Reducing the grams.

[slowjoe]

i know, way too confusing for me.

 

i'd like to know if the same guy goes say a 1km sprint on the same bike, lightened 100g on the second day. will there in theory be a difference in his time.

 

[Windbreaker]

www.analyticcycling.com

Click on the speed & acceleration calcs

 

[Imtb]

When I get some time Windbreaker, I'll look at www.analyticcycling.com in more detail. The other calculator I downloaded has too many variables I don't know and so will give that a miss.

 

I realise all these variables make a difference, but if they were equal for a particular race a week later, but one carried an extra pump, cell phone, set of allen keys (excuse spelling) tube, lube...how much would it affect would it have - so only the weight changed, nothing else...

[RodTi]

and she cycles?

 

 

...."I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike..."

[Speed Devil]

"Weight" is a relative term that people use very loosely.

 

For someone who just does fun rides and sits in the back of the pack a weight saving would be absolutely useless, seeing as the draft from the bunch will just pull him/her along.

On the other end of the scale if the same person pulls his weight and spends a lot of time at the front of the pack, breaking the wind and doing a lot of leading, then aerodynamics would be of more importance and the extra 100g would just add too his total forward inertia.

 

Where a weight saving would be of greatest help would be on hill climbs, where everyone is evenly matched and it is just man against hill.

 

In my opinion, if you can shed a few kilos off your body then rather go that route as it is a LOT cheaper, but if you weigh 70kg like me and can't afford to lose weight then go for the weigh loss option on your bike, but then do it properly. Trying to save only 100 or 200g is not going to make a big difference unless you are top end rider. Last year I replaced my old Dura Ace grupo with a 10 spd and fitted a new HB, stem, seatpost and a set of American Classic carbon tubular rims. I took over 2kilos off my bike!!

 

The weight loss on my bike really helped on the hills, but with a change in riding technique I was also able to improve on my uphill speed even more.

 

So before you just go throw money at your bike and hope for the best, make sure it is going to be money well worth spending, because once you start shedding weight you don't want to stop and it can work out extremely expensive.

[Imtb]

Hi Speed devil, thanks for the advice. So what techniques did you use to improve your uphill speed

[gianni]

What the hell? ...

 

How does that website have a link that refers the user back to here??

 

Funny!

 

It's called http_referer. The target server knows whhich address you came from. The site developers are just exposing that function.

[Imtb]

2kg must have made a big difference on the hills. But you are right, its costly when one starts trying to upgrade parts to save 100g here and there.

[Speed Devil]

Imtb

 

There are varies techniques that you can try.

 

The first is your pedalling action. Try and push-n-pull on the pedals. By that I mean while pushing down on the one pedal then you pull up on the other, but to get maximum benefit of the action you must pull through the bottom of the stroke. think of cleaning your dog's poo off the sole of your shoe. As you bring your pedal through the six 'o clock position you must pull on the pedal.

 

Secondly another technique that helps is to relax my upper body. I let my hands REST on the top of the handlebars, just curling them enought to keep a grip on the bars and control over the bike, but not gripping them firm and letting my legs do all the work as described above.

 

Thirdly try and remain seated as far as possible. You will not only save energy, but also have a faster climbing speed. I only climb out of my saddle to give my back a break or when going over the top of a hill to keep up with the pack as they all jocky to get over the top first.

 

Once you have mastered these three techniques you will be surprised how much energy you save and extra power you have a hill.

Speed Devil2007-08-16 14:55:48

[Imtb]

Speed Devil

 

Yes I use the first two, but chatting to one of the winners on the Imana, he said that on hills he does alot of standing so as to utilise different muscles - up to 50%. I was quite suprised - he does alot of training standing which ione needs in mtb

 

One can also alternate the technique of scraping the pooh with driving the knees at the handlebars, even alternate one leg drives at the handle bar and the other leg does the scrape - they call it the scissor kick!

 

Another interesting tip is to point the toes down when standing - found it makes quite a difference

[Speed Devil]

Yes Imtb, mtb is a lot different from road riding and mtbing requiers a lot more standing. Speed is also not as much of an issue as it is in road racing.

I am almost exclusively a roadie, and give my advice from that point of view.

[Windbreaker]

And there are many in the cycling community that will argue that most of what Speed Devil describes with respect to pedal stroke makes no difference whatsoever. Any gains are as a result of concentrating/focusing and that alone causes you to keep your applied power on the pedals at a higher level. I am slowly coming to the same conclusion, but still not convinced .

 

 

[Jimmy]

I think where you take of the 100g is the important thing. Taking weight off the wheels and tyres will make a much bigger differenc than taking it off of the handlebar,stem,seatpost etc

[Speed Devil]

If you look at triathletes who use solid disc and tri-spoke wheels, at the rear. Those wheels always weigh more than a convention wheel. To them aerodynamics are more important.

The extra weight on the wheel creates a bigger centrigugal force and helps to improve inertia. The only downside of this is that accelaration is slower, but once at speed the benefits are far more obvious. 

 

So losing weight on the wheels is not always a good idea. You must first look at what your type of riding is and then take weight off accordingly.

[SwissVan]

Hi Speed devil' date=' thanks for the advice. So what techniques did you use to improve your uphill speed[/quote']

 

I recommend trying to pedal faster - guaranteed to work.

 

 

 

[1skinnyman]

Speed evil, I only ride MTB (13kg) and I'm very light for my height - 56kg @ 1,80m.  Some guys in my group with 8,5kg bikes can't keep up on the hills and not able to catch up on the downs.  Tried the light bike and the result was the same, although I lost speed on the downs.  Needless to say I don't really care about the weight of my bike.