Originally Posted by
calimtb
With sufficient training, they'd do a lot better in a crit, stage race or triathlon than a pro cyclist would at pro basketball or football.
Give Lebron James enough hours of training and he could generate enormous power and speed on a bicycle.
Put Lance Armstrong in an NBA uniform and he would never ever score in an NBA game.
Take a look at the Jon Jones video I posted. 6'4" and considered P4P the best MMA fighter in the world. He tried dunking a basketball and wound up hitting the bottom of the rim with the ball, it caromed back hit him in the head, and he nearly fell on his ass.
Put an NBA athlete on a bike first time and they will generate enormous power and speed. There are many nba players who are around 63" (miguel indurain height) and I am quite certain they could go very fast on a bicycle.
Pro cyclists have a very specific, niche skill which doesn't translate into other forms of athletic competition. However, NBA and NFL players have a very broad athletic skill set that transfers to a wide variety of athletic activities and sports.
Pro football, basketball and baseball players are capable of hitting high speeds on a bicycle. Eddy Merckx can't do a 360 degree dunk or jump over a 7 foot player to dunk.
There's a reason why a domestique may make $200K per year whereas a scrub reserve like Tristan Thompson can command over $18 million a year. Lebron James and Durant will likely make $30+ million a year. Audiences and sponsors pay a premium to watch the very best athletes. And pro cyclists don't fit that bill.
Perhaps, perhaps not. You are basing your whole argument on an assumption. Power to weight really matters.
This is what it all boils down to. This and, the inability of fast twitch muscles to endure long sustained loads. Coming out of high school 32 years ago, I had most of the physical attributes you speak of. 40+ vertical, 4.6 40, 100 in the low 11s, 260lb on the bench, standing heart rate in the low 40s and at 5'8"-9ish could dunk almost any way you wanted. But short point guards are a dime a dozen and with Magic doing his thing extra tall point guards were in vogue. That is a story for another thread. I sucked on a bike then and I suck on it now. Same for most any type of endurance sports. Now at 50 that is all that is left. Here is specifically why the elite athletes you speak of would not do well as road racers.
1) Too heavy with no hope of getting light despite getting more lean. Even the lightest NBA guards such as Steve Blake or Eric Maynor are around 175lbs. That is too much to overcome. In my case, I left high school at 168lbs. The college level training programs are so much better. I got more lean, but still got heavier and played around 175lb at 5'8". Those heavy explosive muscles are useless in endurance sports. I am 15lbs heavier now, but still wear the same size clothes except pants are one size bigger. With those muscles, I could/can push a big gear on the flats. But any time the road turns upward, I am scrambling for gears and the riding buddies are gone over the horizon. You cannot overcome the extra weight and gravity.
2) The muscles can't take the long sustained loads with no recovery and repeated efforts. The NBA guys and Bolt probably can generate enormous power and speed on a bike.........for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then they have to lower the rpms and take it easy for a short rest before hitting it hard again. If you could have intervals in bike racing they would be successful. But there isn't. Ask them to put out efforts over 100rpm for 15-20 minutes and their motors will overheat and blow. It's called cramps. Their engines are like big block drag motors. Unbelievable and instant power, but only for short periods of time. You need a high revving all day motor for road racing.