A single Aero-Optim unit has a wind speed range of 1-15 m/s (3.6-54 km/h) with a claimed air movement distribution of +/- 8%. Mounted on a wheeled frame, the unit is easily moved on-site or from location to location. Within each unit sits a 7.5 kilowatt IPM (interior permanent magnet) motor axial fan, diffuser, flow straightener, and guide vanes. The Aero-Optim is a wind tunnel unit measuring in at 1.5 metres long, 68 cm tall, and 69 cm wide. The Aero-Optim unit is certainly much smaller than a wind tunnel. But the Aero-Optim is undoubtedly more compact and portable than a traditional wind tunnel and could offer manufacturers and major teams or federations new levels of wind tunnel access. The basic unit costs $55,000 and requires a level of expertise to operate and interpret, so that claim of “cheap” is entirely relative. But JWTM says its goal is “to develop new types of wind tunnels” and claims the “Aero Optim series wind tunnel, is easy to install, cheap, and compact.” Wind tunnels are expensive to build or rent, they’re inherently fixed in place, and they require vast amounts of space. And yet that’s exactly what Japan Wind Tunnel Manufacturing (JWTM) had on display with its Aero-Optim Cell.
However, as big as the show is, one thing I didn’t expect to see was a wind tunnel. It’s day one at Eurobike and, as usual, there is a vast array of bikes and tech on show.