How Important Is Drafting In Cycling?

We take a look at the importance of drafting in cycling. What is it and why is it important? In summary, it can make a huge difference!

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[gianlatorre]

Drafting plus singing "Love Hime" will boost you so much...

[anthonytham]

To all newbies, 1) please guard ur front wheel and dont overlap (main cause accident). 2) watchout leaders signal on object ahead (that goes the same if if ur leading, a group will crash onto what u are heading). 3) dont draft while downhill (you can stop downhill) 4) safety first. If tired then dont follow. That team is too strong for you. Cos if you fainted, the person behind you will crash onto you. 5) most of all, enjoy drafting

[asafvirin]

Ok, but don't just tuck yourself behind some other rider in the public, they may not understand what is going on and will probably panic!

[mrchristian]

very informative, thank you and God bless!

[doggames]

I have been doing drafting when i race and on my mountain bike it works a lot and i was like i need explantion on drafting becose i saw it in motorsport and i just started doing it on my bike and it worked really good and this explains why im so fast

[lgarcia]

If you have a power meter you can actually see the watts drop the margins he says: 40-50%. If you are in the middle of a large team, then the feeling is like if you are going downhill. In other words, it feels like you are making no effort. It is pretty cool actually and the whole team can easily go 25 mph.

[jonasbilbao]

Great job indeed! I am quite new in a bike's world, but is easy to know that the guy in the front hates that drafting?

[ashkanahmadi]

Great video. What about the speed and the wind direction? For example, if there is a strong tail wind, is it more beneficial to break and cycle parallel to each other so the wind pushes everyone? Also is there any speed that drafting below it doesn't have much benefits? For example, if someone the group is going 20kmph, does it even matter to draft compared to drafting while going 40kmph? Thanks

[gehirndoper]

Always enjoyed having the rare bike ricer that was faster than my on my commuting bike for that reason. I had to put in less work. The best drafting you get is behind trucks though. Not too dangerous imo, as a biker can stop faster than them I think.

[paulflory]

You should point out that letting your front tire touch the rear tire of the bike ahead of you will in most cases cause you to crash (no problem for the front rider). There is a physical explanation but it's long. Some of your graphics show riders overlapping wheels, which is dangerous, you should fix that and add a warning.

[SCHENTH]

2:05
Charlie Chaplin cyclist ?!?
LOL

[dave_xc]

Thanks to drafting I went 50 km/h for a few kilometres behind a roadie with a cross country bike

[NickMaovich]

you forgot to mention that drafting helps more the more speed of group is.

on 20kmh the drafting savings are not noticeable at all, at 30kmh+ it's huge

[angrypotato]

I think its very important to metion that the effect from drafting is more pronounced the faster you go.
At 20 km/h, the benefit from siting on someone's wheel will be pretty marginal, whereas at 40 kmh, it'l be 30-40%

[bibhaspantha]

i am your subscirber coming right under the first 30k

[chriszhang]

Can someone give me the reference for the Dutch study on aerodynamics of 6 or more riders?

[chris_day_]

Quite impressive i might say, imagine what a Tandem bike could do

[profefelipemedina]

Does it work in climbs? At low speeds for example 14km/h or less

[FranciscoHenriques]

I keep asking cyclists ahead of me to stay close but they end up running away and not taking me :( still yelled “HEY ITS 40% YOUR LOSS” .

[richardpithouse]

Interesting that the video claims 4% advantage to the leader. Usually when someone tucks in behind me it feels like the effort required to then maintain speed is greater than riding alone.