Originally Posted by
McBTC
Probably all true. If you are not 5' 8" and weigh 126 lb -- and, riding a bike is not your job -- what do elite caliber cyclists have to do with it? To think it matters what TdF riders do would be like learning to drive by copying Dale Earnhardt. I look at SUPs as a good example: you can YouTube 10 different paddling styles and the "teachers" range from amateur to pro and some were considered stellar performers 5 years ago while the next is choking up on the paddle and finishing 3rd in this year's Molokai.
Weeelll . . . . some of it's just about getting up the road. If one couldn't care less about getting up the road, then it wouldn't seem to matter what other cyclists do, would it? However that's not even true. Comfort matters. Being able to stay in the saddle long enough to get somewhere matters. So one doesn't want to start by inventing the wheel and then figuring out how to make it roll more smoothly, etc. Much quicker to start off with the known known. And part of the known known is how to get up the road in comfort. We can't copy some elites because they're stronger, younger, or more flexible than we are. But for the most part, what works best for them will also work best for us, comfort and speed.
At 71, I ride the same frame that Lance won the TdF on in '99, and with pretty much the same setup, though frame size etc. is dialed down to my height. Why? Because it's superbly comfortable for at least 16 saddle hours and at the same time, fast. It's the most comfortable bike I've ever ridden, which is one reason I've never upgraded. I plan to keep riding it until I can't balance anymore.