People don't always appreciate all the different energy storage "systems" on a bike
1. The whole bike plus rider has considerable mass and therefore inertia when moving forward - more weight equals more inertia and should roll farther
2. The front and rear wheels generally operate together and gather rotational inertia as they are spun up. More weight and faster revs here mean the bike will glide farther due to the stored energy. The wheels act as flywheels. More mass near the rims especially means more rotational inertia. Also some unrelated gyroscopic effects as the wheels are spun up.
3. The riders legs, pedals, and cranks operate together, also with rotational inertia when they are moving. Legs are heavy.
4. The chain and gears - minor, but still a store of energy when moving
5. The rider's body itself has obviously several complex biological energy storage systems.
6. Obviously, elevation is stored energy as well. You can trade speed for elevation and vice versa.
Performance on a bike is related to all of these energy storage systems gaining and losing energy at the same time.
Last edited by ScottCommutes; 02-15-24 at 04:42 PM.
Reason: typos