Loss of weight = increase in watts?

r3 guy

Can someone please explain the following to me.

I am a rugby playing Clydesdale 6’2 and 228 pounds, I am currently losing weight and will get down to about 200 lbs.

How will that affect my performance on the bike, what I mean is if hypothetically I could “upgrade” my bike to such an extent that I would lose 28 pounds off the weight of it, then I can imagine that the increased performance, climbing ability extra would be fantastic.

So will losing 28 pounds off of me give me an equally impressive performance boost

I don’t have a watt meter but I imagine the whole power to weight ratio will come into play.

BTW – Cycling is great started off at 301 lbs, fitter and healthier now than ever!

robthehungrymonkey

I was wondering this morning what the difference would be in numbers.

I.e. One rider puts down X power up a particular course, another rider completes the course in exactly the same time but is 30kg lighter.

What would the difference in power be? (obviously, it would change depending on the course).

Does anyone have a stat like this? A particular (hilly) TT or something?

Alex_Simmons/RST

If someone is carrying a lot of excess non-power producing mass, and then then they begin to train sensibly, and maintain a sensible diet, then generally they will both attain weight loss and gain sustainable power.

The power to weight ratio primarily comes into play on steeper climbs, so you would see significant improvements there.

On flatter terrain, it is sustainable power (or more correctly power to CdA* ratio) that determines speed performance and much less to do with weight loss (although being slimmer does also mean your CdA drops as well, just not by as much).

* Coefficient of Drag x Effective Frontal Area

Alex_Simmons/RST

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

I was wondering this morning what the difference would be in numbers.

I.e. One rider puts down X power up a particular course, another rider completes the course in exactly the same time but is 30kg lighter.

What would the difference in power be? (obviously, it would change depending on the course).

Does anyone have a stat like this? A particular (hilly) TT or something?

Depends on the gradient and their respective CdAs (assuming all else is kept the same).

On very steep climbs, then basically the same power to weight ratio will climb at the same speed (near enough).

As the climb gradient lessens, then differences in aerodynamic drag become more important in determining speed.

Here is an example of the variances in speed for two riders with same power to weight ratio and different CdAs:

ride_whenever

Okay, you need to think this through and define it a bit more...

If i stuck a pipe into you and sucked out 28lbs of unnecessary weight then your power would remain the same, but your power to weight would increase, so you'd climb better and accelerate fast, and probably have a greater top speed.

If you train it off you will increase power and fitness so you'll see bigger gains.

Basically, if you lose 28 pounds through training you'll see even more than with a 28lbs lighter bike!