
- Behind the scenes in the wind tunnel: Watch our latest video to see how a testing day unfolds
The Labs team
Josh is the leader of our Labs series and runs the process from start to finish, right from each test's inception as a seed of an idea, through delivery and the subsequent many-thousand-word articles at the end.
He's the one scouring the forums and reading the comments to come up with the ideas, and meeting with experts to build the protocols. He liaises with brands to source the products needed, spends hours in the workshop ensuring everything is set up correctly, spends even longer in a spreadsheet building the running list to ensure we make the most of our time in the tunnel, and even dons the skinsuit for the rider-on-bike tests on testing day.
He then analyses the results (more spreadsheet time) and writes up the results for the CN subscribers to enjoy.
Will is Josh's right-hand man in the preparation phase, stepping in wherever needed to ensure things run smoothly, such as ensuring protocols are fine tuned, products are all received and ready to go, or bikes are set up appropriately for a fair test.
On testing day, his role transitions to content creator. You'll either find Will behind the camera, capturing all the incredible images you see in the subsequent articles, or (more recently) in front of the camera, presenting for our new Cyclingnews Tech YouTube channel and our social content.
Tom brings the calm among the chaos, ensuring things run smoothly on the testing day. An efficient wind tunnel day relies on the next bike always being ready to go, so that there's minimal downtime between tests. Armed with the runlist and a checklist of data to capture along the way (such as tyre widths, weights, and so on), Tom methodically works through it, ultimately ensuring we can test more bikes in a day, and come away with more than just CdA to report on.
He's also much better than Josh at fitting tyres without pinching tubes, which keeps costs to a minimum.
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