Eldron Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Bike technology cannot get the credit for this I'm afraid. Much better road surfaces allowing for higher average speed, massive advancements in training, riders earning a living from cycling (hence more time to train) and dare I say it.....................................drugs They are just incomparable. Apart from the roads being gravel/cobbled riders had to fix their own punctures (which happened often), carry their own spares, no outside assistance allowed (which included welding your own bike back together), stages were generally over 250km long, bikes had no gears (or the rider had to stop and change the gear manually). Proper apples and oranges comparison.
Hardi Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 I think technology increased the endurance "factor" of riders.Comfort = less fatigue = more time at the higher AVG speeds Bike weight is irrelevant when maintaining a constant speed on a flat surface.The Bike's Aerodynamics has obviously improved, but the main drag comes from the body anyway. 3% could be correct If your think the bike is less than 7% of the moving object
Andrew Steer Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 I've been reading adverts about bike tech improvements for well over a decade, every year 4-5% faster, stiffer, lighter... and yet: http://www.stickybottle.com/blogs/cycling-fastest-times-alpe-dhuez/ Anti-doping is doing something clearly... and maybe drugs do/did work pretty well after all PS: That first Tour de France was something like 5500km's over far fewer stages - not really worth comparing, post World War 2 might be a more worthwhile comparison
Fat Boab Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Some interesting interpretations of Newtonian mechanics in this thread. Let me offer a view.... Power to overcome aerodynamic resistance is a 3rd order power law. (Infact it's not quite 3rd order, as drag coefficient varies with relative velocity but for small changes in bike speed, we can consider it to be independent of relative velocity). 3rd order power laws are not exponential. We often incorrectly term things 'exponential', such as the graph in post #17, to suggest they are non-linear. The power-velocity relationship is non-linear but its not exponential.
RocknRolla Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 I blame beer for the negative improvement on my personal cycling development.Blame is used loosely here. But saying I enjoy beer for the negative improvement on my personal cycling does not sound right, although it is correct.
Eldron Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Some interesting interpretations of Newtonian mechanics in this thread. Let me offer a view.... Power to overcome aerodynamic resistance is a 3rd order power law. (Infact it's not quite 3rd order, as drag coefficient varies with relative velocity but for small changes in bike speed, we can consider it to be independent of relative velocity). 3rd order power laws are not exponential. We often incorrectly term things 'exponential', such as the graph in post #17, to suggest they are non-linear. The power-velocity relationship is non-linear but its not exponential. Interesting... I have always thought that anything with an exponent could be termed exponential regardless of whether the exponent was 2 or 3 (or a fraction of either). I'm not sure I believe (or understand!) you
DieselnDust Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Some interesting interpretations of Newtonian mechanics in this thread. Let me offer a view.... Power to overcome aerodynamic resistance is a 3rd order power law. (Infact it's not quite 3rd order, as drag coefficient varies with relative velocity but for small changes in bike speed, we can consider it to be independent of relative velocity). 3rd order power laws are not exponential. We often incorrectly term things 'exponential', such as the graph in post #17, to suggest they are non-linear. The power-velocity relationship is non-linear but its not exponential. Oh jummy a maths debate. Normalised data may be presented as non linear. I'd agree that the data should be at least 3Rd order
Fat Boab Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Interesting... I have always thought that anything with an exponent could be termed exponential regardless of whether the exponent was 2 or 3 (or a fraction of either). I'm not sure I believe (or understand!) you As I understand it (?), a power law is of the form y = x^n, where n=3 in this case. An exponential function is of the form y = c^x. It gets very confusing when we start inter-changing exponential, exponent, exp(x) etc.
Odinson Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 Some interesting interpretations of Newtonian mechanics in this thread. Let me offer a view.... Power to overcome aerodynamic resistance is a 3rd order power law. (Infact it's not quite 3rd order, as drag coefficient varies with relative velocity but for small changes in bike speed, we can consider it to be independent of relative velocity). 3rd order power laws are not exponential. We often incorrectly term things 'exponential', such as the graph in post #17, to suggest they are non-linear. The power-velocity relationship is non-linear but its not exponential.
Eldron Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 As I understand it (?), a power law is of the form y = x^n, where n=3 in this case. An exponential function is of the form y = c^x. It gets very confusing when we start inter-changing exponential, exponent, exp(x) etc. My googleresearch revealed this. If we go by the dictionary meaning then anything that has a curve is effectively exponential (increasing at an increasing rate). Mathematically I can't find a clear case either way. From now on and in future I'm going to go with this "wind resistance is non linear" :-)
Capricorn Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 As I understand it (?), a power law is of the form y = x^n, where n=3 in this case. An exponential function is of the form y = c^x. It gets very confusing when we start inter-changing exponential, exponent, exp(x) etc. nailed. it.If the variable is the exponent (with a constant base), then the equation is exponential (line 2 above). Mathematically, the differences are as clear as they fundamental. In context|mathematics|lang=en terms the difference between exponent and exponential is that exponent is (mathematics) the power to which a number, symbol or expression is to be raised for example, the 3 in x 3 while exponential is (mathematics) any function that has an exponent as an independent variable. As nouns the difference between exponent and exponentialis that exponent is one who expounds, represents or advocates while exponential is (mathematics) any function that has an exponent as an independent variable.
malwyn Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 An interesting TED talk on athletic performance. A short bit is on cycling and bike technology. https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger
Headshot Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 From an MTB perspective, it seems the obsession with weight, that is the overall bike weight has diminished, especially in the gravity side of the sport. I think this has to do with wagon wheels pushing up the weight and their general acceptance in the DH and enduro world. That and eBikes (cough). In fact some DH riders have actually added weight to their bikes in strategic places to make them more stable on rough courses. EBike riders rave about the "planted" feel of their pig heavy motorbikes on the downs. As the owner of a rather heavy enduro bike, I have been surprised at how well it gets up hills. I think this is largely due to the rear suspension and shock design as well as geometry changes, which are probably just as important as the weight .
DirtyDan Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 1919 Tdf ave speed 24.056 km/h2017 Tdf ave speed 40.210 km/hWe have buttery smooth, tarred roads these days...
Jewbacca Posted July 31, 2018 Posted July 31, 2018 We have buttery smooth, tarred roads these days...Like Chapman's Peak?
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