Originally Posted by
dugla
I know this has probably been discussed ad nauseam. But I really need an accurate assessment of how much faster a modern carbon bike is then my lovely, old, custom made Fuso steel bike.
Scenerio: I was riding on the flats in a slight cross wind, zone 2-ish. A guy just cruises past me apparently at the same level of effort as me on a - of course - carbon whatever. He just rolls away. Chill. He appears to be roughly my same height and weight. This happens a lot. I don't get it.
Me? I'm fit, I lift (heavy weights) and weigh 81kg (180lb). I ride maybe half a dozen hours a week. One day a week I do VO2 max efforts.
Should I just throw in the towel and go carbon? Thoughts?
1. There will always be faster people than you no matter what they or you are riding.
2. That they are faster has nothing to do with a few lbs weight difference in bike especially on level ground.
3. Their size, weight, appearence is irrelevant info to the speed differences.
4. The benefit of light weight shows up when lifting the bike up stairs or power levels and acceleration that I am guessimg is many levels above what you are presently capable of.
You could buy a $15000 15 lb road bike and get passed by a racer on a 50 yr old 40 lb Schwinn Varsity.
If you truly want to delve into the mystery as to why some people are faster go learn to ride in a group with others and see what it takes to keep up or pass others, A carbon, titanium, bamboo or steel bike won’t give you better technique or power output.
Buy spare wheels, it’s always nice having a spare set of wheels and tires.