Cardboard Aided Design - Tailbox

benphyr

Guru-me-not
Somewhere around lunch time I decided I better just get out there and ride even if it was to the nearest corner and back so I went outside. The fresh air and the pile of cardboard in the garage called my name and I hacked together a tail box to put around my bike bag behind my seat on my Cruzbike. (See the pictures – definitely not a work of art)

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Cardboard Aided Design is fun. If you haven’t tried it you should some time. For more discussion on Cardboard Aided Design or tail box see: https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/cardboard-aided-design-tailbox.13621/ In the back of my mind I thought I should be riding as many kms as I can and better aerodynamics will help that greatly. Then, what better way to test than on a loop that I have done almost 20 times already. So after getting a rudimentary tail box completed I spent some extra time tweaking it so it wouldn’t rub on the wheel and so that I could mount my rear light directly on the tail box where traffic would see it better. And off to the races: well rested, good sleep, the temperature was 21 oC and a SW wind from 10-18km/h, almost ideal conditions and a tail box to help into the wind – what could go wrong. Nothing: personal best of almost 50 seconds! That seems to be a significant difference in the best way. Some of it must be related to the tail box, no?
 
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McWheels

Off the long run
It probably is related to the tailbox. Over this side of the pond our racing league views a front or rear fairing as equal in the categories (Faired, part-faired, unfaired). To make even better, keep extending it back to the narrowest point you can.

Of course, don't do it like this though. The attachment of it was via a ribbon round the rider's neck! And it appeared to act as a parachute more than anything.
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MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Now you're probably thinking about trying C.A.D rear wheel covers, right?
They work!
Mine overwhelmed the tape and destroyed themselves when they got wadded between the swingarm and the spokes.
The slipstream was too much for the taped-on cardboard on a fast downhill.
I love your tailbox!
 
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