weight loss on bike or self
Comments
-
w00dster wrote:
And now to add confusion that I'm sure there is some logic or even physics to answer....How come in crit races the heavier guys find the sprint style circuits easier than me? I'm generalising here, but I tend to finish ahead of heavier team mates on road races which tend to be rolling roads, but on circuits with lots of slow corners and sprints I struggle in comparison. So it appears to me that heavier people can cope better with sprints and less so with lumpy and rolling roads?
Because crits normally always finish in a mass sprint due to breakaways tending not to amount to anything.
Big guys = good at sprinting.
Small guys = good at undulating courses.
Really isn’t rocket science.0 -
Ryan - I presumed it meant I was spinning up rather than grinding up. So it was a more relaxed climb sat in the saddle at a nicer cadence, during the climb there is a specific section over 20% that feels like it lasts for minutes, grinding up out of the saddle isn't ideal for a 45 year old!
I completely get that for the Pro's 53/39 is fine, but they are different beasts. I was at the Queen's stage of Paris Nice last year and Contador had a 54/46!! I've rode those same mountains and while they are not that steep - 46 little ring?!?
Worth pointing out that at last years Tour, Froome had a 38-32. And at the Vuelta a lot of the guys ran 34/32 for the Angrilu. I'd need an e-bike for the Angrilu mind.0 -
All other things being equal, weight off moving parts like legs and wheels makes more of a difference.
weight off the bike raising your CoG will improve straight line stopping.
weight off you lowering your CoG will improve climbing and speed through bends.
But nothing is ever equal.
A lighter person is less likely to bust a lighter bike.
carrying an unused 2nd water bottle is a great way to add a kg.0 -
I do get heavier guys are likely to be faster in a single one up sprint than smaller riders. I was referring to the constant accelerations during a crit.
Tends to be 3 or 4 per lap, 600 watt accelerations and then slowly dropping down to a more sustainable 250 watts until the next corner, then back to 600 watts, then sustain 500 watts for 20 seconds. That sort of constant acceleration for an hour, not just a single mass sprint.
This relates exactly to the point made by keef66 saying that a heavier bike is harder to accelerate away from constant stop starts. Which it obviously would be, but it would be interesting to see exactly how much effort is used accelerating away from traffic lights during a commute.
So over the course of an hour race, how much actual effort would a 70kg rider on a 7kg bike have to put in compared to a 70kg rider on an 8kg bike. Then to look at how much actual effort would an 85kg rider put in on the same bikes. I get that the weight difference is 2.5% as per the example above, but what does that really equate to in effort.0 -
diy wrote:...carrying an unused 2nd water bottle is a great way to add a kg.
Do you seriously carry 2x1ltr bidons when you ride? :shock:
PP0 -
w00dster wrote:Here's something I find slightly interesting but will bore everyone else.....
I have a 25 minute climb that I do (in Snowdonia), its a Strava 3rd category climb, has some small 20% sections, but generally about 10 to 12%. I've done this climb fairly regularly so I know it well.
My previous bike was a Trek Emonda SLR, total weight about 6.2kgs. Current bike I rode the climb on last week is approx. 8.2kgs.
I'm slightly heavier than last year, by approx. 1 kg. I was 67kgs last summer. Last week I had full winter kit on, probably carrying close to 1kg extra with minitool, tubes and extra CO2.
My Strava PB was set last weekend on the heavier bike. My fitness hasn't improved. Time wise there is very little in it, but its interesting to note that the fastest time was on the heavy bike.
The difference between the two bikes is gearing. 50/34 and 11-32 on the heavy bike and 52/38 and 11-28 on the lighter bike.
Now I know that I could have had the 50/34 11-32 on the lighter bike, but for me it was interesting to see the correlation between weight and gearing and seeing where a tipping point in performance. The light bike with 52/38 was used for crit racing and also normally had 11/23 or 11/25 on it, ideal for this use.
Maybe the conditions were better on the day when you were on the heavier bike ?0 -
The answer to the OP is always self. You can't improve the power to weight of a pushbike.Trail fun - Transition Bandit
Road - Wilier Izoard Centaur/Cube Agree C62 Disc
Allround - Cotic Solaris0 -
Pilot Pete wrote:diy wrote:...carrying an unused 2nd water bottle is a great way to add a kg.
Do you seriously carry 2x1ltr bidons when you ride? :shock:
PP
no but plenty of people do.0 -
I've often seen triathletes setting off on their Ironman bike leg with 4 bottles of drink on the bike. Sure they have extra weight but at least they have the drink that they prefer onboard already and don't need to use the feed stations (for a good while anyway).
They do carry them pretty aerodynamically too so that might not be affected too much.0 -
0
-
0
-
34/32 @ 90RPM = 12.1km/h
36/28 @ 74RPM = 12.1km/h
He’d fall off if going any slower...
As for my second statement, it’s correct, same cadence, lower ratio gears, you’re going to be slower.
I’m now going to do a 350w+ 25 min commute home and pretend the world doesn’t revolve around this forum and the knobs on it.0 -
is it up hill then?Ryan_W wrote:34/32 @ 90RPM = 12.1km/h
36/28 @ 74RPM = 12.1km/h
He’d fall off if going any slower...
As for my second statement, it’s correct, same cadence, lower ratio gears, you’re going to be slower.
I’m now going to do a 350w+ 25 min commute home and pretend the world doesn’t revolve around this forum and the knobs on it.0 -
36/11 or 36/28, I know which gear I can climb a hill quicker in...
It’s all about optimum cadence for the individual, so a blanket statement of a higher gear makes you go up a hill faster is not really true as at some point you simply can’t turn that higher gear. Hopefully Ryan worked off his frustration on his commute...
PP0
