You've been spending to much time in the 41, and that thread is exactly what some people there need (I wouldnt dare post it there as it will just digress into a thread about **** or obama likely)
So to your point a newbie rider should be worried about protein amounts, exact intervals durations, cassette choices for racing, and their body weight down to the gram? Thats the 80% that gets you the 20%. People new to the sport dont need ALL the help they can get, as most of the help can't be given to them yet. Would you teach someone who doesn't even know pack riding skills race tactics? Why not, they need all the help right! No, you ignore the plethora of fine details (80%) and teach them the core skills first (20%).
I think you are just reading it wrong, its not 'ignore 4/5ths of what everyone tells you', its dont sweat the details. If the person is to dumb to realize what core common sense advice is and what is minutia detail, I guess thats what cycling coaches were invented for
Originally Posted by
Racer Ex
People new to the sport need all the help they can get, not a platitude. Racing, like it or not, is a 100% sport. Not 80%, though too many people treat it as such.
People end up in hospitals (a lot) and even dead doing this.
The 80/20 "rule" is laughable because it assumes people have some brain implant that makes the "basics" already hardwired. Quick...what's eating right? Or riding hard? I mean every one will agree what those things are, right? Go over to the 41 and see how many different answers you get, and how much of it is completely stupid.