Originally Posted by
bergerkjh
Greetings,
I have a simple question that may get answered in complicated way, or in basic terms. Any help would be appreciated
Im a fixed gear rider in nyc, rides are for fitness and fun ranging from 10-30 miles. Bridges and some parts of Central Park are the extent of my hills and occasionally defeat me. I’m 6 foot 215 and fit, not super cycling fit. I ride a 48x19 gear ratio and some point would like to get a 17 so I’m not spinning like a lunatic at 30mph, but yes I realize I’ll be walking the bike up more bridges when I’m tired.
Heres the big question though. How much effect would it be if I was able to drop 10lbs of my body and get to 205 assuming I maintain relatively same overall fitness level. There must be a calculator out there in terms of watts/speed and weight maybe even with gear ratios and I just can’t find it. If folks are trying to lose grams of their bike I imagine dropping 10lbs has to be significant right?
Unfortunately,
only when you are climbing. I'm not saying you shouldn't lose the 10 lbs, but on a flat course the difference-- less than 5% of your body weight-- will probably not be very noticeable. You would probably notice a much larger benefit if you rode consistently, say, 15-20 miles every other day for a month or so. Fitness takes time to build, but diminishes much more quickly. Riding once every 5-7 days, for example, you probably will find that fitness improves slowly, and the longer the gap between rides, the slower it will be. But even if you ride with sufficient frequency to force your body to adapt, it has been wisely observed that "it never gets easier, you just go faster."