rebel1916

Only with the ladies...

valygrl

Yes, perfect.

I'm short (5'2"), I don't feel like it's a disadvantage on the road. Sometimes its a disadvantage shopping, because some frames I'm interested in don't come in my size. There's enough choice, though. Other people may feel it's a disadvantage to THEM, since my draft is rather small.

Silvercivic27

People with shorter legs have a mechanical disadvantage compared to people with longer legs. This may or may not correlate with overall height, as some people have short torso with long legs, etc.

Bug Shield

While the longer cranks have more leverage on the chainrings it comes at the expense of pedaling larger circles (slower rpm) and yields no advantage that I am aware of. I'd argue that, on a geared bike, it's a wash.

I think if there were a related advantage there it would related to a rev-limiter in the brain.

Jiggle

Gingers definitely have an advantage. Their lack of a soul gives them a high power to weight ratio; this is why Jan Ulrich could climb so well despite being a tall guy.

surgeonstone

Yes

rekon

ROFL!

rekon

Assuming the bike fits....How does a shorter leg give you a mechanical disadvantage?

coasting 

i wish i were tall. I'm relieved i am not short.

Nachoman

i wish i were skinny. I'm relieved i am not fat.

coasting 

you've even got the chaotic caPItalisation Right. nice Touch.

Long Tom

They just need to spin their wee little legs and their wee little bikes with the type of height-envy-driven gusto that the "little people" are known for, and they'll be fine.

Team Sarcasm

gc3.....He must be new to the internet

Team Sarcasm

Less leverage for your muscles, smaller muscles to do the same work, and a smaller pedal stroke.

gc3

I figured he was just a "shorter gentleman" and didn't want to add insult to injury...

Dunbar

Cycling being an aerobic sport I don't believe this is true unless we're talking about the extremes. What I read on ST is that the aerobic system tends to scale with height. So bigger/taller riders have larger motors without a corresponding increase in frontal area (drag.) Obviously it depends on *what* sort of riding we're talking about. For climbing it's all about watts/kilogram.

popeye

Poxpower posted thus:

"You can see a list of all the Tour de France winners here and if you click on their links they give you their height / weight:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...France_winners

Lance Armstrong was/is 5'9.5 and 165 pounds, which gives him a ratio of 2.37
Cadel Evans: 5'9, 150 , 2.17
Alberto Contador: 5'9.5, 140, 2
Carlos Sastre: 5'8, 130, 1,9
Oscar Pereiro: 5'10, 150, 2.14
Marco Pantani: 5'8, 130, 1,9"

My recollection from many years ago 5'9" @ 143 lbs was the over all average but then
my memory never was any good.

rangerdavid

if you're short, just grow a beard. you'll be fine.

contango 

I find the same, but then when the road turns upwards the short guys who weigh half what I do disappear and I never see them again.

hamster

Fat-free weight scales roughly as height squared. VO2max scales slower than that, and CdA scales slower than VO2max.

So, short and skinny guys have advantage in climbing and tall guys have advantage on flats.

Minimum bike weight partially compensates for the advantage that short guys have in climbing, but does not cancel it completely.

An event like TdF is going to have a mix of stages, some more advantageous to short riders, others more advantageous to tall riders. Overall it ends up pretty balanced.

If you look at an event that is not so balanced, you'll see the height distribution skewed to one end. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, 5 out 6 medalists in men's individual time trial were taller than 6'.

It's not a huge advantage at either end, so a short guy with a peculiar body shape can still win time trials, and a tall guy can be good at climbing. All else equal, if you compare an average skinny 5'5" guy with an average equally skinny 6'3" guy, both riding 15 lb bikes, the short guy will be 7% faster uphill and the tall guy will be 3% faster in a flat time trial.

RChung

How do you measure "equally" skinny?

hamster

Equal BMI and equal body fat percentage. So, let's say, 5'5" / 132 lbs and 6'3" / 175 lbs.

Essex

The school playground is not the best test area to dust short riders. Just sayin' yo.

RChung

Jiggle

Bikes with 700c wheels look silly in sizes that fit people 6'4" and above. This is why tall people are discouraged from cycling.