Originally Posted by
catgita
Yep. Newbie rant.
I will mop the road with you, me on my MTB and you on Contador's bike. But my rando bike and MTB both have the same riding position, but the MTB still looses about 2-3mph on the road and will loose in any sprint. That is a real but comparatively small difference.
If I want to win a race against 30 other guys that are within 1% of my fitness, I will take every .01% advantage I can get! I don't think anyone is saying the bike makes no difference, just that the riders strength is by far the biggest factor. You can't make a thoroughbread out of a donkey by buying him a fancy bike (EPO maybe). Don't waste your money on fancy bikes if the old lady on a trike is going to smoke you anyway.
Why is my MTB slower? Knobby tires, wide Q-factor, suspension fork, wider arm position. But it is still a lot of fun to ride, any time, any where!
This post is exactly what my rant is about. People like this who insist on talking about body types and personal fitness when that isn't what the topic is about. My rant isn't about shaping up and doing 200 miles a day, it's about being realistic about what is definitely better for your speed, bike-wise.
A Perfect bike fit, maintaining the same watts over the same course, and you'll be going much faster on a SuperSix than you are on some wal-mart brand bike. Thats the point my post was getting at, that and the simple-minded crap that people like you try to push onto others. Some bikes are just better than others and instead of shying away from this, we should be embracing it. If it's "the engine", than why is it that people on long boards zipp past cyclist on descents without breaking a sweat? Is it possibly because their mode of transportation is faster and more efficient? Or do you want to argue that their superior fitness allows them to produce more power?