COMPUTATION FLUID DYNAMICS OF BICYCLES 2
INTRODUCTION
This report on the aerodynamics of bicycles seeks to analyze the history of bicycles, advantages
of aerodynamics in bicycles, and the advantages of using computational fluid dynamics in the
field of aerodynamics. In cycling, aerodynamics plays a significant role in the overall cyclist
performance. As the rider and the cycle move along the road, there is the force exerted by air
which sharply increases with the speed of the bicycle. The force is a result of friction between
the exposed bicycle and rider surfaces and the air. At high velocity, this drag force can be the
most significant source of resistance, and with blowing wind, it can result in substantial side
force (Hasegawa, Takayuki, & Hiromichi, 2019). This is the reason why the aerodynamics
of bicycles have preoccupied the riders and designers of bicycles since the early part of this
century. While the current bicycles are being designed with better aerodynamics in mind, the
human body is not basically well designed to slice through the air.
HISTORY OF BICYCLES
There have been many examples of simpler bicycle transport devices before the creation of the
modern bicycle. It all began with the discovery of 1493 sketches of Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th
century. There have been claims by some historians that his student Caprotti Gain sketched the
drawing or that is fake altogether. The simple bicycle design was never produced into a model
that is working and in the following 400 years, horses remained the only means of public
transport affordable (Volti, 2017).
Baron Karl von Drais who was a German was the first verifiable claim for a bicycle that was
practically used in 1817. Laufmaschine was the velocipede involved by the German and was
composed of two wheels held together with a single bar at the center. The rider of the bicycle

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AERODYNAMICS OF BICYCLES | Report