Originally Posted by
terrymorse
And easy to measure. Yet it doesn't seem that maximizing efficiency is worth caring much about.
The "goal" of competitive cycling is to cover a course in the least amount of time. I suggest that for most cyclists, it's more important to minimize fatigue than to maximize efficiency. Especially for hill climbing, where leg muscles are heavily stressed, and they don't get a recovery break.
The whole "Pedaling at 60 rpm is more efficient" thing reminds me of high school physics, when you first study friction and someone will argue that car tires don't need to be so wide since the size of the contact is irrelevant.
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