on 8/4/10 9:57 PM, Anne Paulson at anne.paul...@gmail.com wrote: > On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 9:44 PM, doug peterson <dougpn...@cox.net> wrote: >> Anne presents a concise thought exercise, pertinent to the original >> post. While I agree that subtle differences in weight can make >> significant differences in speed and/or time, I'll gladly haul the >> cookies. >> > > Of course, I omitted the other side of the story. I'm the one in my > group who rides a Rivendell and carries cookies in a saddlebag. The > others ride carbon fiber bikes, no saddlebags, no triple cranksets, > and they barely carry anything. Yet I still climb faster than some of > them-- because my bike is so comfortable, cookies on bike rides so > delicious, and low gears so great, that I ride all the time. Better to > have five pounds less on me and five pounds more on a great bike.
Anne wins. Cookies are good. Also, I've found from personal experience that if you bring baked goods on long rides, people will happily wait for you at the top of hills. Maybe not every hill, but enough that you don't have to worry about being picked off by predatory animals when you are out back of beyond. And, if folks do want to see the effects of weight on climbing, there are tools at Analytic Cycling that allow you to do that with great specificity. http://analyticcycling.com It comes up in a few of the analysis articles in Bicycle Quarterly. I'll also add to Anne's scenario - When you crest out 60 seconds behind yourself, and the other you is riding a skinny-tired bike downhill at speed over even slightly degraded pavement, the you riding the phenomenally stable, large-tire allowing Rivendell design will pretty easily catch up to the now-very-nervous-and-vibrating you, and, while toasting them with the cookie, easily zip through the next chicane and disappear from sight. But, you are also nice enough to ease up on the pedals when you hit the level ground, so that the other you can catch up. Palabra. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com "Nigel did some work for some of the other riders at Allied, onces who still rode metal. He hadn't liked it when Chevette had gone for a paper frame." -- William Gibson, "Virtual Light" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
