dr_max

if you push 500 watts for 5 minutes climbs for 1.6 km you are a strong rider.
if you push 1200 watts for 10 seconds when you sprint at the end of a race you are a strong rider.

if you do not
​​and you have a $10,000 bike to cruise at 120 watts drafting the wheel of others
you do not use the full potential of your bike
thats how people are considered show off with the people I ride.

rubiksoval

Sweet made-up numbers, man.

You really showed everyone what's up!

rubiksoval

500 watts to go 12 mph for five minutes? What kind of wall is that?!

tg16

I do.

dr_max

$13 000 custom paint job bikes used to be for Pro racers only
if you have no idea what you are driving and you are sitting in a Lamborghini Veneno you are either clueless or not driving the proper car for your needs.

for $13 000 you better buy 6 bikes to encourage local kids to start biking alongside buying a confortable Roubaix in Shimano 105 for $4000

genejockey 

Like the signs at Disneyland - "You must be this tall to ride this ride", except it's "You must be this fast to deserve to ride this bike."

burnthesheep

Topics like these don't need to be a race to the bottom.

genejockey 

This is the same attitude I wrote about above, when I was an envious youngster watching gray hairs driving the nice cars. I deserved them, because I was young and could appreciate them, and they were too old to really enjoy them.

Yeah, that's what I used to think when I was a young guy. Then I grew up.

Mind you, you should, perhaps, be more grateful to the 'showoffs' buying the nice bikes that you don't think their abilities merit, because without people who don't "need" the lightest frames, or the highest end kit, everything would still be steel bikes and 8 speeds. Surely you don't think the "strong rider" market is enough to keep the technological innovations coming - ultralight frames, electronic shifting, etc?

dr_max

I started cycling with a steel bike
then I bought a used aluminum bike in Shimano 105
When I started racing I bought a BMC full carbon frame, full Dura-Ace
I was riding 10 000km per year and needed the durability. After 70 000km the shifters started to wear out.
So I bought a Roadmachine 01 in a ultegra since I ride 5000km a year now and don’t race that much to justify e-tap electronic shifters even if I have the money to buy whatever they have in store. Instead I bought a bike for my nephew, my wife’s cousin who had no money to gear up, gave one to my brother in law.
I always enjoy passing guys with $15,000 bikes on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with my $5000 bike. The more expansive gear you have the slower you go these days. Seems like it takes a lot of time to work to get the money to buy these bikes and don’t have that time to train anymore.

tomato coupe

My coach can't do either of those, despite being a recently-retired world tour rider. I can't wait to tell him he's not a strong rider.

Her bike was a gift on the 5th anniversary of completing her chemotherapy. FYI, our charitable contributions exceed most people's income, but your self-righteous indignation is noted.

genejockey 

These guys you're passing - are they enjoying themselves?

Bah Humbug

(I should know better than to step in this, but slow day at work...)

With my FTP of 290 and w/kg of ~3.75, what bike do I “deserve”?

And in the first year I road at Circuit of the Americas, I passed a lot of $5000 (and $15000) bikes on my S1. Name-dropping an F1 track doesn’t win you the argument.

dr_max

I am a strong believer in life that if everyone bought what they needed and not what they wanted, there would not been so much over consumption and we would not been consuming 100% of the yearly ressources of the planet after only 4 months.

You think you grew up when you started liking Porsche’s that you were envying when you were young. But you just entered the capitalistic consumption system where the American dream makes people around your judge you as someone who succeeded by showing them how many possession you have. I don’t even look at the bike someone is riding on Strava or in real life, as long as they enjoy riding outdoors and don’t represent themselves by their belongings, it will be a fun person to ride with.

And I think that what the Pro Riders who need to climb the Zoncolan will have more influence to the bike development than some people who do not know what they need to cruise at 120 watts in double file for week end group rides

tomato coupe

He's a good troll.

You can have 105.

HTupolev

Probably a fairly steep road, but not entirely unheard of.

500W would be just over 7W/kg for a 70kg cyclist, and on a road racing bike, that rider would be looking at 12mph on something like a 10-11% road. Actually sustaining that for 5 minutes would be a seriously elite effort, obviously!

For anyone of a higher weight (and therefore lower W/kg), the gradient that 12mph would occur at would decrease, and the roads that could result in the specified numbers become more commonplace. For example, for a 100kg cyclist, 500W would be 5W/kg, and 12mph would occur on something like a 7-8% road.

Bah Humbug

Phooey - I have R7000 on the R2 but R8000 Di2 on the P2. Where do I report for re-education?

dr_max

You are assuming things I did not say
I stated 2 values that would classify strong riders.
if you do not hold these numbers, you are not a weak rider, I gave examples.

Good for your wife she is in recovery and hope she is doing fine. But passing through chemo doesn’t justify a $13,000 bike. Does it make her happier than a $5,000 confortable bike? What argument are you trying to invoke here? Anyone that go through cancer and does not have a $13,000 after their treatment will have more difficulty going through the unfortunate disease?

thank you for your hospital donation, these are always appreciated.

dr_max

Of course for people like you who can’t agree to disagree everyone who doesn’t say the same thing as you say is a troll.

learn to accept you are not always right.

tomato coupe

The bike department at your nearest Walmart.

rubiksoval

Yeah. It was more a comment on even more made-up, b.s. numbers with zero other context. It's a ridiculous wattage for 99%+ of people regardless, even if you weigh 85 kg.

retiredguru

Replace "bike" with "car" or "automobile", "steel" with "classic" or "antique". It's the same question car owners throw among themselves: antique owners vs. muscle car owners vs. latest hi-tech sports cars, etc., etc. The only wrong answer comes from someone shoving down your throat their contradictory choice as ultimately better than your own. Unless you're racing, ride her like she's your lover. She'll take care of you, no matter what she weighs and feels like.

genejockey 

Interestingly, we're doing that experiment right now, with many, many folks buying only what they need and not over consuming and we have 50 million unemployed in the US alone. "Overconsumption" of goods keeps a lt of mouths fed. There may be a different or better way of doing this, but that's rather beyond the scope of a road cycling forum.

dr_max

no, don’t spend more that what you need to be happy. Not to show to others what you can buy.

rubiksoval

What, like an entourage?

Would the $13,000 get you theme music, too?

rubiksoval

You only ride 5,000 km a year?

You'll never get very good on such low mileage.