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Bike on a treadmill...

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Old 09-26-13, 08:58 AM
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Bike on a treadmill...

Since the budding physics majors have exhausted themselves in the 400W thread, here's another question:

How much power does it take to pedal on an inclined treadmill?

a) depends on speed of treadmill and bearing and frictional losses only so same power as flat treadmill.
b) equivalent to riding outdoors on the same incline.
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Old 09-26-13, 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
How much power does it take to pedal on an inclined treadmill?
Easy ....... 327.683 watts (I don't have to show my work, do I ?)
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Old 09-26-13, 09:56 AM
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Neither A nor B. A ignores the fact that you're functionally fighting against gravity and B ignores the fact that there is no wind resistance.

I say the best thing is for you to test this and video it.
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Old 09-26-13, 10:00 AM
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DRQwKREgvI
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Old 09-26-13, 10:01 AM
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YouTube, Too

Originally Posted by therhodeo
I say the best thing is for you to test this and video it.
The resulting video has the potential to be widely popular.
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Old 09-26-13, 10:05 AM
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i forsee a hilariously painful viral video in the near future
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Old 09-26-13, 11:53 AM
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B. (same incline at same speed). You essentially are doing work against the belt and putting power into the treadmill. The treadmill's motor will have to work less hard to power the belt or may even need to provide braking so that the belt doesn't speed up.
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Old 09-26-13, 12:38 PM
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What color is the bike?
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Old 09-26-13, 01:11 PM
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Are you wearing an aero helmet and lycra clothing ?
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Old 09-26-13, 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Looigi
B. (same incline at same speed). You essentially are doing work against the belt and putting power into the treadmill. The treadmill's motor will have to work less hard to power the belt or may even need to provide braking so that the belt doesn't speed up.

Lack of forward motion means lack of wind resistance. They're not the same at all.
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Old 09-26-13, 01:19 PM
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(a)
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Old 09-26-13, 01:22 PM
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Interesting question. I don't think it will be equivalent to riding up the same grade. The sine of the angle times your body weight is going to be the force pulling you down the incline. So as you ride you need to counteract that force to stay stationary. The speed your wheels are spinning shouldn't affect this much.
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Old 09-26-13, 01:26 PM
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Divide everything by four.
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Old 09-26-13, 01:35 PM
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1.21 gigawatts.
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Old 09-26-13, 01:55 PM
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
1.21 gigawatts.
I HIGHLY doubt most people have a flex inpacitor!
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Old 09-26-13, 02:00 PM
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Originally Posted by bradlyaolson
I HIGHLY doubt most people have a flex inpacitor!
Hello! McFly! It's the flux capacitor.
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Old 09-26-13, 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
Hello! McFly! It's the flux capacitor.
Why don't you make like a tree, and get out of here...
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Old 09-26-13, 02:16 PM
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I had always wondered what it would be like to ride on a treadmill. After seeing this video a couple years back, I never thought about it again. Does anyone really ride on a running treadmill?

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Old 09-26-13, 02:24 PM
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haha!
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Old 09-26-13, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Jiggle
Interesting question. I don't think it will be equivalent to riding up the same grade. The sine of the angle times your body weight is going to be the force pulling you down the incline. So as you ride you need to counteract that force to stay stationary. The speed your wheels are spinning shouldn't affect this much.
But power = force x velocity so if the treadmill goes faster you will need to pedal faster (with more power) to stay stationary.
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Old 09-26-13, 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
Since the budding physics majors have exhausted themselves in the 400W thread
Nah, it was the BB stiffness thread that really did it.
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Old 09-26-13, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
Since the budding physics majors have exhausted themselves in the 400W thread, here's another question:

How much power does it take to pedal on an inclined treadmill?

a) depends on speed of treadmill and bearing and frictional losses only so same power as flat treadmill.
b) equivalent to riding outdoors on the same incline.
Neither. You have to have to lift your weight relative to the treadmill's moving surface and overcome friction as you do outdoors but only have aerodynamic drag from the spinning wheels and not moving through their which is less than outdoors because the top of the tires is moving at the treadmill speed not double the road speed.
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Old 09-26-13, 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Drew Eckhardt
Neither. You have to have to lift your weight relative to the treadmill's moving surface and overcome friction as you do outdoors but only have aerodynamic drag from the spinning wheels and not moving through their which is less than outdoors because the top of the tires is moving at the treadmill speed not double the road speed.
I didn't really understand your response about lifting your weight but it sounds like b) minus aero drag? The steeper the incline the smaller the aero effects.

You could, of course duplicate the aero effects if you were riding in a wind tunnel or had a big enough fan
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Old 09-26-13, 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
I didn't really understand your response about lifting your weight but it sounds like b) minus aero drag? The steeper the incline the smaller the aero effects.

You could, of course duplicate the aero effects if you were riding in a wind tunnel or had a big enough fan
plus the treadmill is a smooth surface, you are missing the math for rolling resistance on asphalt. best to implement rough surface such as the famous Surley Log Rollers...

log rollers

Last edited by MikeyBoyAz; 09-26-13 at 05:21 PM.
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Old 09-26-13, 06:33 PM
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I want to see what your GPS says.....
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