C2W Makes You Fat

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Arfcollins

Soft southerner.
Location
Fareham
Almost a month since I picked up the Cube SL Cross Comp, which I love but it is causing a bit of a problem.

In my 2 years of commuting on the old Marin Bobcat Trail I'd reached a fine balance between the crap I snack on and the hell-for leather work-out on the way home. I lost the love handles and 2 inches off the waist after the first year and my weight was stable, and I eat chocolate.

The problem is that the Cube is such an easy ride compared to the Marin that I'm not burning the calories to the same extent, and the weight is starting to creep up.

So the question is do I cut back on the chocolate, or fit knobblies and adjust the brakes so they rub?
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
ride it faster, with a bike like that you're obliged to beat nearly anything you meet
 

Ferdie

Active Member
:biggrin: :biggrin:

after years riding cheap bikes with rubbing breaks I really started to miss that grinding slowing down effect! It was kind of reassuring. My first bike that was perfectly tuned scared the crap out of me as it zoomed just from two pumps on the pedal :smile:
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
ride it faster, with a bike like that you're obliged to beat nearly anything you meet

Quite the opposite.

Ride slower and wear the thinnest clothes you have.

Fast or slow, the cals per distance ( work to home ) will be approx the same. When you ride slower, you are being battered by the cold wind for longer and using more calories that way.

Or OP could always eat less.
 

mgarl10024

Über Member
Location
Bristol
Fast or slow, the cals per distance ( work to home ) will be approx the same.
That can't be right. It's got to be more like a car, where backing off from 70mph to 50mph gives a much better fuel economy per mile. The curve of energy you put in (and therefore calories) will be exponential, because I think there's a square in there somewhere for wind resistance.

I know that these figures can be taken with a pinch of salt, but I've found many more showing a similar trend...

http://cyclinginfo.c...sed-in-cycling/
# 10mph – 133
# 15mph – 349
# 20mph – 742

If you were right, the calories for 20mph would be 2x10mph?


P.S. Typing this, I've got a nagging feeling that your comment was witty/sarcastic and I've taken it too literally.
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
That can't be right. It's got to be more like a car, where backing off from 70mph to 50mph gives a much better fuel economy per mile. The curve of energy you put in (and therefore calories) will be exponential, because I think there's a square in there somewhere for wind resistance.

I know that these figures can be taken with a pinch of salt, but I've found many more showing a similar trend...

http://cyclinginfo.c...sed-in-cycling/
# 10mph – 133
# 15mph – 349
# 20mph – 742

If you were right, the calories for 20mph would be 2x10mph?


P.S. Typing this, I've got a nagging feeling that your comment was witty/sarcastic and I've taken it too literally.

The mass of the vehicle remains constant.
The cross section area of the vehicle remains constant.
The Coefficient of drag of the vehicle remains constant.
The density of air remains constant ( for theoretical purposes ) at 1.2 kg/m^3.

Imagine a cross section area shaped tube of air between point A and point B. That volume of air has to be moved, no matter how fast or how slow the vehicle travels.

At tremendously high speeds, the partial vacuum created by the vehicle's slipstream will cause the vehicle to be pulled back into the pocket of low pressure. It is linked with Cd, which is calculated using speed and cross section area.

For the general cycling public, the cals used per distance is the same, fast or slow.
 

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
A motorcar is more economical at 50mph than 70mph because of its camshaft profile, which determines the peak of the engine's torque curve. It is profiled to give maximum torque and BMEP at an engine speed appropriate to the roadspeed at the cruises on the ECE 1505 Urban and Extra Urban emissions test schedules.
 
Try sprinting as hard as you can from a standing start everytime you are forced to stop at lights or traffic. Since you use a lot more energy to get going than to maintain cruising speed that should give you a decent workout so long as there are enough red lights on your commute.
 

thomas

the tank engine
Location
Woking/Norwich
I used to work part time in the summer holidays and have a daily commute of about 30miles and then also do club rides. That allowed me to scoff a pork pie, a choc bar and some crisps and not worry! This summer I worked for myself and since getting back to uni have put a little bit of a gut on :sad:

Need to get back in a cycling routeen. I'd say, extend your route and cycle faster...bugger eating less and healthier :smile:
 
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