Cyclist
Continental Aero 111 front tyre has claimed aero gains even at 30 kmh
A collaboration between Continental, DT Swiss and SwissSide sees the launch of the Aero 111 front wheel-specific tyre, which the brands claim is the most aero tyre available.
They say that the aero benefits are the same at 30kmh as at 45kmh, so the new tyre benefits most cyclists, not just the fast guys. At higher wind yaw angles, they report negative drag in their tests, so the tyre actually helps propel you forward. It also has a more linear response to wind yaw angle, resulting in lower steering moment and less twitchy handling in crosswinds.
The Continental Aero 111 front tyre is tubeless-ready, hookless-compatible and available in 26mm and 29mm widths with claimed weights of 250g and 280g respectively. Both widths are priced at €119.95 or $120.95. There’s no UK pricing yet.
DT Swiss will offer its performance race and endurance wheelsets ready-fitted with the Aero 111 front tyre and a Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR rear tyre with TPU tubes pre-installed with a price supplement on the same wheelsets without tyres that varies up to €150.
Patented vortex generators
The key innovation in the new tyre is a patented set of 48 rectangular cavities distributed over the tyre’s tread. These are claimed to act as a vortex generator, helping to ensure that airflow stays adhered to the front wheel’s sides and delaying flow separation.
The tyre is the result of a four-year project between the brands. DT Swiss has worked with SwissSide to develop its wheels’ aerodynamics for ten years. Further optimisation was needed to consider the wheels along with the tyres though, so Continental was brought onboard to help design a tyre to aerodynamically optimise the entire wheel-tyre system.
Other features of the new Continental Aero 111 tyre are inherited from the GP 5000 S TR tyre range, so the new tyre is tubeless-ready, uses a reformulation of the BlackChili rubber compound and includes Vectran puncture protection. The tyre is compatible with hookless rims.
It is currently in use at the Tour de France by the Decathlon-AG2R pro team on its SwissSide wheels.
Claimed better performance than the competition
Conti isn’t the first tyre brand to develop a tyre with claimed aero benefits.
Schwalbe has its Pro One Aero tyre, which it claims works with wheels including the Syncros Capital to offer up to 22% lower air resistance than its Pro One TT tyre.
Giant’s Cadex performance brand has also developed its wheels and tyres together, with the Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheels and Cadex Aero tubeless tyres claimed to provide aero benefits.
More recently, Zipp has worked with Goodyear to develop tyres aero-optimised for its 353 NSW and 303 wheels.
SwissSide’s CEO Jean-Paul Ballard is blunt though. ‘There are no aero tyres on the market,’ he claims.
When testing competitor tyres, the brands say they found that some offered little or no aero gain. Others worked optimally only at specific, usually high, speeds and with wheels of a limited depth range. Their conclusion was that the aero tyres on the market served a limited group of riders, with aero gains difficult to replicate.
In contrast, they claim that the Aero 111 tyre provides its optimal aero gain at lower speeds of around 30kmh, more typical of the average road rider. There are significant gains claimed at wind yaw angles above 10 degrees too, thanks to an optimised sail effect.
Ballard says that SwissSide’s wind-tunnel testing shows negative aerodynamic drag figures for the new tyres at higher yaw angles, which are more likely to be experienced by riders at lower speeds. Negative drag means that the tyre actually adds forward propulsion.
There’s little or no aero effect for the tyre on the rear wheel, as the airflow there is already turbulent following interaction with the further forward parts of the bicycle and its rider, so the Aero 111 tyre is designed for front wheel use only.
Aero drag is only one aspect of tyre performance though and the brands also claim that rolling resistance is the lowest of the tyres they have tested.
Another effect of the new tyre’s aero drag reduction is a more linear steering moment when riding in crosswinds, resulting in more predictable handling and providing the confidence to stay in an aero riding position.
Such crosswind stability is another hot topic in wheel design, emphasised for example by Fulcrum as a feature of its new Sharq all-road wheelset.
The benefits of the Aero 111 tyre are claimed to continue even with wear, with testing showing no measurable difference for tyres ridden over 2,500km.
An option ready-fitted to DT Swiss wheels
DT Swiss claims there are similar aero benefits both with the 26mm Aero 111 tyre on its ARC 1100 Dicut DB 62 wheels and with the 29mm tyre on its Endurance ERC 45 wheels.
It will offer the Aero 111 front tyre across a range of its carbon and alloy wheelsets, including the performance ARC 1100/1400 Dicut in 38mm, 50mm, 62mm and 80mm depths and the alloy AR 1600/1800 Spline 30.
In its Endurance wheel line-up, you can buy the Aero 111 tyre paired with the ERC 1100/1400 Dicut in 35mm and 45mm depths and the alloy ER 1600/1800 Spline 30.
In all cases, the wheels are sold already set-up with a Continental Aero 111 front tyre and a Grand Prix 5000 S TR rear with TPU inner tubes.
DT Swiss will also sell the tyres from its site and there are aftermarket options in the US and Europe, with UK sales via Bike24.
Widths, weights and prices
The Aero 111 tyre is available in 26mm and 29mm widths. It has been aero optimised for DT Swiss’s aero and endurance wheelsets, but the collaborators claim that you’ll get aero benefits when used with other brands’ wheels too. They also say that the tyre will provide aero gains regardless of your wheel rim’s depth and width and how fast you’re riding.
Conti claims a 250g weight for the 26mm and 280g for the 29mm width tyres. Both widths are priced at €119.95 or $120.95, with UK prices not yet available.
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