> my conclusions based on these observations: > > I think there is probably no advantage unless one is riding a pace > that demands quick acceleration to avoid getting dropped, which sounds > an awful lot like full-blown racing.
Patrick, Steve, et al...... As a former USCF cat one road racer, I would agree there IS in fact a place for lightweight racing bikes for anyone who likes aggressive riding in groups--it isn't all just about posing and fashion (although that obviously plays a role in some cases). When there's a need for constant acceleration, light, stiff racing bikes trump heavier bikes. The difference feels significant, at least to me. There's an 18 mile loop near my house that can be ridden with no traffic stops or other interruptions. I regularly do this ride on an 18 lb Litespeed Tuscany, a 25 lb. Ti Van Nicholas Amazon set up for brevets, and on a 34 lb. Surly LHT. My times when riding tempo (i.e., constant speed) are near identical on all three bikes. However, when I ride with a group of local racers, if I happen to be on the Surly, the workload in staying in the peleton seems to be double or triple what it is when I'm on the Litespeed because of all the accelerations. Relevance to this discussion on tires? It is now conventional wisdom among many of us that wider tires are faster than narrower tires. Where I suspect that this calculus breaks down is on rides that involve constant acceleration. Wider tires are heavier, and heavier tires don't accelerate as quickly. Meaning that wider tires would appear to require more energy output to maintain a particular speed (and hence may be more inefficient) IN CASES WHERE ACCELERATION IS CONSTANT, AS IN CRIT RACES, or even in friendly aggressive riding in groups. Perhaps why the peleton has never exactly embraced Mr. Heine's theories on wider being faster. All in all, it seems meaningless for subsets of bicyclists to be disdainful of the equipment choices of other subsets of bicyclists. Maybe it's a testament to the evolution of bicycling that we now have multiple bicycling cultures, but the bottom line is that we're all bicyclists. It's all good. -- 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-bu...@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.
