Originally Posted by
The Scotsman
Well, this morning on way to work I seen something that convinced me of what everyone here has been saying about the efficiency of a road bike,
I was going up a reasonable incline and one cyclist appeared out of nowhere, he did not look fit, looked a bit out of shape, possibly about another 70 pounds heavier than me, He flew past me as if i was the out of shape one and that we had swapped bikes! It was very impressive, I thought that if he could fly past me on that bike going up a hill, either my cycling of 12 miles a day for 3 years has made no impact on my fitness, or it had to do with the bike.
One person asked about my gears, I have 24, usually on the straight, I can run out, due to the tires being 1.5 inch, on hills I still stay on the larger cog and 1st/2nd gear.
How much more efficient do you think that road bike is? I bet you that guy wouldn't slow down by more than 2mph if he swapped bikes with you, unless you were battling a 20mph+ headwind as well as the incline.
Cycling 12 miles a day is very healthy. This kind of exercise reduces many health risks by a ton. But unless you push yourself on every ride, it doesn't make you that much stronger. It's like going to the gym five days a week but never increasing the weight; you'll hit a plateau very quickly and stop getting stronger. That guy who flew past you may be a fat bastard but he has more muscle for sure.