The mysterious new tire seen on the front wheels of the Decathlon AG2R riders at the Tour de France can now be revealed as the Continental Aero 111. It represents the culmination of six years of research and development between DT Swiss, Swiss Side and Continental, with the aim to create the ultimate wheel tire system or ‘the world’s first aerodynamically optimized tire’.
As mentioned above, the tire has already been seen in the wild, most notably on Decathlon’s new Van Rysel AG2R aero bike at the Tour de France. Well, we now have the lowdown on this new aero tire, so read on to learn more about the Continental Aero 111…
Combining expertise and ‘whirlpool generator’
As experts in their respective fields, Continental and DT Swiss sought the services of Jean-Paul Ballard from Swiss Side, who first worked as senior engineer and head of concept design at BMW Sauber Formula One. It was there that he looked at tire aerodynamics and saw an opportunity to maximize the performance of the complete wheel system. It took Ballard and his team 10 years to develop a successful car tire, so his expertise on the Aero 111 project was massive.
Swiss Side’s objective was to solve the rim tire interface, or wheel tire system. It all starts with the boundary layer of air directly at the surface. The airflow starts laminar (smooth or regular) and then becomes turbulent, which sticks better to the rim, but you have to force it. This is where the Vortex Generators come in – a series of 48 evenly spaced cavities that prevent airflow from climbing and improve the performance of each bike wheel at all speeds up to 30km/h.
“Aero performance suffers at lower speeds as the airflow doesn’t stick to the rim. By increasing the floating effect, drag can be decreased,” says Jean-Paul Ballard of Swiss Side.
“If the air doesn’t stick to the rim, it separates and stagnates and the drag increases massively.”
Enter Vortex Generators. This innovation was four years of work. Everything from the shape, form, position, depth and number of tread impressions took a long time to develop in order to find the right balance – too much disturbance and the air will be separated and too little has no effect.
Despite being optimized for DT Swiss wheels, the tire will improve the aerodynamics of any wheel.
Achieving the perfect balance
Contrary to current rhetoric, aerodynamics is not only about drag, but also handling, and the secret comes in balancing these two attributes. The floating effect creates a lot of lateral force on the steering wheel, so the right balance between the front and rear wheels helps the bike feel neutral and less wobbly. This vibration is known as ‘steer moment’, as a result of the airflow not sticking to the rim and stalling/discharging causing that unstable feeling.
Vortex generators reduce stall and, on a windy day, you don’t feel much exhaust – you’ll feel the wind pushing the wheel, but the vibration is reduced. You will also feel the sensation of active forward thrust.
As such, at 10-15 degrees of braking there is a saving of 3-6 watts at 30 km/h compared to the Grand Prix Continental 5000 ST R. At 45 km/h with 15-20 degrees of braking, the saving increases. up to 18 watts.
The tire works best with the following DT Swiss wheel systems: DT Swiss 1100 Dicut (80mm, 60mm, 50mm and 38mm), DT Swiss Dicut 1400 (80mm, 60mm, 50mm and 38mm), DT Swiss AR 1600 Spline and T3 1800 Spline 30 , DT Swiss ERC 1100 and 1400 Dicut (35 and 45) and DT Swiss ER 1600 Spline and 1800 Spline 30.
Tire composition and specifications
The Aero 111 uses the proven technology used in the Continental Grand Prix 5000 TR range, including Vectran Breaker puncture protection and tube-ready construction. The tire uses a modified version of the company’s race-prepared BlackChili compound. The tire is only available in two sizes – 26-622 and 29-622, both of which are safe for use on lugless wheels up to 5 bar or 72 psi.
Tire weights are fairly equal to segment standards: 26mm weighs 250g and 29mm 280g. Like the Continental GP 5000 ST R, the Aero 111 uses a two-ply 2/220 (two-ply 110tpi) design.
Hannah Ferle, Road Product Manager, Continental, said the following about the development: “With the Aero 111 we’ve added a high-performance road tire to our portfolio that can do it all: it’s aero, grippy and fast. This collaboration allowed us to expand on our already race-proven technologies to build a tire unlike any other. The next time you hit a headwind, you’ll have no excuse not to ride on the front.”
In terms of rolling resistance, the Continental Aero 111 was tested faster against Schwalbe Pro One Aero 28c, Vittoria Corsa Speed TLR G+ 2.0 25c, Enve SES Road 25c, Cadex Aero Tubeless 25c, Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 25 TLR 25c and . No word on how it fit the all-new Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed – we assume it wasn’t available at the time of testing. According to Continental, rolling resistance is comparable to the ST R and TT R tires while puncture resistance is the same as the latter.
What about tire wear and the effect wear can have on Vortex generators? The tire has wear indicators – three small indentations of different sizes. According to the testing carried out by Decathlon AG2R, the tire can go well in the second wear indicator without any negative impact. That’s over 2,000 km of walking. As for the recoil reduction, there was no noticeable reduction in aerodynamics either.
Continental Aero 111: impressions of the first trip
I’ve had the tire for four weeks now and have used it in a total of four competitive time trials spanning 10 and 25 miles. As defined, it is a front wheel specific tire and is best paired with a Swiss DT wheel. I put it on my DT Swiss Arc 1100 Dicut 80 handlebar and kept the Vittoria Corsa Speed Pro on the rear disc.
I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of the claims at first, but I was impressed after my first test of the tire – a 25 mile out and back in Lipkook, Hampshire.
With headwinds underlining most of the race, the first thing I noticed was the improved stability of the front wheel. Usually, in this scenario, you can feel the wheel actively vibrate with clutter when the airflow is unloaded or stopped, but the wheel behaved as JP Ballard described. I also noticed that I was holding higher speeds on the rolling course and the combination of these two attributes increased my confidence and ultimately my ability to push harder. I achieved a PB of 51 minutes 27 seconds.
A week later I tested the tire in an open 10 mile time trial, again on a horribly windy day that forced many competitors to retire. I rolled up to the start with a rear wheel set, given that I was a bit worried about my choice. While I felt nervous trusting the front as I rested my arms on the extensions, I managed to stay in aero position for 99 percent of the course and came home with another PB – this time 19 minutes 40 seconds for 10 miles.
While the next two time trials I attempted weren’t distance-based PBs, they were personal bests with another sub-20 at a local club 10 and 20min 13sec on the super tight H10/8 course at Bentley, Hampshire.
It’s easy to dismiss claims based on manufacturers’ marketing propaganda, but the Continental Aero 111 does what it says on the tin – it’s fast, stable, and most importantly, it instills in calories a level of confidence that time trialers want in headwind situation. While it won’t completely eliminate ‘steer torque’, it will drastically reduce front wheel vibration pushing you forward at higher speeds than before.
Price and availability
The Continental Aero 111 tire is available from today (July 3) worldwide and can be purchased exclusively from Bike24 (Europe), Competitive Cyclist (USA) and Swiss Side. The price is pegged at €119.95 / USD 120.95.