pooh

Just wondering if there are any people in the medical or elite athlete field that can answer this... How important is genetics? It's the one thing we can't choose. Is there a test other than seeing how we place in races to see if we have the "right stuff" to compete at a very high level? Or would you say most people who are not overly big boned and fall into the build/height of pros can become Cat 1s with enough training/motivation? I'm kinda curious how far genetics can take you and just how important it is in determining whether or not you can go pro.

TheSurgeonGod

50-50...give or take.

botto 

samsation7/FranckCisco/etc?

TheSurgeonGod

I don't know what you're talking about. Aliens exist.

urodacus

Genetics is very important. I recommend Genes VIII by Benjamin Lewin: ISBN 9780131439818.
Nice bed time reading. Study hard, you know genetics is a very important subject.

patentcad

No genetics, no Cat 2, no pro, no nothing. Forget about it.

Training can only take you so far boys. The sooner you understand this, the quicker you will lose your frustration with bicycle racing and acheive Pcad Cycling Zen. However for a typical bike weenie this realization only comes after 5+ seasons of banging your head against the USCF wall.

dsb137

Genetics will not determine whether or not you have 'the right stuff', but should guide you as to where to focus your attention/ training. Take for example, Marty Nothstein, at one time he was the fastest man in the world, won gold medals etc. in the track sprints... Arguably, he was never much of a factor in road races even after he lost a bunch of weight... I don't think that just the 'look' of someone is sufficient to categorize them, to me Robbie McEwen doesn't particularly 'look' like a sprinter, but he definately is... There are a number of metrics that can help determine fast twitch/slow twitch muscle ratio's... verticle leap, weight lifting max's etc... Or if you really must know, you can always have a muscle biopsy... This is the genetic fix, you cannot change the number of fast or slow twitch muscle fibers you have. There is a lot of argument as to how much you can shift the way those fibers 'act' through training. So it would seem that you are most predisposed to success in an event that matches your particular natural muscle fiber type ratio...

oboeguy

Genetics are hugely important. OTOH, someone with ridiculous gifts will not be a very good pro without serious training (unless that someone is Jan "Black Forest Cake" Ullrich ). Take me, for example. I figure un upper bound on sustainable power at LT or whatever they call this these days is 300W. This is guesstimating from the fact that I'm probably at around 260-270W when in "good shape", using a rough field test and an online power calculator. Anyhow, it seems safe to say that 300W is a solid upper bound. I also figure a pretty lean weight for me would be 75kg (165lbs -- currently at 185lbs). That's an absolute best-case power-to-weight ratio of 4, which I will probably not ever even attain. Pros are like 6+. Think about that, at the best I could ever hope to reach, I'd be no better than 2/3 as fast as a pro on climbs.

I once saw posted here on BF a chart showing how power-to-weight ratios roughly correspond USCF to racing categories. IIRC, an upper-bound process like the above indicated that the best I could ever do is claw my way up to Cat3 (not that I race...). Does it bother me? Nope. Should it? Nope.

dcbikeguy

ri_us

It's impossible to assign a percentage to how important genetics is because there is so much that we don't understand about genetics. It's also very difficult to test for the impact of nurture, unless you want to put a twin (as a baby) into solitary at San Quentin for about 30 years.

I would encourage you to think carefully about trying other training programs, benchmarking them precisely, and experimenting regularly. There are so many things you can control - why waste time worrying about the stuff you can't?

Duke of Kent

There are professional bike racers from about 5'4" to 6'6"...

BillyD

Genetics is hugely important. Gifted athletes are few and far between -- that's why they're called "gifted", because they're exceptional. No matter how hard you work you'll never be able to achieve what comes so easily (relatively) to them.

But if you have a passion for your sport and are willing to work hard and train hard and eat properly, diligently enough, you can hang in there with those "gifted" boys. This applys to most any sport I can think of.

A few of the "non-gifteds" can give the gifteds a run for their money for a while, but once you're past your non-gifted prime, the gifteds make it look easy and you can't hang with them anymore.

BillyD was quite the overachieving basketball player back in his day. Non-gifted for sure, but I hung with the big boys for a while there. Then after a while, they pull away from you and you have to know when to resign yourself to . . . . memories. (BillyD lowers his head, sniffles, reaches for a tissue . . . . )

Sorry . . . BillyD can't go on . . . .

ZeCanon

see "Taylor Phinney" and take a look at who is parents are... genetics definitely helps.

dcbikeguy

Here ya go son...

patentcad

I nominate this post for BF Delusion of the Month.

kmac27

Looks to me like all of the great cyclists were around 6'1 and about 135- 145. I'm 5'9 I dont think I have a chance ;-(. I also broke both hips, hills are daunting. BTW dont give up put your heart into it.

Duke of Kent

This excludes Merckx, Pantani, Armstrong, Ullrich, Indurain, Lemond, Hinault, and many others. Not to mention any of the Classics specialists.

I'm hoping you're joking.

daytonian

BF entertainment at it's best.

Percist

Nature Vs. Nurture: look into it.

Sure, genetics are important. Training to be a pro racer if you have a genetic defect like down syndrome would be a tad unrealistic. It's also unrealistic if you are on the verge of joining AARP (cough, PCad. . .).

I think its safe to say that Taylor Phinney may have benefited from the knowledge, experience, and support of his parents at least as much as from their physical structure and metabolism.

waterrockets 

Yeah, if you don't have any DNA, you can't even pedal.

If you have at lease some DNA, you can get to Cat 2 on hard work, discipline, paired spokes, and a stiff frame

Beyond Cat 2, you'll need help from mom and dad.

jrobe

"50-50...give or take. "

That is a joke. How about 98 -2 for genetics. Get a Powermeter and look at some of the files from the pros and this becomes obvious.

Garfield Cat

Are you asking for forum members if they're in the medical field or elite athletic field and who can answer your question? Do you only want these 2 groups to answer your question?

Voodoo76

Even if we put a difinitive BF number on it, you still have to ride to find out. You will know pretty quickly if you have cycling in you or not.

Phantoj

So, unless you're a Cat 1 or pro, you can't be "serious"?

TheKillerPenguin

*twitch*