Patrick in VT, I will agree with you that, "everthing else being equal," a lighter bike is a better option for a race.
But everthing else is not equal; there are many variables to account for. Joe Bartoe set faster times up hills with a heavier bike. I set my fastest time trial times (when I did this sort of thing) on a lugged steel Bridgestone that was heavier than an aluminum framed Guerciotti it replaced. (Same wheels, bars, gearing etc...). We had several years worth of data over the same course. Anyway, after reading through this discussion, I'm glad I don't race bikes any more. Angus On Mar 14, 3:07 pm, Patrick in VT <psh...@drm.com> wrote: > to be clear, I'm not saying its just about the bike. as others have > pointed out, there are many variables to account for. > > my point is this: if you are in a race, riding a lighter bike is a > competitive advantage. and most people who race want the competitive > advantage, and rightly so. it's part of competing. > > it's fine to argue that a physically and mentally stronger rider can > win on a heavier bike - I agree. but that's not the point. it's also > fine to claim that your personal times aren't much different than when > you ride a light road bike compared to when you ride your heavier > bike. that's great. but, again, it's not the point. > > the thread started off with a sentiment that the riders would be > better served on country bikes in this *race.* I disagree, because I > think, on the whole, a country bike would put the racer at a > competitive disadvantage. > > as somebody stated earlier, losing by a foot or just a minute means > that rider lost. period. > > look at the results from rouge-roubaix - the difference in time > between the top ten riders is about 30 seconds. now ask yourself, if > you are one of those top ten riders and you had a choice between > riding a 23 pound country bike and 17 pound race bike, what would you > ride? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
