Have you ever wondered how aero Graeme Obree was? Was he as great an athlete as Merckx, Moser, and Boardman, or did he slip into elite company with the use of his innovative positions? Thanks to Aidan Charles and his CCNS wind tunnel, we can try to get a sense of these athletes’ relative strengths. Here’s a look at the hour record from Merckx to Obree.

I rigged up an old frame with some steerer tube extensions to approximate Obree’s position, using photos to get my body positioning as close as possible. We took measurements at 0 degree yaw to simulate indoor track conditions. Just for fun we also tried to simulate the superman. This was much harder, since you can’t buy a long enough stem to replicate the hand position, so I made do by resting my wrists on the tips of the aerobars. We finished things off by taking a baseline reading with a legal aero position. (We screwed up by not taking a measurement with bullhorns.)

 

 

While I couldn’t get the superman to be as aero as the egg, Craig Upton tells me he was able to while playing around with some clients in the wind tunnel. He thinks taller riders do better with the superman than the egg. Check below for shots from our visit with Aidan. On to the geek:

 

Merckx ’72 49.431k
It’s said that Merckx produced 366 watts for his hour record, set in Mexico City at an altitude of 2250 meters. He rode a standard frame with drops and low profile spoked wheels. If we assume 20 watts for rolling resistance, that makes his CdA .2906 (Nathan O’Neill was .3019 with a road bike and low profile wheels). If we assume 30 watts for rolling resistance, then his CdA drops to .2822. Since the .2906 number seems more realistic, I’m going to assume a 20 watt loss for rolling resistance from here on. His equivalent sea level power was 429 watts.

 

Moser ’84 51.151k
Moser also set his record in Mexico City, riding bullhorn bars and double disk wheels. Here’s his wattages for a range of CdA’s, with rolling resistance added, and the equivalents at sea level. I’m assuming Moser was at least as aero as Merckx, given his double disks.

 

 

Obree’93 51.596k
Obree set his record using his ‘egg’ or ‘praying mantis’ position with Hed 3’s at sea level. Unlike Merckx and Moser, he had a TT helmet. It’s quite possible his CdA was lower than mine, since his helmet was a tight fitting fairing without padding, he had a very narrow Q factor, and his bike had a single tube instead of a front triangle.

 

 

Boardman ’93 52.27k
Boardman broke Obree’s record within a week at Bourdeaux, also at sea level. He rode a typical TT position with a TT helmet and Corima 4 spoke wheels. Let’s assume he was faster than my baseline reading, since he had a better helmet, a beautiful position, and a more aero frame.

 

Moser ’94 51.84k
Moser took a shot at the record ten years after breaking the record, at the age of 42. He adopted Obree’s position and bested his own old mark, but not Boardman or Obree. This attempt also took place in Mexico City, and would be the Veteran’s Record.

 

 

 

Obree ’94 52.713k
Obree took back the record at Bourdeaux, also using the egg.

So…

While these numbers are pretty big guesses, it does appear that Obree likely put out 20-70 watts less than his peers. But this isn’t meant to diminish his accomplishments at all. In fact, quite the opposite. He was his own coach, wind tunnel, and bike builder, and he managed to best the greatest athletes in the world all by himself. For more, check out this excellent documentary on Obree.