probably not gonna knock much time off a messenger bike
AX shows that Shimano were at least thinking about the aeros, but the results where they are real must have come more from luck than any kind of rigour. The AX brakes are actually a material drag reduction compared with pretty much any side pull, but I doubt whether any of the other parts could be distinguished from contemporaneous competitor groups from Campag and Suntour in an aero test.
I was commenting on @Ordinata 's point, not the generality of the project; @Flandria has done a great job, even if Shimano didn't with the original 🙂
AX shows that Shimano were at least thinking about the aeros, but the results where they are real must have come more from luck than any kind of rigour. The AX brakes are actually a material drag reduction compared with pretty much any side pull, but I doubt whether any of the other parts could be distinguished from contemporaneous competitor groups from Campag and Suntour in an aero test.