THE SHORT ANSWER
Bigham is the engineer who held the Hour Record, so when he talks aerodynamics he's talking from the wind tunnel and the saddle at once. His first rule will annoy the kit-buyers: fit comes before kit. Hit your achievable position before you spend a penny on aero gear. Then the maths gets brutal — he reckons most amateurs are leaving 20 to 40 watts on the table at the exact same FTP, purely because their position fights them. He treats it like engineering: measure, hypothesise, test, iterate. The Hour Record is the cleanest aero test there is — no tactics, no draft, just position and equipment for sixty minutes. For everyone else, the lesson is that free speed is sitting in your position long before it's in your wallet.
WHO IS DAN BIGHAM?
Dan Bigham is the British engineer-rider who held the UCI Hour Record at 55.548km in 2022 and now leads engineering at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe. He is one of a small group of people who can talk credibly about both sides of the marginal-gains conversation: the wind-tunnel physics, and what it actually feels like to hold an aero position at threshold for an hour. His work on time-trial position, equipment selection, and pacing strategy has shaped how the modern peloton approaches every TT stage.
BIGHAM ON AERODYNAMICS
Bigham’s key positions on aerodynamics.
- Aero gains are real, but only after you have hit your achievable position — fit comes before kit.
- The Hour Record is the cleanest aerodynamic test in cycling — no team tactics, no draft, just position and equipment.
- Most amateurs leave 20-40W on the table at the same FTP by riding a position that compromises them aerodynamically.
IN BIGHAM’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Dan Bigham’s appearances on the podcast.
“a 10 mm change in Q factor so literally 5 millim per side could be about a one one and a half% drag reduction which is like not an insignificant amount of Watts we're talking like two three four Watts depending on your speed and the cus crank can depends on what you're going from and to but you can get like 10 15 20 millimeters depending on your bottom bracket spec of of Q factor reduction and then that means you get not2 not3 not4 which could be up to like well individual Pursuit speeds you're talking 10 watts or so”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Dan Bigham covers aerodynamics and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Dan Bigham say about aerodynamics?
Bigham is the engineer who held the Hour Record, so when he talks aerodynamics he's talking from the wind tunnel and the saddle at once. His first rule will annoy the kit-buyers: fit comes before kit. Hit your achievable position before you spend a penny on aero gear. Then the maths gets brutal — he reckons most amateurs are leaving 20 to 40 watts on the table at the exact same FTP, purely because their position fights them. He treats it like engineering: measure, hypothesise, test, iterate. The Hour Record is the cleanest aero test there is — no tactics, no draft, just position and equipment for sixty minutes. For everyone else, the lesson is that free speed is sitting in your position long before it's in your wallet.
What is Bigham's main point on aerodynamics?
Aero gains are real, but only after you have hit your achievable position — fit comes before kit.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Dan Bigham on aerodynamics?
Bigham discusses aerodynamics in this episode: "He Accidentally Mastered Aerodynamics | Dan Bigham".