BERINGEN, Belgium (BRAIN) — Flanders Bike Valley, a cluster of bike companies and other entities formed to encourage the bike industry in this region, is planning to conduct benchmark aero drag testing in its bike-specific wind tunnel this winter.

The wind tunnel will offer an affordable program for manufacturers to test bikes, wheels and helmets in a standardized manner. The results are not intended for marketing and won't be published. All bike brands worldwide are being invited to participate.

"Flanders Bike Valley has the ambition to help brands, manufacturers and designers to identify their products' relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of aerodynamics," the organization said. It said the testing will be "purely focussed on identifying the relative position of products in the market to be able to discover if and how much room for product improvement there is in the product compared to other products in the market."

The organization will conduct bike testing Dec. 11-15, wheel testing Jan. 28-Feb. 2, and helmet testing March 5-9. Participants will receive test data and photos of their products' wind tunnel results and the results of other products tested, but with those products' brands masked.

To reduce costs, companies can ship products to the tunnel for the testing, so the company doesn't need to send staff. The tunnel has developed a standardized procedure for the testing but the organization said it is open to input from manufacturers prior to the tests.

Pricing is 2,000 euros for testing of three bikes or four wheelsets. Helmet testing is 1,000 euros for four helmets.

The Flanders Bike Valley was founded in 2013 by Bio Racer, Lazer Sport, Ridley, Vox dale (an Indy car aerodynamics company) and Flanders Make (an automotive industry organization). The organization now has more than 70 members.

More information: flandersbikevalley.be.