An experimental study of fully developed uniform-density turbulent flow in a circular pipe containing one or two rods located off-centre is described. The friction factor in both cases was found to be approximately 5 % higher than the simple pipe friction factor. The shear stress distribution on the rod surface was determined using calibrated boundary-layer fences. The normalized shear stress distributions were independent of Reynolds number in the range 3·7 × 104 to 2·15 × 105. Mean-velocity measurements were obtained to check the validity of the universal law of the wall near the rod surface. Secondary-flow velocities were measured by a hot-wire anemometer and integrated to yield the secondary-flow stream function. Secondary-flow velocities of the order of 1 % of the mean velocity were observed. In the gap between the two pins, however, the secondary-flow velocities were only ½% of the mean velocity. It is demonstrated that the secondary flow cannot be neglected if a force balance is used to determine the shear stress distribution on the rod surface.