A maths question...

G-Wiz
G-Wiz Posts: 261
If it takes 10 minutes to get up Box Hill in a 34-26 gearing, at an average cadence of 85 rpm

A) What rear cog size would it need to get up in sub 8 minutes at the same cadence?

B)Assuming a 100kg rider on an 8kg bike, what increase in power does the above require?

Show your workings :-)

Comments

  • sheffsimon
    sheffsimon Posts: 1,282
    G-Wiz wrote:
    If it takes 10 minutes to get up Box Hill in a 34-26 gearing, at an average cadence of 85 rpm

    A) What rear cog size would it need to get up in sub 8 minutes at the same cadence?

    B)Assuming a 100kg rider on an 8kg bike, what increase in power does the above require?

    Show your workings :-)

    A) 10/8 * 26 = 32.5 tooth sprocket, ask at halfords for one

    B) Too complicated, increase in power output isnt directly proportional to the increase in speed, loads of other factors like air resistance isnt directly proportional to speed, efficiency of body also not proportional.

    Would be a lot of power though for your theoretical 100kg fat b****** :wink:
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    A)36/24 = 1.308

    1.308 * 10/8 = 1.635

    34/1.635 = 20.78 = rear sprocket size.
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  • SheffSimon wrote:
    G-Wiz wrote:
    If it takes 10 minutes to get up Box Hill in a 34-26 gearing, at an average cadence of 85 rpm

    A) What rear cog size would it need to get up in sub 8 minutes at the same cadence?

    B)Assuming a 100kg rider on an 8kg bike, what increase in power does the above require?

    Show your workings :-)

    A) 10/8 * 26 = 32.5 tooth sprocket, ask at halfords for one

    B) Too complicated, increase in power output isnt directly proportional to the increase in speed, loads of other factors like air resistance isnt directly proportional to speed, efficiency of body also not proportional.

    Would be a lot of power though for your theoretical 100kg fat b****** :wink:

    You might want to check that... you're saying that a *larger* rear cog would get you up the hill quicker at the same cadence!
  • sheffsimon
    sheffsimon Posts: 1,282
    hamstrich wrote:
    SheffSimon wrote:
    G-Wiz wrote:
    If it takes 10 minutes to get up Box Hill in a 34-26 gearing, at an average cadence of 85 rpm

    A) What rear cog size would it need to get up in sub 8 minutes at the same cadence?

    B)Assuming a 100kg rider on an 8kg bike, what increase in power does the above require?

    Show your workings :-)

    A) 10/8 * 26 = 32.5 tooth sprocket, ask at halfords for one

    B) Too complicated, increase in power output isnt directly proportional to the increase in speed, loads of other factors like air resistance isnt directly proportional to speed, efficiency of body also not proportional.

    Would be a lot of power though for your theoretical 100kg fat b****** :wink:

    You might want to check that... you're saying that a *larger* rear cog would get you up the hill quicker at the same cadence!

    My mistake :oops: .....it was late evening.....8/10 * 26 = 20.8 :)
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    1) (8/10) * 26 = 20.8 - can't get one of thsoe too easily, so use a 21 and pedal 1 rpm faster

    2) I don't know Box Hill and how steep it is - if it's > 8 - 10%, speeds would be low enough that the significance of wind resistance drops off. In that case you can use soemthing like Allen Lims formula:

    http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2 ... rmula.html

    "Dr. Lim's formula to estimate the power necessary to climb a hill:

    bike + rider weight (kg) x 9.8 x elevation gain (meters) / time (seconds) = power (watts). Add 10% for rolling and air resistance."


    As you're only interested in the change in power to achieve a quicker time, the increase in power is simply proportional to the reduction in tiime
    Power (8mins) = Power (10 mins) * 10/8 , so 25% more power

    However, the flatter the hill is, the greater the imapct of wind resistance and ultimately it becomes the dominating component. In that case the power will go up as the square of the speed increase so you'll need ~56% more power.

    The "real" answer is somewhere between the two.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • G-Wiz
    G-Wiz Posts: 261
    Thanks guys, looks like I've got a hill to climb so to speak.

    Nothing theoretical about the fat bastard, although 'he' is now down to 98Kg already, but that would make the maths even more daft.

    That equates to speeds between 13-15kmh so not a huge impact of air resistance.

    I'm hoping to get down to low 90kg's over the season, already only 1Kg off last season's best when I was almost under 9 mins. That was the first year I did any competitive riding, so I'm expecting to cane those results now I've a bit more structure and some targets in place.

    Thanks especially for Dr Lim's formula, I reckon that's probably saved me needing a powermeter for a little while.