Almost doubling the weight of a road bike makes a <1% difference in leg load on a rolling terrain ride overall....
That's true - if you can find flat / rolling terrain where you never have to slow down or stop for anything or anybody.
Almost doubling the weight of a road bike makes a <1% difference in leg load on a rolling terrain ride overall....
I was making the assumption that the wind velocity was a constant and that the only velocity changing was that of the mass of the bike.
I believe that if you hit a 30 MPH head wind with one bike, and then hit a 30 MPH head wind on the same bike but at a higher velocity the increase in wind resistance is proportional to the velocity as stated in newtons second law, I believe this law is valid as the mass is not changing.
Net force on object = mass on object x acceleration
What is your reasoning, behind your perspective, just curious.
Performance can 'stagnate' if we use our muscles in the same way - such as on the same bike on a particular loop. It's known that off-road riding on heavier bikes with increased drag improves performance on the road. I've forgotten most of the science behind it, but the benefits are there.
You could argue that using a heavier road bike would give your muscles similar challenges - and there's no reason why heavier bikes can't be fun to ride either - provided they are set up well.
In principal, change is good - and as we all know 'change is as good as a rest'