Fatty vs Skinny

[grellboy]

Ok I'm not a real jabba but am a reasonably sturdy 15 stone at six foot. Met up with a skinny mate the other day and couldn't help but compare our performances against each other. I seemed to be more powerful on the flat and up short steep hills but he seemed to be able to talk much more easily than me. Is this the general way of things?

 

[S-Express]

I doubt if there is a 'general way of things' in that context. It would proably depend more on your comparative fitness levels than anything else.

 

[Hacienda71]

Yes. I am 6'3 and 13.5 stone on the flat I am fine and keep up with most people, but in the hills the skinny guys leave me for dead despite having a reasonable ftp. Watts per kg is what counts when hills are involved not just power.

 

[Drago]

I'm a shade under 6'4", about 245lbs. I can grind away on the hills with the best of them but come the flat the whippets bugger off and leave me. On the plus side I get more chick action than them.

 

[rideswithmoobs]

On the plus side I get more chick action than them.

Quality not quantity. A high number of chicks with a face like a burnt out fuse box would make me bugger off like a whippet too

 

[Kominic]

I'm 6"5 and 105kg. On the Pinnacle, I beast descents, can compete on flats but can get dropped by club riders on race bikes and get dropped by anyone lighter than me on ascents.

On the BMC, on the few occasions I've encountered other riders on it, I don't get dropped on flats anymore. But I need more testing to see if it's me or the bike doing that.

 

[steveindenmark]

Im a fat bugger.Im slow up hills but weight and gravity make up for it on the way down.

 

[grellboy]

That's the thing about cycling, I kind of do it for fun but also to offset the wine, cheese, crisps, bourbons etc....shouldn't think I'll ever lose any weight but remain optimistic that i will be a little lardy but faster, if such a thing is possible!

 

[S-Express]

Yep, it's possible. You may struggle uphill against someone who puts out similar power but is lighter, but unless you're racing, who cares?

 

[steve50]

The skinny guy , regular cyclist so relatively fit, hill climbs like a demon because he has a lot less weight to shift.
Big guy, regular cyclist so just as fit but has several more kilos to get up the same hill, power to weight ratio makes a huge difference.

 

[rideswithmoobs]

The skinny guy , regular cyclist so relatively fit, hill climbs like a demon because he has a lot less weight to shift.
Big guy, regular cyclist so just as fit but has several more kilos to get up the same hill, power to weight ratio makes a huge difference.

I weigh 13.5 stone big thighs and can power up hills on a single speed as good as some skinny guys on carbon flash bikes, reduced in weight right down to the bottle cage, and I'm on steel basic Bike. It's the engine that makes the difference.

 

[Hacienda71]

Skinny guy with the same ftp beats the big guy everytime over any hill that is more than a short incline. Physics innit, Watts per kg.

 

[rideswithmoobs]

Skinny guy with the same ftp beats the big guy everytime over any hill that is more than a short incline. Physics innit, Watts per kg.

Not sure about you but I don't check the ftp of every rider I see but pretty sure I don't meet any in a day who are bang on same, same fitness, train same, eat same and all things are equal except weight. I was referring to us mere humans on a cycling website and the fact that to your average Joe cycling for enjoyment nothing is a given and on any day a skinny guy beats a fat guy and a fat guy beats a skinny another. It's the engine and the mind

 

[Starchivore]

Video of interest:

 

[Ajay]

But that's just skinny blokes carrying dead weight, ie showing the difference a heavier bike could make. It doesn't make any allowance for a heavier rider having more muscle mass.