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Old 07-20-22, 09:08 PM
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mschwett 
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a very heavy bike vs. a very light bike

i've now done a particular segment exactly 50 times in the last 9 months or so. 6.85 miles, 917 feet of elevation gain. it's almost a complete loop, with an upwind section that's half uphill, half downhill, and then a downwind section that's mostly gradually uphill.

half of them with a 29lb electric road bike with the motor turned off completely. the other half with a 14.5lb road bike. no motor, obviously. except in the derailleurs

the gearing is similar at the low end (42:42 on one, 36:34 on the other) but a little better on the high end for the lighter bike: 42:10 (4.2) vs 52:11 (4.73).

they currently have very similar tires - GP5000TL 32mm vs GP5000S TR 30mm, although prior to that the new bike had 26mm turbo cottons with tubes. no measurable speed difference there. similar but not identical geometry, same rider, same weight, same clothes, same shoes, same pedals, same saddle, same cockpit.

average heart rate for the first batch of rides on the old bike, 112. for the rides on the new bike, 114. the average moving time on the heavy bike is/was 31 minutes and 35 seconds. the light bike, 29 minutes even. in the end, the time doesn't matter for recreational riding, but the non-electric super-light bike really is WAY more fun/satisfying to ride. this is a pretty extreme case, carrying around 14lb of extra bike for no reason, but i thought the data was interesting. that one super fast ride on the old bike was a rare day when the wind was blowing from the north rather than the usual west, southwest, or northwest, pretty clearly illustrating how the wind (in an extreme case) can make a bigger difference than a hugely heavier bike, even on a hilly route!


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