AERO Socks
You don't have to decide whether you want maximum performance or to make a stylish statement on the streets. With the AERO Socks, you can have both! These Socks are developed by our aerodynamic experts in our wind tunnel facilities to make you faster. As UCI legal socks they are designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and to save between 3 and 6.5 watts on the road or time trial bike. Suitable for all athletes of all levels.
Continued development
The Swiss Side AERO Socks are a continuation of the development of the highly successful Swiss Side AERO CALF Sleeves, which helped set a new long distance triathlon world record, in Challenge Roth 2023. This design was used as the basis to develop a UCI conforming aero sock, where the maximum height is limited to half the distance between the ankle and knee. Despite this limitation on the amount of skin which can be covered, the AERO Socks deliver between 60% - 80% of the drag reduction of the full-length AERO CALF Sleeves, with drag savings between 3W - 6.5W measured at 45km/h depending on the rider.
Unique Textiles Research & Development at Swiss Side
For road and time trial cyclists, minimising aerodynamic drag is of utmost importance for performance. With the rider’s body being over 70% of the aerodynamic drag of the bike and rider system, there is very high importance of aerodynamically engineered textiles for reducing aero drag. What sets Swiss Side’s process apart, is the clear target to deliver a robust and significant aerodynamic performance benefit for all athletes, regardless of their size, riding speed, or the wind conditions in which they ride.
This is achieved in a multifaceted R&D process starting with complex testing on different shapes and sizes in Swiss Side’s dedicated in-house wind tunnel facility, with special functionality for sports textiles R&D. This is followed with testing in the full-scale GST wind tunnel facility with mannequins and athletes, and finally with on-road testing using Swiss Side’s in-house developed CdA-Meter system, to confirm the performance improvement on the road where it matters.
Read the extensive research and results can be found in the transparent white paper.
Revolutionary in R&D of textiles
Swiss Side textiles R&D process
Due to the complex ‘boundary layer’ transition effects which are all-important for the performance of textiles, the use of computation methods like CFD, are very limited for textiles R&D. Therefore Swiss Side does the majority of work in their unique, in-house designed and built wind tunnel facility for textiles research and development. It enables testing of objects of different shapes and sizes, at different speeds and yaw angles, and with different levels of air turbulence. This rigorous testing process ensures that the final designs are robust in their aerodynamic performance for the widest possible range of riders in all possible conditions.
Full-scale wind tunnel testing
Full-sized testing is of utmost importance to ensure robust aerodynamic performance of textiles products. Recognising this challenge, the most promising textile solutions developed in Swiss Side’s in-house wind tunnel, are produced in complete product samples to be verified on full-sized mannequins and athletes on the bike. This is done in the GST wind tunnel in Germany where highly accurate measurements can be made in a controlled environment. Swiss Side also has their own unique measurement equipment in GST, such as pressure rake and follow visualisation systems, as well as turbulence systems, which allow the complex and interacting aerodynamic features on the bike-rider system to be best tested and understood.
On road testing
Performance measured on the road is the only thing which counts. “Real World Performance” is the deep-rooted philosophy in Swiss Side’s DNA. Extensive on-road testing is made with Swiss Side’s long proven, in-house developed CdA-Meter system. This ensures that all products deliver a measurable performance improvement on the road. That is our promise to you.
