ELITE Cyclist versus ELITE Bike

[rcannon100]

Some time ago we yammered about the different factors that contribute to speed. In this video, The Guardian pits an ELITE Cyclist against an ELITE bike in three different races (including the third race in which the ELITE Cyclist must race on a british CABI). Conclusion: The more money you spend, the faster you will go. :p

Topic

[ejwillis62]

Well this just cannot be right, I have spent a lot of money and still I am slow as (I was going to say dirt, but on this list that won’t work) heck. Hmmmm must be something wrong with this calculation, maybe it doesn’t work for the over 50 crowd. it’s okay, I go fast enough that I do occasionally pass a jogger and on a red letter day I see tourist on Bike and Roll bikes and I can “almost” always go faster than them. 1 more hour till time to go home. Still haven’t figured out how to make it to happy hour, Arlington is just so far away. maybe ride home and get hubby to drive me over……. hmmmmmm

[jabberwocky]

Cool video! It does show how much faster a real road bike is, but it also shows that ultimately, its about the motor.

[dasgeh]

He tries it with kid!!! YAY!!!

[Amalitza]

@rcannon100 58287 wrote:

Conclusion: The more money you spend, the faster you will go. :p

So furloughs are actually a conspiracy by Congress to keep me slow?

(I don’t actually think it was me. ‘fess up, which of you has been blowing away senators at hain’s point?)

[KLizotte]

I think it would be more interesting to see the same pro cyclist try out different types of bikes and see what the speed differences are. That way the engine is the same.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 58325 wrote:

I think it would be more interesting to see the same pro cyclist try out different types of bikes and see what the speed differences are. That way the engine is the same.

doesn’t work unless it’s a double blind study, which is pretty impossible for bikes: the human brain has too much effect on our behavior.

[dasgeh]

What I’d like to see is a bike review that rides different bikes for the same commute for say, a week, then posts the results.

In fact, I’d totally do that if I could get the bikes for free.

**Full disclosure: if I started with the bikes in my garage, I’d get through the summer.**

[KLizotte]

@mstone 58326 wrote:

doesn’t work unless it’s a double blind study, which is pretty impossible for bikes: the human brain has too much effect on our behavior.

I was looking more for a real world study to see how much a really nice road bike affects speed versus lower end, heavier bikes. I think a pro cyclist would be able to overcome most psychological effects.

[Rod Smith]

So hybrids are the fastest bikes, much as I suspected.

[americancyclo]

I can tell you definitively that my carbon road bike gets me to work (12.5 mi) a full 5 to 6 minutes faster than my 10 year old 26 inch mountain bike on 1.5 inch tires.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 58329 wrote:

I was looking more for a real world study to see how much a really nice road bike affects speed versus lower end, heavier bikes. I think a pro cyclist would be able to overcome most psychological effects.

Quite the opposite–there have been studies showing that they really can’t do it. (E.g., test otherwise-identical frames made of different tubing material and randomly painted one of two colors, then see whether results track with the material or the color. This phenomenon is expected: the same holds true for other fields and it’s why double blind studies were invented.) It doesn’t take much for factors like “I’m going to look like a complete idiot if my cabi time is anything like the time on my $10k bike” to subconsciously make someone hold back or otherwise skew the results. It’s similar to why things like “what tire width is best” are pretty much impossible to figure out. The best you can do is try to control as many variables as possible, e.g., use a roll-out test for tires so all the rider has to do is hold still, but that’s nothing like trying to do a sprint test between two different bikes.

[dasgeh]

But a real world, repeated test would give me (us?) the info we’re looking for. It might be true that a dutch style bike makes me want to soft pedal more, but that’s important information too. Really, I want to know how long my commute is going to take (and maybe how sweaty I’ll be when I get there) on one bike v another.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 58356 wrote:

But a real world, repeated test would give me (us?) the info we’re looking for. It might be true that a dutch style bike makes me want to soft pedal more, but that’s important information too. Really, I want to know how long my commute is going to take (and maybe how sweaty I’ll be when I get there) on one bike v another.

The only one who can answer that for you is you. Go out and take some test rides.

[Dickie]

[video=youtube_share;VN54oOMVrXQ]http://youtu.be/VN54oOMVrXQ[/video]

[rpiretti]

Dave Moulton and Jan Heine addressed this http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2013/2/21/lighter-is-not-necessarily-faster.html

[Author]

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