koala logs

Note we're discussing energy, NOT power. Joules vs Watts

And for the sake of simplicity, we'll ignore aero drag, ignore rolling resistance and all other sources of friction on the bike including losses due to cycling technique. Thanks.

I've been thinking lately if climbing slowly isn't doing me any favor in long rides especially when I'm trying to be home before the sun is straight up and before temperatures climbed to 100F.

seypat

I'm not going to pay a toll to cross your bridge. Not gonna do it.

Sy Reene

Play with this calculator. Seems to suggest that higher efforts, despite shortening the time significantly, use overall more kilojoules.
Bike Calculator

koala logs

My browser is denying me access to that link, it said, "unsecure".

How much difference are we talking about. Say, comparing a climbing speed between 6 mph and 12 mph up a 5% gradient?

scottfsmith

If you read your original question the temperature is a major issue, and there is a constant energy spent just to stay cool. Also going faster will in fact make it easier to stay cool, a couple mph of wind on a hill is still better than standing still. So my guess is that in your 100F heat a reasonably fast pace could be better than a slow pace just due to energy for cooling issues.

If the temperature was something non-hot things would be pretty close and probably some experiments would need to be done to see which factor dominates. There is a constant power needed to "run" the body just sitting on the bike, the efficiency of the human energy system at different levels of exertion is surely non-linear, it takes more effort to stay balanced on the bike when going slower, etc etc etc.

koala logs

Looks like there are more items in favor of going faster.

indyfabz

African or European hill?

Daniel4

If you ignore all types of friction and resistance, in ideal conditions, they both use the same amount of energy. It's simply the change in mgh.

dmark 

...carrying coconuts?

pdlamb

Not quite. Climbing faster will result in more aerodynamic drag, so it'll take more energy. Of course, that's down in the near negligible range for most climbers.

Of course, you could make the counter argument that riding slower and sweating a lot will result in lower mass being lifted toward the end. But somebody's gonna have to buy me a beer before I waste any more time on this navel-gazing exercise.

Germany_chris

No, Bratwurst and Brotchen

genejockey 

How long is a piece of string?

Outrider1

Where would he grip them?

Iride01 

Can you keep 14 mph or better going up the hill? If not, you are going to get hotter on a hot day. So you might need to pedal one of the easier gears you have. But if you know you can bust a gut getting to the top without risking heat exhaustion then go for it so you can get some cooling going down the other side.

Your hill might not be my hill.

Razorrock

You haven't mentioned gears. I would think doing the same RPM in your bottom gear or a couple gears up would result in the latter being more efficient. Grinding up in the granny gear has never felt like the best option for me unless I'm just spent and have no other option.

70sSanO

Are we talking about ebikes?

John

tomato coupe

No. To simplify the discussion, we're only considering massless and frictionless bikes ridden in a vacuum by Vestal Virgins.

asgelle

If, for the sake of simplicity, you ignore all speed dependent terms, speed doesn't matter. Happy?

70sSanO

Then the answer is reading this thread takes more energy than it is worth.

John

tomato coupe

You haven't considered the terms that depend on the illusion of speed.

tomato coupe

This thread exists in an intellectual valley, so it doesn't take any energy to descend into it. Unfortunately. it takes a lot of energy to leave the Valley.

himespau 

Pushing harder on the climb and less hard on the flats causes you to expend less energy for a given average speed than pushing the same consistent effort throughout.

70sSanO

Very true.

My doctor has warned me about long BF, especially the General Cycling Discussion variant.

John

terrymorse 

Assume a spherical cyclist in a vacuum.

livedarklions

That's no fun. I'd rather assume a toroidal cyclist in a blender.