Originally Posted by
bamboobike4
That does not appear logically deducible from the words above.
A stretch from ... eventually get a real racing bike" to "so I don't have to look at your seat clamp any more."
Appears there is an underlying assumption that is not based on the actual words used, while the actual words may not interpret as intended. Anyway.... A rider's body is a collection of levers and pivot points, and a power supply.
The leverages brought to bear are affected by the length of the levers.
A bicycle has 3 contact points, correlating to a rider's body: pedal, saddle, bars.
Those 3 contact points directly affect the leverage that can be brought to bear.
Toss in aerodynamics above a certain threshold, and we're always looking for the best trade-off.
We adjust them all, and often still don't get it right. Maybe almost always not.
The trick is to find the most efficient setup possible, regardless of comfort level, for pure speed.
The trick is to find the most comfortable setup possible, regardless of speed, for endurance advantages.
The trick is to find the most comfortable possible, combining both.
The tricks go on and on. As many as there are riders, on different bikes, for different reasons.
It's all riding a bicycle. Everyone has their own trick to perform.
There is, basically, large numbers of riders, and a smaller possibility of geometric combinations.
(Relatively speaking).As the competitive level increases, the rider "pool" gets more similar.
We watch that smallest pool and wonder how we can change to get closer.Or we don't.Pretty cool stuff.
That was a stab at the of the discussion with a nice mix of competence and style, thank-you.
A few other variables I have thought of are rider weight and bicycle maintenance and setup.
A rider of greater weight could put more power to the pedal of a bicycle than a lighter rider provided they both have enough leg strength to lift themselves off the seat by pushing down on the pedal with one leg, the heavier rider will be able to push down harder without lifting himself up off the seat instead of pushing the pedal down. Once a rider is strong enough to lift themselves off the seat while pedaling they might go faster by wearing a weight pack on their back, which would give the same advantage a recumbent rider has of pushing against their seat-back giving them "unlimited" weight !!!
Weight is only a disadvantage in acceleration or climbing hills, but in holding speed against air-resistance on a flat grade or downhill it would be an advantage, such as in track-racing or a short time-trial on a flat course. If a 50 pound child had the leg-strength of a 200 pound man, they would never be able to go as fast because they could only put about one-quarter the pressure on the pedal down-stroke of a conventional "safety" type bicycle.
On bike maintenance, a great mechanic can have a great advantage over the competition in having the mechanical parts of their bike working to their potential. There are a lot of bicycle riders with zero mechanical ability or understanding, so although they may buy a high-end bicycle, their having to have someone else maintain it will always put them at a disadvantage over those riders who are mechanics and engineers. The layman's bike may not only be mechanically neglected, it may have things done to it that hurt it's efficiency.
Age. In the book Bicycling Science by Frank Rowland Whitt, Breathing performance is cut in half between the ages of 40 and 80 in a healthy adult who exercises. So as you age you are going to get slower and slower so eventually no matter how hard you train you will have trouble keeping up with even casual weekend riders under the age of 60.