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Old 06-11-18 | 01:18 PM
  #155  
HTupolev
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Joined: Apr 2015
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From: Seattle
Originally Posted by noglider
Still, I may be wrong, but I believe it's easier to maintain a faster pace when the bike is light. Am I right or wrong?
If we're talking about steady-paced riding on flat ground, basically wrong. There are technically some subtle physics differences, but nothing that's measurably impactful.

Originally Posted by noglider
Hang on. How can more weight help going downhill? I don't get it.
Gravity pulls harder on heavy objects than light objects.

When you go downward through Earth's gravity, you receive power from that gravity. If your bike+rider system is heavier and gravity is pulling harder on it, then you get more power. So you go faster, just like you would if you added power by pedaling harder. (Assuming that whatever you did to add weight didn't increase other drag forces).

The benefits of extra weight on the descent generally don't make up for the penalty of that weight on the climb, though.

Originally Posted by noglider
On the other hand, changing to heavier tires should not make me descend any faster.
It could, if those heavier tires did not increase the rolling resistance.

All other things being equal, a wheel that's heavier at the rim will be accelerated slower by gravity downhill (due to the mass being rotating), but have higher terminal velocity (just like all added mass).

Originally Posted by DrIsotope
Hands on the hoods with forearms parallel with the ground is fast-- but I feel the fatigue from it in a matter of minutes.
How those kinds of positions feel varies a lot by the particular handlebar arrangement. Especially when you get into the phantom-aerobar-esque realm of gripping the hoods from the inside.
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