Originally Posted by burnthesheep

We've got guys around here (maybe gals too) that'll take the "hero pull" not to be a hero, but to control the pace. They get on front then ease up anytime there's an uphill. If you ease up on front in the flat or downhill, that won't work. But uphill folks might notice less. Since your draft advantage goes away a lot uphill, they might save more by controlling the front than suffering hanging on as some high w/kg skinny dude rolls over the hill.

I would say do equal rotation on the flats or downhill. If you know a hill is coming up, the bigger boys skip a pull and rest a bit more. Then at the base, bigger boys control pace over the hill. Smaller boys then rest a hair from the extra pulls the bigger boys put them through, bigger boys work a bit up the hill without worry of a drop.

I've started to like rotations better for a workout, I feel about 8 people is perfect. I get bored and almost sleepy sitting in a larger group waiting up to 10min to do a 30 second pull. A rotation actually isn't as efficient, but in a race or workout it forces equal distribution of time. Notice that team time trials they don't rotate constantly, they take pulls based on who the rider is (GC, time triallist, sprinter, etc....).