I knew it!

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/05/ ... ter_220429

_________________
TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

Good one. Loved the response to letter below as well.

Top of the line “lightweight” carbon fiber bike is say 17 pounds? I guess that dude doesn't read WW very much.

that ingeniero miguel made me laugh 30 pound bike vs 17 obvious difference. now a 15 pound bike vs a 13 pound bike starts getting into the diminishing returns territory. the question is: don't engineers study physics as part of their majors?

Most of them study physics for engineers, not physics for physicists. At top echelon schools in the honors courses, there's a difference.

My 8 year old is in second grade. Even he knows that he climbs faster on a lighter bike... all other things being equal.

_________________
TED ESSENFELD
Schoorl, Noord-Holland, Nederland
Bike Pics
English Custom Steel Internal di2
Litespeed Ghisallo

What??? LOL

That article states nothing other than the obvious.

"Weight Drag" seriously?

According to that article "weight drag" goes up with the incline. So on a flat there is no "weight drag." The total so called weight drag is simply the work done against gravity which happens on an incline.

You expect better from a frame builder, who really is expected to be a technical artisan.

A more interesting question is what happens on the flats. We know a lighter bike is advantageous when the road goes up. But what about on the flat? On the flat there is no work done against gravity. So, ideally, there is no difference between a light and a heavy bike on the flat. However acceleration matters and 2nd law of motion exemplifies the linear reciprocal relation between acceleration and mass (weight) for a given input from the rider.
Basically a bike twice as light (10lb vs 20lb) will accelerate twice as fast. A 15lb bike will accelerate only 1.3 times faster compared to a 20lb bike. It's only a LINEAR relation! Sorry to disappoint.

What about acceleration up a hill?

That's a straightforward argument too. You also take the component of the work done against gravity into account. Short of giving a few figures, the benefits of a light bike are well known when the road goes up. But tell me how steep you want to go? Alpe'Huez, Galibier, which sections?
On the flats a case in point had to be established.

Physics for Engineers is generally a "baby" course compared to Physics for Physics/Math majors. Physics for Biology/Pre-Med is even more watered-down than Physics for Engineers. And then Physics for Poets is even more watered down than that. Some schools even have an Astronomy in effect for basket-weavers/video-game players/potheads which is even lower than Physics for Poets.

You reminded me of one of my math classes at school. There was this student in a hard core math class (for math majors) and he was one of the top students in the class. He was a EE major. As I used to say, he's EE* but he's good in math. This of course flies in the face of the popular misconception prevalent among laypeople that engineers are good at math.

* actually I said "he's 6-1, but he's good in math", and those in the know, will know what that means

Not the rider+bike.

Hamm: I guess you don't know there are different kind of engineers. Also, most specialize later on in their profession. If I were you, I would refrain from making blanket statements if you are neither a engineer or a physicist.

You are correct. The rider+bike is what really counts and would make even less of a difference between a light and heavy bike. Not looking too promising with a WW bike is it.

you pompous a-hole - I'll stack my engineering education against anything you have any damned day. Yes, there is a difference. Oh yeah I am from a top-echelon school but I don't rely on that when I pat myself on the back. I use the fact that I have numerous government (US) and commercial aerospace customers who love and are exceptionally happy with my engineering knowledge of physics and related areas.

Yes, and aerodynamics aren't impacted by weight ...