Aero bikes and the Pro peloton...

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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

tommasini wrote:
Sat Dec 01, 2018 3:19 pm
LOL - thanks for the link

.........Well done satire by GCN.

Matt no longer works for GCN, but he has independent contracts with Sigma Sport and Zwift.

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Lelandjt
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by Lelandjt

diegogarcia wrote:
Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:38 am
Also despite us all knowing someone who cites an aero bike as being a 'really good' or 'good' climbing bike, once you have ridden uphill on Tarmac, Emonda, R5 and co you realise how poor aero bikes are going up ^. Like dragging a led weight at the back wheel....
Is this with heavier aero bikes vs lighter climbing bikes or if all the bikes are at 6.8kg? My current bike is a 6.6kg aero bike and I think it climbs great, but I've never had anything lighter.
I'll never understand why WT teams would ever ride a bike over the weight limit (except when the sponsor mandates discs). Even with sponsor obligations they should be able to get any aero bike to the limit with some $$.
Last edited by Lelandjt on Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Lelandjt
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by Lelandjt

wheelsONfire wrote:
Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:03 am
To me it seems ride feel has been less relevant for those really hot on aero bikes?

I would never consider an aero bike if i couldn't ride really low and stretched out.
These both make sense. I struggle to feel the difference in "compliance" between different frames. It's a factor I don't consider at all when selecting one.
I like to be really low and stretched out.
I've ridden aero frames since 2006.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

My fastest times up the local benchmark climbs were set on a steel Ritchey Swiss Cross with 60mm deep wheels. I now ride an Emonda with 32mm deep wheels. Perhaps because I am mostly a seated climber spinning at 90rpm, “agility” and being able to toss the bike to and fro more easily out of the saddle don’t matter much.

diegogarcia
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by diegogarcia

Lelandjt wrote:
Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:20 pm
diegogarcia wrote:
Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:38 am
Also despite us all knowing someone who cites an aero bike as being a 'really good' or 'good' climbing bike, once you have ridden uphill on Tarmac, Emonda, R5 and co you realise how poor aero bikes are going up ^. Like dragging a led weight at the back wheel....
Is this with heavier aero bikes vs lighter climbing bikes or if all the bikes are at 6.8kg? My current bike is a 6.6kg aero bike and I think it climbs great, but I've never had anything lighter.
Never weighed a bike in my life. Talking about how bikes feel going up. Spritely, alive, zingy, springy. Tarmac and Emonda love big ring climbing. :thumbup:

Hexsense
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by Hexsense

jih wrote:
Sat Dec 01, 2018 12:42 pm
Hexsense wrote:
Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:00 pm
Maybe it make difference when are close to your limit.
But crusing with the group, Doing 60% FTP or 59% FTP, it's still an advantage, yes. But doesn't feel much difference nor really keep you noticeably fresher.
It's not as decisive as when you want to split from the group by accelerating hard or climb hard.
By this logic, pro bikes woudln't be set up to save small amounts of aero drag by getting the handlebars 10mm lower. Or, pro riders wouldn't wear aero helmets, skinsuits etc. Skinsuits were frowned upon for stage races until they weren't. I suspect aero frames now are where skinsuits were 10 years ago.
Skinsuite have no down side to performance, aside from slight discomfort.
Narrower handle bar, despite common believe, do not (but lower handle bar do) close down or restrict your Thoracic diaphragm which function to move air in and out your lung. So breathing is not really effected either.

Going for aero frame usually pays in some or all combination of extra weight, less comfort or less stiff frameset. If it is less stiff or weight more it make disadvantage in climbing, which is when you need the most advantage as the group split up (in grand tour that contain mostly climbing stages).
If going aero is free or very minimal penalty then sure, why not? All advantage are good. Which is already the case on many of 2019 model aero road bike. The same can not be said on many aero road bike of prior years that we saw pro use on flatter stages.

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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

I must say I want to see a guy riding 32cm bars try to navigate a dusty or muddy corner in P-R. Or take a loose gravel corner in Strade Bianche.

Yes, there most certainly IS a cost to be paid with very narrow bars.


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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:32 pm
My fastest times up the local benchmark climbs were set on a steel Ritchey Swiss Cross with 60mm deep wheels. I now ride an Emonda with 32mm deep wheels. Perhaps because I am mostly a seated climber spinning at 90rpm, “agility” and being able to toss the bike to and fro more easily out of the saddle don’t matter much.
I'm still trying to beat my time up a local hill that I did with Enve 6.7... tried with a 12.5lb bike on 2.2 tubs and could not do it. Getting old suks
2024 BMC TeamMachine R Building
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2023 Pivot E-Vault - completed project, full Xplr package

morganb
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by morganb

LeDuke wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm
I must say I want to see a guy riding 32cm bars try to navigate a dusty or muddy corner in P-R. Or take a loose gravel corner in Strade Bianche.

Yes, there most certainly IS a cost to be paid with very narrow bars.


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van Schip rode a full classics campaign on 32cm bars with no issues this year. No P-R but he was at the head of the race in the others.

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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

morganb wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm
I must say I want to see a guy riding 32cm bars try to navigate a dusty or muddy corner in P-R. Or take a loose gravel corner in Strade Bianche.

Yes, there most certainly IS a cost to be paid with very narrow bars.


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van Schip rode a full classics campaign on 32cm bars with no issues this year. No P-R but he was at the head of the race in the others.
So, again, please tell me how he did on corners he took at race pace, on mud or dust covered cobbles. Or gravel covered corners. Or any race with a real descent in it.

Believe it or not, but leverage matters. There’s a reason no one in WC XCO uses 560mm bars anymore, and there’s a reason the technically skilled riders like Sagan and Nibali ride 42cm bars.






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morganb
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by morganb

LeDuke wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:44 pm
morganb wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm
I must say I want to see a guy riding 32cm bars try to navigate a dusty or muddy corner in P-R. Or take a loose gravel corner in Strade Bianche.

Yes, there most certainly IS a cost to be paid with very narrow bars.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
van Schip rode a full classics campaign on 32cm bars with no issues this year. No P-R but he was at the head of the race in the others.
So, again, please tell me how he did on corners he took at race pace, on mud or dust covered cobbles. Or gravel covered corners. Or any race with a real descent in it.


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He did great. Just because his team didn't do P-R doesn't mean he didn't ride a full season of cobbles. He was fine cornering and riding in the bunch.


IchDien
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by IchDien

LeDuke wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm
I must say I want to see a guy riding 32cm bars try to navigate a dusty or muddy corner in P-R. Or take a loose gravel corner in Strade Bianche.
Image

Jan-Willem van Schip stands 194cm / 6ft 4in, but his bars measure 32cm

Van Schip and his Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij squad were racing Wednesday at Scheldeprijs, the Belgian midweek sprinter’s race falling between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

edit: just saw someone else posted this, too.

blaugrana
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by blaugrana

And plenty of guys ride the cobbles on the tops of the bars, which puts the hands closer together than those 32 cm (in most cases).

AJS914
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by AJS914

Those 32cm bars are 38mm at the drops so he can change hand positions for more leverage.

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