Traditionally calf guards in triathlon have been worn for compression benefits. Tight fitting fabric provide stability to the calf muscles to help reduce fatigue.
But the performance benefits of an aerodynamic calf guard can outweight that of a compression sleeve.
To demonstrate the advantage aero calf guards can provide, we took our Pro Socks and Aero Guards to the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub to test.
TEST PROTOCOL
Runs were conducted for a speed range of 30-60kph at 5kph increments to display how guards perform through typical race speeds. A constant cadence of 90rpm was selected for all runs measured by a crank based powermeter.
Both the socks and the guards tested were brand new to avoid any variance in test results that could occour through wear. Tests were conducted over 30 second runs, with any erroneous runs repeated.
RESULTS
| Speed (kph) | |||||||
| Product | 30 | 35 | 40 | 45 | 50 | 55 | 60 |
| Pro Socks | 96.63 | 150.4 | 221.47 | 310.44 | 423.4 | 559.79 | 723.9 |
| Current Calf Guards L | 96.82 | 149.657 | 221.61 | 307.91 | 419.95 | 545.82 | 696.43 |
