Endurance Innovation

53 - FLO Co-Founder Jon Thornham

Episode Summary

FLO Cycling co-founder Jon Thornham is on to cover the history of his innovative - 'best of both worlds' - wheel brand, and takes us on a deep dive of wheel aerodynamics and rolling resistance.

Episode Notes

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• 3:15 the FLO story
• 7:30 the early challenges of the direct-to-consumer model
• 10:00 unintentional scarcity 
• 11:15 the value of learning from the mistakes of others
• 12:45 the value of transparency in business
• 14:45 the FLO Gen 1 process
• 17:00 FLO studying the real world
• 21:00 the evolution of wheel design over the course of FLO’s presence in the market
• 26:00 the brand new FLO all sport and gravel lines of wheels
• 29:00 how rolling resistance became a cornerstone of design consideration for FLO
• 34:00 the evolution in thinking about the right tire pressure
  • High pressure leads to wheel bounce and power loss
• 36:00 testing rolling resistance with help from Aerolab
  • Turns out, a wider rim reduces rolling resistance 
  • Optimizing for both rolling resistance and aero drag, saves up to 2W per wheel
• 38:00 rolling resistance impedance affected by weight, tire type, road surface AND rider speed
• 40:45 how to determine optimal tire pressure?
  • Start with the FLO tire pressure charts (scroll down to see the chart), use these values as you maximum pressure
  • Experiment and maybe drive those numbers down
  • Decrease in CRR with decreasing tire pressure is gradual, but the increase in CRR above the breakpoint is substantial! So err on the side of lower pressure.
  • Refer also to the Silca tire pressure calculator
• 44:45 don’t sweat the accuracy of your pump, since your pressure will change with several variables: temperature, altitude, air loss, etc.
• 46:45 the effects of altitude and air temperature on tire pressure
  • Only about 5psi difference over an elevation change of 10,000’ (3,000m)
  • Only about 5psi difference over a temperature change of 30F (17C)
• 48:30 what’s next for FLO and performance wheels?
• 53:45 how FLO gives back and respects environmental impact
  • Bike for a kid program in partnership with the Ironman foundation
  • Use 100% recycled materials in wheel boxes and use no plastic in packaging
  • One wheel, one tree program results in a negative carbon footprint 

Check our the rest of the FLO Cycling page here. I certainly recommend their primer on rolling resistance as a good reference too.