Originally Posted by
Trakhak
Exactly. All assertions that increases in bike weight will result in a harder workout ignore the role that gearing plays in riding a bike. Of the two geared bikes I rode most for the past season, one was an 18-pound 20-speed road bike (with an aero bar, so closer to 20 pounds), and the other was a flat-bar hybrid that, with aero bar, fenders, front rack, and panniers, weighs close to 40 pounds.
I used both for my usual training rides, which were usually between 3 and 4 hours in length. Power and heart rate numbers on the same terrain were very close, as would be expected for an experienced cyclist setting out to do a given workout level. The only difference was that I covered more ground for the same riding time with the lighter bike.
Perhaps it is my limited communication abilities that are failing me when I made a remark about a heavier bike and/or introducing more friction in the system to force the experienced rider to push himself beyond his existing limit - I assumed that it should be obvious to anyone that in any such an "experiment" a person would fully understand that he can cannot change two variables simultaneously where one negates the effect of the other. In this scenario - heavier bike, using lower gear, reducing the distance and achieving the same output - why would anyone even remotely expect a different outcome!
The point of weight/friction was to introduce extra effort for some highly experienced and well-trained individual who can already literally fly (by mere mortals standards) on the road reaching peak of their physical ability to turn the crank. For such individuals, there are only two solutions, change the front ring to the largest they can find and go even faster, or introduce weight and friction in this picture...
all else remains constant! [Without getting into boring fake bicycles that go no where.
]
All else being constant, the weight/friction mode will allow for training beyond what was possible without the potential dangers of very high speed accidents, should they ever happen. [I do realize that some expert will pipe up essentially claiming that they are too much an expert to have accidents and they have never had any; well, even if they haven't thus far, doesn't mean that they will never have it in future].... and this is when the basic Physics comes into play, road, man in latex going at 30+ miles/hr versus another on a cheapie going at 12MPH - both go splat for some magical reason, who is more likely to need less or no help?
I also know that we get used to our light and nice bikes that cost thousands - and it would seem absurd to an owner of multiple such bikes to even entertain the idea to ride a cheapie to build endurance. As solution to take care of this stigma, perhaps someone should design a concoction for them that can be packed into their wheel hubs around axels that will resist axel rotation, proportionate to the speed of rotation (analogous to a colloidal suspension). Different versions could be made for varying resistance. Heat could be easily dissipated by aluminum fins on the body of the hub.
This is all doable... all we need is a nice name and marketing gimmick supported by "science a la de jour" so the expert riders would be willing to pay $500 per hub and then they would be much happier being seen with such bikes... going only 12-15 miles/hr. At least they as others around them will be safer.
Just a thought!