Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
so honestly, I didn’t read all that, but I think I got the gist, and I think you’re missing surface to volume ratio, and absolute power.
When the primary impediment is gravity, w/kg are absolutely key. When wind is the primary impediment, w/ to surface volume is the currency.
as you get bigger, heavier you’re volume, weight increases more than your surface area. Also, ceterus peribus, larger people,produce more watts than smaller people. This explains why a comparatively larger rider like Fabio Cancellera could absolutely dominate tt’s and flatter classics, but never climb well enough to compete in the TDF for GC.
and also explain why I can’t begin to climb with many people,in this forum, but have won two state TT championships,and a podium finish at Nationals.
put another way, my w/kg would suggest I couldn’t win a Cat 4 race, but my w/ surface area has served me well in flatter races, and and gives me a big advantage against little guys into cross/ head winds.
You really need to read all my posts here to see where I'm coming from since you failed to get the gist - we aren't disagreeing in the general sense but I am saying that it isn't a rule and I did take into account surface area which is why I mentioned how sprinting changes things. But, yeah, skim reading and making assumptions isn't worth a debate if that's what you are going to do.
Remco is much smaller than you but would leave you for dead in a TT. He isn't alone, you get some fantastic small riders on the flat. Some really big riders can beat the climbers. It just isn't true that larger guys will always beat smaller guys on the flat. Nope.
