In search of marginal gains: DT Swiss, Continental and Swiss Ride collaborate on a front-specific tire currently used in the Tour de France

The cycling industry is increasingly realizing the need to develop system-wide approaches to aerodynamics, rather than looking at individual parts and trying to piece them together without a thorough understanding of how they interact on the road. A good example of this in practice can be found in Formula 1. Individual parts of a car may not seem optimally designed to move through the wind, but together each part works together to make the whole as fast as possible.

Of course, the engineering in motorsports has to take into account the very different speeds and also the downforce that keeps the cars on the track at these speeds, things that do not apply to cycling. The fact remains, however, that the reason these cars are successful in racing is because the whole thing was designed in consultation. Cycling lags behind in many ways in this regard.