McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Ferrari have all done it ... now Jaguar Land Rover has done it, too. The legendary automaker recently joined forces with a major bicycle manufacturer, to create a super high-end bike. In this case, Jag collaborated with Italy's Pinarello to design the new Dogma F8 road bike, which will be used by the Team Sky racing team for the rest of the 2014 season.
The F8 is based on Pinarello's current top-of-the-line model, the Dogma 65.1, which it will be replacing. Utilizing the same computational fluid dynamics technology that it uses to design its cars, Jaguar computer-analyzed the aerodynamics of the 65.1, looking for ways to reduce wind drag. It found several, which resulted in changes that found their way into the F8.
First of all, the F8's frame is made up of aerofoil-shaped "FlatBack" tubing, plus it has an aero seat post. It also has a more aerodynamic fork, that smooths out the airflow around the down tube. The rear derailleur cable now exits the rear dropout from the back, further reducing drag. Additionally, a set of holes in the seat tube put the secondary water bottle cage mount lower, where it won't catch quite so much wind.
The 65.1 was already known for its asymmetric design, but this has been accentuated in the mono seat stay on the F8. The stay now bends to one side, diverting air around the rear brake caliper.
Overall, Jaguar focused on reducing the frontal area of the bike, with the result being that the complete F8 is a claimed 26.1 percent more aerodynamic than the 65.1 – that figure jumps to 40 percent for the frame alone, but drops to 6.4 percent with a rider on the bike. Partially because the redesign involved a reduction in the amount of carbon fiber required, the F8 is also over 9 percent lighter than its predecessor. It's additionally said to be 12 percent stiffer and 16 percent more laterally balanced.
Team Sky will be riding the F8 in this year's Tour de France. The frame is expected to be commercially available soon, although pricing has yet to be announced.
Sources: Jaguar Land Rover, Pinarello
