It Doesn't matters, It's not the bike/kit you have...
- Thread starter itaa
- Start date
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Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
In this eventful life, I have been both the skinny guy and the "solidly built" guy, and the difference has seemed to be more on the climbs.
And which build have you enjoyed being the most?
SuperHans123
Formerly known as snertos999
Seems to describe me...Fatty on a Cronk
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
S?W? Trying to baffle us with Welsh?
classic33
Leg End Member
Not watching where he's going!
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
So, on the figures you've quoted:-
Full-Sus MTB = 10.2 mph.
Hybrid bike = 14.5 mph.
Road bike = 19 mph.
You haven't stated what sort of tyres are fitted to each bike, and the comment about "all on road" for the road bike implies the other two were ridden on a route that included some sort of off-road tracks. How fast would your road bike be if you took it down the same route as the other two?
It's no good comparing apples with pears. If you want a meaningful result, all three bikes need to be ridden on exactly the same route and allowance made for any differences in tyres. The big difference between the full-sus and the hybrid can be accounted for by the suspension. The one time I've ridden a (cheap BSO type) full-sus MTB, it seemed like half the pedalling effort was being absorbed by the suspension rather than producing forward motion. That experience has made me very anti-suspension on bikes.
Agree on comparing the bikes on the same route, but disagree on the rest. How can we say a 16kg MTB is as fast as a 7kg Road bike, if we’ve made the MTB as much like a Road bike as possible, whilst also riding the Road bike in the same position as an MTB.
Surely we need to change the argument to a 16kg Road bike compared to a 7kg Road bike if you want to compare Apple’s with Apple’s?
Otherwise there’s some serious misinformation going on.
Surely we need to change the argument to a 16kg Road bike compared to a 7kg Road bike if you want to compare Apple’s with Apple’s?
Otherwise there’s some serious misinformation going on.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Are we trying to do a simple weight vs average journey time comparison here, or are we introducing other factors also? You seem to be coming at this from the standpoint that road bikes are naturally better because they are lighter, have lower rolling resistance tyres, and offer a different riding position. However, you can only maximise those advantages if you ride a route which allows you to get full speed up without the risk of bike damage or coming off. My guess is that if all three bikes were ridden over both routes and an average speed calculated, the differences would be greatly diminished. The full-sus would likely gain a couple of mph on a smoother road and the road bike would lose a couple of mph on the track route, but it would make less difference to the hybrid. It would be interesting if meta lon actually did these 2 alternative routes on all three bikes and then posted up the journey times.
Comparing rides with different bikes involves so many variables that it doesn't make a lot of sense to deduce that it's the weight making the difference (although it's probably a part of it, you can't tell how much). Wouldn't a better way to do it be to ride the same bike multiple times over the same course with different weights attached to it? It still wouldn't reach the double blind ideal, but it must be better.
There are no other factors being introduced since the opening posts where its suggested that a 16kg MTB is as fast as a 7kg Road bike, only to then force both bikes to be ridden with the same tyres and in the same positions, plus ignoring all other differences between the said bikes...until now when the track factor was added. The assumption being that it’s a dirt track and not a tarmac cycle track, which we actually don’t know which at this point.
Winnershsaint
Guru
And I thought football forums were the home of b***ocks! I'm not a brilliant cyclist but I've got a very nice bike, in fact I've got two to choose from if I'm honest. They don't make me go faster, in fact my fastest average speeds were on my alloy Cube currently perched on the turbo which hasn't been on the road for around three years. I bought them because I wanted to and there should always be room for a new bike, but that's my business. I get a bit peeved with constant debates such as this on here and other social media which is thinly disguised criticism of those who choose to spend their disposable income on more expensive bikes, so what! I could understand the carping if there was a undercurrent of 'my bike's better than yours', but I am not aware of it. Oh and I wear ridiculous clothes too. They don't suit but are most comfortable and suitable for road cycling.
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Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
I have taken excerpt quotes from the OP.
Conditions: Same aero drag; same quality of tyres (or even the same tyres); "aren't going up hills"; same route/roads/weather; same power output.
Each extra kg will cost less than half a watt (at 30kph say), or to put it another way, ceteris paribus, riding the 7kg super bike will 'save' the rider 29 seconds over 30km - according to bikecalculator.com
http://bikecalculator.com/
