So can you be quick and dirty? This is the question we wanted to answer.

Jean-Paul (Swiss Side CEO) broke the golden rule of not cleaning his bike before bringing it to the wind tunnel so we decided to measure it first, caked in mud, in order to quantify if we can not only see but measure a difference. Note that we kept the wheels and tyres clean in order not to make a proper mess, so this is only ‘half the picture’.

In the end, the difference was measurable but almost insignificant. This is also because the tube profiles of this Cervelo Aspero are not aerodynamically shaped. An ‘aero’ gravel bike would be a lot more sensitive to such mud and dirt with regards to the aero performance.

Also considering mud on the wheels and tyres, the aero penalty would certainly be amplified. But on this occasion, it’s still possible to be quick and dirty!

Check out the full wind tunnel report for more informations about our gravel wheels.

See the video about how quick dirty is: