The Bigger You Are The Faster You Go? Weird Cycling Science!

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Sprinters and Time-Triallers tend to be much larger than climbers - why is that? Join Ollie and Alex in an especially nerdy video, as we go through all of the maths to explain it and arrive at one shocking conclusion: Ganna is going to destroy the hour record and win the Paris Roubaix 😱____________________
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2 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 473

@gcntech 2 года назад

Do you have a sprinter or climber build? And, more importantly, do you prefer sprinting or climbing? Is Ollie’s hot take maybe a little too spicy? Let us know…

@KillersFromTheWest 2 года назад

I’m 2m tall and weigh about 90kg, I’m much faster than anyone around me on the flats, and I can sprint pretty fast, but my speciality is a high average speed over a long distance. I typically try to keep a pace of 24mph over an hour of riding. None of my friends can keep up with me unless we are going up steep hills. I ride an Aeroad if that makes a diff

@KermitFrogThe 2 года назад

Naturally climber. Since adding a lot of iron supplements to my training regime some decades ago, more sprinter with excess bodyweight on th eupper body that doesn't do much for cycling at all. Basically was ery weedy. Started lifting and got bigger all round not just where it helps cycling. Meant I stayed rougnhly the same speed during the change while using the same bike. Now I have changed bies a few times to better ones. This combined with age related deterioration has meant I am basically the same speed, but there are now more people faster than me.

@buckcitycrunk 2 года назад

while im a natural sprinter, the challenges of riding uphill are fun. im currently trying to convert myself into an all arounder. i do 1000 watts up hills at 10%. right now my 20 minute FTP is 500 watts.cutting weight to see if i can increase my watt per kilo.

@paulm9079 2 года назад

I'm more of a Gollum build. Climbing in theory if I had any strength.

@buckcitycrunk 2 года назад

@@paulm9079 im more of a world's strongest men build

@Nat-kc7tr 2 года назад

Now THAT'S content! Not an ad for a mega-brand in sight, just Ollie speaking clearly (which fearfully few athletes are able to do) about how to make sense of all that data we're apparently collecting about our watts and weights. I'd be properly pleased to see a lot more science-forward content from GCN in 2022.

@richardstoner866 2 года назад

Yep....Ollie is a class presenter....a rare clear speaker!

@felixjansson3139 2 года назад

"not an ad in sight", they are only wearing castelli gear... Content is great though

@johnhawthorne6763 2 года назад

@@felixjansson3139 And the wall of Park Tool behind them inside. I'm FINE with them having sponsors and such, no complaints about ANY product placement...let them make money! But yeah. It's there. :)

@adriancrago-graham8100 2 года назад

It does get tiresome how people complain about free advice and content and the use of ads. Pay for GCN properly and you can lose all this, otherwise it's here to stay. If you don't pay for the product, you are the product. I agree some use of ads have been more heavy, but I'm not paying anything!!! Now, I just hope 'all' staff get a decent salary for the offset of sponsorship.

@frisedel 2 года назад

it's been long since gcn did anything good. this was good. no badly disguised ads, no sponsors. this is why I started to follow you guys

@jasonw1777 2 года назад

Loving the way comments on every video endlessly troll Ollie for getting dropped…even while he casually presents to camera at 4w/kg without breaking sweat. 99.9% of the commentors would be dying on their arse at this point!!!

@larsulveland2690 2 года назад

However, the difference in strain in their voices just after they put those 4 W/kg down was enjoyable. Not saying that I can put down 4 W/kg myself for more than a few minutes.

@DavidvdGulik 2 года назад

@@NetomaMusic that's your perspective, look outside your bubble and you'll find a very significant percentage of sport cyclists actually do chase speed and nerding out about it is part of enjoying the hobby. GCN isn't exactly aimed at people who prefer to pedal trough the countryside without breaking a drop of sweat

@Quevallyn 2 года назад

Absolutely brilliant. Duly shared with my biology and physics teacher colleagues and hope to hear Alex and Ollie’s voices coming from the classrooms very soon 😀

@rissanslaghek3280 2 года назад

Alex and Ollie together are a dream team imo. They first crack you up with the jokes, thencrack your brain with the science.

@juliesmiley4396 2 года назад

As a female, this has been a source of frustration on group rides on Zwift that are sorted by w/kg. I either have to go down a category or be resigned to eventually getting dropped on flat courses due to being a literal light weight. I understood the general idea, but It was interesting to hear a clear explanation of the details.

@кирилллазарев-я8м 2 года назад

Don't ride flat courses (:

@mikew9743 2 года назад

Male vs female physiology is a whole other topic for discussions. Obviously in cycling given similar weight female riders are at a tremendous disadvantage compared to male riders.

@finndegraaf2707 2 года назад

wouldn't being light help you if they are sorting by w/kg?

@philipk4475 2 года назад

@@finndegraaf2707 No, because although she's the same w/kg as the other riders in her league when considering only her own body mass, the weight of her bike is largely the same as the other riders and the Zwift speed equations ultimately take that into account

@langhamp8912 2 года назад

On group rides smaller riders are very difficult to draft, while bigger riders are essentially a wall. Obviously this doesn't apply to Zwift, but the difference is so marked that larger riders are almost always the slower riders.

@rogersimmons8788 2 года назад

Thanks GCN. I conducted some in depth testing relating to my power output, size and weight on various terrains. I established that: A. I was slow going uphill. B. I was fast going downhill. C. I was past caring whilst on the flat. Conclusion: If you're a lard arse like me, just get out there and enjoy the ride.

@serdiezv 2 года назад

Kinda the same to me, but as I know I'm not that fast uphill I compensate on the flat. I might not get an actual KOM, but I've got to try on those flat and false flat segments.

@b2284 2 года назад

Yeah I'm right in that boat, luckily a lot of the trails by me are flat so me and my 100kg old fat ass can still fly whenever I want

@GelMibson-u2y 2 года назад

🤣🤣🤣amen. I'm always playing catch-up with the string beans on the group rides

@jamesmckenzie3532 2 года назад

I agree. But work on those descending skills. It's a great deal different at 70 vice 50!

@MartinBentancour 2 года назад

"If you wonder why I'm dropping Ollie" where have you been? That's what we do around here 😉

@jonlee7440 2 года назад

11:58 Awesome 💪! I’m the right height for the Tour de France and the perfect weight for track sprinting! 😃 🤔

@lukdod73 2 года назад

UCI should change the bike weigt rule from 6.8 kg to 10% of rider's weight.

@sethgriffiths6539 2 года назад

Allometric Aerodynamic Scaling is going to be the new thing in cycling's "marginal gains" phrase book! Great video, massively impressed!

@triggamusician 2 года назад

It's hard to apply though. I'd laugh to keep my muscles and still lose 15 kg but that's not gonna happen lol

@sunnyyshc 2 года назад

I think they should mention upper and lower body weight is important too. A 'cover' model wouldn't perform as good as a rider with 'thin' upper body but massive developed legs.

@AveryAbbott 2 года назад

I'd like to point out this video came out the day after my birthday. I'm 190cm and ~95kg. Thanks for the validation, GCN Tech!

@geoff5623 2 года назад

In my three years of cycling pre-pandemic, I gained ~10kg. My times up the local mountain were pretty unchanged (12km, 900m, ~1 hr +- 3min), but for the big annual Fondo (120km, 2000m), my times went from 6h:45m to 5h:00m to 4h:10m

@geoff5623 2 года назад

@Simon Dowsett any of my trousers without some stretch in the fabric do not fit any more, and I went up a size in the jeans I wear most of the time. I've always had somewhat proportionally thicker legs for my general build but a pretty lean upper body, so I think my legs gained more density than bulk, but my upper body is more noticably larger.

@JR-wj9bh 2 года назад

You gained weight cycling? That's weird

@geoff5623 2 года назад

while I would like to naively presume that it was muscle gain from mostly riding a track bike in a hilly city, my thirties and eating all the carbs were probably big influences. My FTP in watts per kilo had a small but steady increase along with my weight though, and I didn't really change my non-cycling activity (less long hikes, more yoga).

@jeremysargeant6799 2 года назад

I love Alex’s surprise at dropping Ollie 🤣🤣

@primaltone 2 года назад

As a smaller rider (60.2KG dry weight) I can climb pretty well. I love smokin' people up the hills, but it's all I've got. When I try to maintain with bigger riders on the flats they kill me and I eventually watch them ride off into the sunset. Thanks for the demo and the science!

@aethylwulfeiii6502 8 месяцев назад

When your this light you learn never to wait at the top, but rather let the regroup for you happen at the bottom.

@pipolchamp8205 2 года назад

long story short: on flat terrain, power output of big riders outweighs their aerodynamic drag hence making them faster overall.

@davidofoakland2363 2 года назад

Great video! This is GCN at it's best. Good job Alex and Ollie. AAS is the new P/W ratio of the '20s.

@jbmo231 2 года назад

Great video, Alex and Ollie are a great pair. They actually got the allometric scaling right, and I'm someone who has actually published in the Journal of Applied Physiology!

@misterdapper754 2 года назад

What confuses me, is i thought watts/kilo were constant. 2 riders going at for example 2 watts per kilo on a flat would be going at the same speed...irregardless of power or watts.

@francoispayen 2 года назад

Alex and Ollie are the absolute nerd dream team. Very, very interesting content. Thanks!

@gregvassilakos 2 года назад

Regarding the container ship analogy, longer ships are faster due to wave making resistance. As the ship moves through the water, it creates a wave at the bow with subsequent crests along the length of the hull. The waves travel at the same speed as the ship. In deep water, the speed of the waves is proportional to the square root of the wave length. If the ship has enough power, it will reach a speed at which the second wave crest is at the stern. In order to increase the speed further, the ship will have to leave the second wave crest behind and climb up on the bow wave. Smaller powerboats often have the power to climb the bow wave, but large ships generally do not. As a consequence, large ships are constrained to travel no faster than a wave that is the length of the hull. This is referred to as "hull speed". The equation that is typically used is V = 1.34 * sqrt(L) where V is the hull speed in knots and L is the length of the hull in feet.

@aarondangelo6313 2 года назад

That was a great video guys! Well done. Ollie giving us more insight into what all the number mean and how they interact on the road not just the paper. I love when Ollie gets into it like that.

@craigmillar7411 2 года назад

Fantastic video guys. I’ve wondered about this for decades & thanks to you I finally have the answers. And it was entertaining too! Well done 👍

@rodiarmy 2 года назад

Haha Ollie mentioning Angewandte Chemie as his favorite journal made me happy

@GCNuser123 2 года назад

niche reference that i knew at least 1 person would get 😂😉

@Brsawesome 2 года назад

I bet you, he has a paper in it ;-)

@stevenagy7152 2 года назад

Is Ollie’s allometric explanation why we can never actually have a Godzilla or Rodan?

@NullB 2 года назад

Underrated comment of the day!

@GCNuser123 2 года назад

absolutely.

@MichaelLonetto 2 года назад

Love it! Great job on making math and physics meaningful for cycling! There’s so much bad science journalism out there, thanks for getting it right.

@ai314159 2 года назад

This is my big pet peeve with Zwift-they organize ride/race categories by Watts/kg, which makes it very hard for lighter riders to keep up on flat/downhill terrain. I'm sure they understand the physics, so why don't they do something more fair?

@aethylwulfeiii6502 8 месяцев назад

I get dropped on descents in Zwift by heavier riders that I smoked up the climbs. Just like real life.

@JIMMYHIBBS1 2 года назад

That’s a lot of science to explain away why Ollie got dropped 🤣

@dalewarner6865 2 года назад

Allometric discrimination 😂

@ADVRaiderKTM 2 года назад

This is so interesting! As a big guy I always excelled on flats and didn't really understand why.

@davidburgess741 2 года назад

I thought that was common knowledge big riders were faster on the flats. I guessed correctly why.

@michaelmastell6778 2 года назад

The clip of Alex shouting “Bingo” needs to be the new recurring clip used for all things good on GCN

@AlanJames 2 года назад

Faired tandem recumbent vs Si on a tt bike. Make it happen GCN!

@dermotdoherty2960 2 года назад

I feared for sometime that all the Ollie-got-dropped jokes deeply effected him. He must have been fermenting that sweet revenge of the nerds broadside for months. The narrative now has changed for ever.

@guest_informant 2 года назад

For me the "GCN Does Science" videos used to be a real weakness of the channel, I was almost going to avoid this, but this was actually pretty good. I'd imagine a fair proportion of the audience are already familiar with some of the key concepts eg Surface Area to Volume Ratio and how that changes as size changes. As I understand it SAVR is part of the reason we can't have Godzilla, say. Beyond a certain point the skeleton (squared cross section area of bone) can no longer carry that weight (increasing cubically) - the largest animals live in or underwater to support that extra weight. It's also why if you grind up chemicals into finer and finer powders you get stronger, faster chemical reactions. Allometric Scaling all the way :-)

@GCNuser123 2 года назад

Yep. godzilla is a great example! his heart would beat 1-2 times a minute. 😂

@RogerDebreceny 2 года назад

One of the best GCN videos ever. Nerds of the world unite!

@greg_loper 2 года назад

Great video. Except, as Ollie should know, ships have to overcome both hydrodynamic drag and aerodynamic drag - unless they are submarines. Aside from that, spot on.

@buffuniballer 2 года назад

Aerodynamic drag is probably in the rounding error region for vessels of that size and the speeds they travel.

@martinh2783 2 года назад

@Ollie I would love to see you and Matt Parker from the channel Standupmath do something. Calculating spoke patterns or try to calculate pi with a bike or something similar. :)

@davidburgess741 2 года назад

I've understood this for some time. The genetic component also comes into play to produce a time trial rider vs sprinter. There are exceptions namely Emma Pooley who could time trial as well as climb. Sean Kelly could climb better than you'd expect. A good analogy is with large vs small ships which would be referred to the law of relativity and similatude. 26% larger in each dimension = double the displacement and 4x the stability. All other factors being equal. Larger is often faster. Connor is more similar to the long container ship!

@nishieda 2 года назад

Pogacar can climb, can TT and can do some good sprint too.

@jonnythelegs2597 2 года назад

Big Mig and "That Texan" just entered the chat and have brought ridiculously high Vo2 max numbers and a suprizingly large quantity of "supplements" with them.

@kstethespokes1051 2 года назад

Nice job gentlemen. When are you bringing out the A level physics tutoring videos please?

@blankseventydrei 2 года назад

angewandte chemie is a good journal but I am a fan of JACS and Perkins. 🙂

@henrycash7725 2 года назад

This is why Pidcock's sprint and TT is even more impressive

@jarrodfife242 2 года назад

Also why seeing Remco sprinting to win a race probably won’t happen.

@JonReid 2 года назад

Both Remco and Pidcock have different types of power. Remco has incredibly high steady state power whilst Pidcock has explosive power which enables him to punch. You’ll probably find both athletes have world class cda

@jarrodfife242 2 года назад

@@JonReid Yeah, no shit. Pidcock is a classics rider who can outsprint WVA. Remco is a TT rider who can climb too of course.

@tubbytoast2 2 года назад

Thats because there are so many variables with an athlete ,

@SioLazer 2 года назад

Thanks! Being 157.5 cm tall, I'd always feared this was the case. I felt like my size became an advantage when I hit a fitness peak but felt the biggest advantage when I got down to 52 ki. I've put on a bit more muscle since then so fingers crossed I can get that back :) thanks for the science, it really does address something that's been a bee in my bonnet for a very long time.

@bivani 2 года назад

One of the best videos i have seen from GCN for me recently. Thank you Alex and Olie, brilliant...

@tonytrott6318 2 года назад

leg length is probably a critical factor also how fit your cardio vascular system are important and there is probably an optimal leg length0 and muscle mass for a cycling event

@richardharris8538 2 года назад

I think people intuitively understand this. I was riding in the UK, in the early 60s, when it was all about TTs on flat courses. I was a literal flyweight, at 8 stone (112 lbs) clothed. Because I was winning club events, there were some people in the local cycling community who thought I must be cheating somehow. That's difficult to do and get away with in a TT - there's just cutting the course short, getting assistance from a motorized vehicle, and drafting other riders - all easy to spot.

@DavidvdGulik 2 года назад

I was born in the only region in the world where I'm below average height, so I'm often surrounded by people with a >30 Watts higher FTP than me simply becauseof their size. On the other hand, I can usually drop them on a climb

@m4yd0g 2 года назад

The increase in power for larger cyclists is no simply due to having more muscle mass. The important element is having a larger cardio respiratory system. Bigger cyclists have larger lungs, the bigger surface area allows for more rapid gas exchange to sustain a larger aerobic capacity. This cannot be changed by adding mass in the gym.

@chris1275cc 2 года назад

Err no its not the "The important element" at all, although lung and heart capacity do increase with height its not a equally proportional increase and taller people need that increase because they have more mass that needs to fed with oxygenated blood than someone who has the same BMI but is shorter and has less mass. Add to this that fact that Lung capacity varies wildly between people of the same height and body mass, heart size hardly varies at all across the entire height spectrum and BMI/Height to weight is not proportional either, its as about as important as eye colour when gauging cycling performance (it can have more of an effect in sports like swimming). That's why we go straight to VO2 max.

@jorgedasilva6359 Год назад

Remco then was massively handicapped against Ganna in the TT world Champioship

@Bellerophon17 2 года назад

Will have to watch sit again to fully understand it, but one of the best videos I've seen from GCN. Also, it just reminded me of how Ganna will surely crush the hour record, whenever he has an afternoon free and gets around to it.

@travisryan6545 2 года назад

The UCI should make the bike weight limit 10% of the riders weight (e.g. a 60Kg rider could have a bike that weighs 6Kg)

@Twodaae 2 года назад

Dr Ollie working his magic... fantastic! HAHAHA

@chris1275cc 2 года назад

Yep, getting dropped for science 😅

@oOoACFREEMANoOo 2 года назад

Congratulations Alex you have finally helped make a quality classic GCN video.

@Ad-my9kg 2 года назад

I think Zwift, and a lot of Zwift ride leaders, should watch this. Running classifications, and group rides, which are predominantly flat, on a watt per kilo basis, really plays into the hands of bigger riders.

@larsulveland2690 2 года назад

A look at how well the height scaling in Zwift actually match these models, as well as stack up against a couple of real World volonteers would be a neat follow-up.

@MrHallTV 2 года назад

Great job with this, have always wondered.

@nicholashodson6041 2 года назад

Love the physics (and physiology) of cycling! Great vid. Of course, the reason that the small guys don't get dropped on the flatter stages is that they can draft behind the big guys and at flat stage speeds the draft is huge (esp if riding as part of a team). But small guys can drop the big guys on the climbs and open up race winning gaps.

@nachelia 2 года назад

the bare science tech videos might not rake in ad revenue but it really narrates on what is truly interesting about the sport

@JayLato 2 года назад

5:14 Ollie shitting on my hopes.

@ranchmilk514 2 года назад

@ 5:55 - If you double a persons size, then yes - his mass (as a function of volume) does increase 8 times because each of the terms - length times width times height - become (2)length x (2)width x (2) height, meaning you’re multiplying his initial volume (and corresponding mass) by a factor of 2x2x2 which equals 8. However, muscle mass is also volumetric, our muscles are not linear. They would follow the exact same math, and your muscles would be 8x as large and therefore 8x as strong. So where does the “ only 4x stronger” come from? We’re obviously assuming identical body composition.

@ranchmilk514 2 года назад

@ 7:33 - “The distance covered in 1 hour would increase with increased body mass.” - this is correct, no disagreement. Mass increasing while air resistance is the largest form of drag (during flats or downhills) will definitely result in increased distance covered per time, in other words increased speed. But what I have an issue with is that the data are displayed in such a way where it is claimed at the end that you get a reduction of the absolute value of improvement as you increase in weight class, which is not what the data suggests. Does the absolute value of distance (speed) gained decrease while going from 90-100 kg, as compared to going from 50 to 60 kg? Yes. But more importantly - does the percentage increase in distance covered match the percentage increase in mass? - yes, it does - nearly exactly, which is a more valid way of looking at this. This means you get the exact same “bang for your buck” going from 50 to 60 kg as you do going from 90 to 100. The inaccuracy is in comparing a person putting on 20% of their own body weight to someone putting on just 11%. Using the examples you chose - 50 to 60 kg, 1.791 km increase (3.4%). From 70 to 80 kg you get 1.305 km (2.5%), and from 90 to 100 kg you get a 1.027 km increase (1.9%). So from 50 to 60 kg, you’ve added 20% of the original 50 kg riders size, and you’ve achieved a 3.4% increase in distance / speed. However, when you compare a rider going from 70 to 80 kg, you’re only adding 14.3% of his mass! Not 20%. And when you go from 90 to 100 kg - it’s even worse, you’re only adding 11.1% of the riders size. So you’re actually slowing the rate of mass added - meaning you’re slowing the rate of improvement in momentum / strength, and naturally - slowing the rate of improvement in speed. If you look at things as a comparison of percentage mass added per percentage distance gained, you get = (20%)/(3.4%) = a factor of 5.88, and (14.3%)/(2.5%) = a factor of 5.72, and finally (11.1%)/(1.9%) = a factor of.. you guessed it --> 5.84. Thus they’re all essentially exactly the same. So by increasing the percentage of mass you actually do get an equivalent improvement in the percentage of distance covered (and therefore speed improvement). Whether it’s measured over the course of 20%, or only 11% - you will always get the exact same proportional amount of increase in distance as you do increase in mass. That’s why IMO, this point is misleading. Not faulting you - I’m sure this graph came from the study. But the way it’s explained would attempt to minimize the gains gotten by increasing weight beyond a certain point, and that’s an inaccurate conclusion. The gains don’t decrease as weight increases… 10 kg just decreases as a percentage of weight, as weight increases. Thus it only appears that the gains are decreasing, while they actually correlate perfectly.

@Megadeth6633 2 года назад

12:22 beautiful way to close things, and it definitely is the beauty of bicycles. This has been an interesting one, been a while since it was this good. Cheers this was great work

@antoniop1968 2 года назад

I have to correct Ollie on the hour record remark. He attempted the hour record or "done" an attempt at the hour record but he didn't "done an hour record". The record is held by Victor Campenaerts with 55.089km. Ollie will have to best that distance and then would "done an hour record".

@GCNuser123 2 года назад

errr i have to correct you. who holds the record for the most distance travelled by a GCN presenter in an hour on the track? (that’s a rhetorical question) 😂😉

@smefour 2 года назад

That was so good.. thanks guys

@jason200912 Год назад

Pro tip for tall people: use an aero tuck position because it does everything and let's you focus on your super genetically powerful legs

@jeffp1377 2 года назад

A+ vid but who has the info on the Ollie’s favorite journal pun?

@ericarnoldcycling9625 2 года назад

Love this video. I’m 6’2” and just over 190 right now and I go up hills as such. Good to see some content that isn’t just about being as light and small as possible

@phillipcowan1444 2 года назад

At 215lbs I could be a cycling tyrannosaurus if the road never turned up!😁 Fabian Cancellara was always one of my favorite riders. He would always flog hell out of the peloton on flat stages and time trials only to be blown out the tailpipe on the next mountain stage.

@Ego_Katana 2 года назад

Question: Maybe I need to watch again... but they keep saying as you are "bigger" you have more power. They are not accounting for muscle mass vs fat-- or did I miss that. Doesn't body composition mater? Two riders both 200lbs but one has a 30% BMI versus the other at 15%... Who's going to be faster?

@SRK5227 2 года назад

Well, my immediate takeaway from the comments is that 1) there are an incredible number of nerds who watch GCN, and 2) Hungarians are not under-represented in this group.

@dennistay9980 2 года назад

Hahaha! Informative and hilarious. Brilliant video guys!

@sbsb4995 2 года назад

Disc brakes ruined the aerodynamic of the bicycles.

@paulgordon7526 2 года назад

Interesting, Why don't we have weight categories in cycling? they have them in other sports ? -- Paul

@SuccessfulOzzie 2 года назад

One huge rider glided past me once yet I was moving at 48km/h on a flat...... When we reached an incline about 2% gradient for 3km I passed him gracefully... the moment we hit the flat or decent, he passes me🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️.... I used to think maybe it's because I use 50/34 chain ring and he's looks like a 52 or 53 big ring.....

@andrifsig 2 года назад

GCN Tech comes out swinging in the new year with some boffin science stuff! Like it... As a bigger rider myself I know all too well getting dropped on a climb, but then being able to make it up on the flats. It would also be interesting to know the benefits of the extra weight on a long descent. Because I usually fly by the lighter riders on almost any descent. Probably a mix of physics and cycling with some overly cautious riders in the group....

@markmonie5753 2 года назад

Difference should be minimal between a light and heavy rider maybe a kmph or two( based on almost asleep brain)

@The1trueDave 2 года назад

7:55 it's scary how that graph is only slowly tailing off when you get to 100kg, indicating that a rider of 120 or even 140kg might be even faster! The only problems there are: (a) to maintain the same proportions as a 'normal' cyclist (ie for the assumptions about aerodynamics to apply), such a rider would have to be 2.1m or taller; (b) finding someone like that who is actually genetically predisposed to endurance sport and isn't already making a fortune playing basketball :-) *wonders what Wilt Chamberlain could have done with the hour record*...

@itscliffvtr 2 года назад

Being light, 66kg, I am reasonable up the climbs, and can drop people. On the flats I struggle and fall back. Bring on the climbs.

@stuartmoseley 2 года назад

Helps understand the difference between me and my riding buddy when on climbs vs headwind!

@leetori1 2 года назад

Which is fine. I can turn out 290w ftp at 63kg and still 290w when I’m 72kg. Surely lighter is better when considering a talent ceiling?

@josephkemp8979 2 года назад

Brilliant video and the usual great banter 😂👍🏼

@WheelersAtLarge Год назад

Brilliant👍So if a rider (like me) starts at 120kg and they lose the fat weight but not muscle power would that make them super strong in all disciplines on a bike? Is it even possible to lose weight and maintain the power or does the body automatically compensate to match what it needs?

@joshuasampson8922 2 года назад

Fabulous! One of the best GCN videos I have seen. This is well done and informative. It also helps me feel more confident as a bigger rider. Thanks Ollie and Alex!

@36sportsawall 2 года назад

You gave the big guy rim brakes🤣

@panzerveps 2 года назад

It's not the size that matters, but how you use it!

@GelMibson-u2y 2 года назад

Great high IQ content again GCN!!!!

@Forgot10 2 года назад

At 60 kg and a very aerodynamic build I should be good at climbing. But I'm 180 cm tall, so there's not a whole lot of muscle in me. I also only really started cycling last year. My FTP is somewhere around 180W according to a test done in a spin class, so I'm a long way off being able to fly up the mountains. On the flats I just have no chance.

@3dflyer87 2 года назад

Love this!

@staanemer9271 2 года назад

Ollie 🤝 me Angewandte being favorit journal

@davidpalmer8591 2 года назад

I dont normally comment - but gotta say - great video - good job GCN

@Rose.Of.Hizaki 2 года назад

You guys should have invited *Robert Förstemann* (Olympic cyclist vs toaster) to come out for this video. 😂😂 - He's a track cyclist i know, but my god he has absolute ostrich thighs for legs haha

@notreal-pl7mz Год назад

That was verging on quite interesting. Could of done with less shaming of the technical, and add references in your comments please.

@alextopfer1068 2 года назад

I'll remember this next time I'm struggling up a hill

@amaclach 2 года назад

Functional weight. Not non-functional weight (fat). Getting fatter won't make you faster except downhill. Losing fat will reduce your frontal area, and your mass which will help everywhere except down hill. Replacing fat mass with equal functional muscle mass will make you better everywhere (even downhill because of reduced frontal area). Science.

@VadymZhmyrov Год назад

as my experience. I am 183 height and averege weight is about 65kg. When i was 18y.o. after 'winter gym training' I was about 68-70 kg, and whats weight is comfortble for sprint. in middle of season i was always lose to 65-67kg witch is I still can sprint but it feels alot harder, but climing hills starting more easier, and this type of weight for me is best for TT. Best weight for climbing for me is 62-64 what is climbing most perfomance. But sprint is the price. Less when 62 was only one time after big stress, and its for me weight of health problem or overlossing weight. And ofcorce this worked only when you stabil 5-6 times per week training. Now im 28, still riding when i have time after work, good weather and mood thats is not like was training in rain/snow/storm everyday and now is weight less important when phisical condition) But i miss what time)

@r0mpastompa 2 года назад

I am around 110 kg + Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra Steelframe (11Sp. Shimano 105/Ultegra Mix) about 10.5 kg and i ride an average of +32 kmh at 100-200 km rides. Training is everything ;)

@erlendsteren9466 Год назад

Nice video. I did some googling, and even though the size matters it seems more important how you use it. About hour record. Bradley Wiggins, Filippo Ganna and Chris Boardman are very different, both in height and weight, and maybe the best sprinter of all time, Mark Cavendish is neither high, nor heavy (ca 5 kg more than Pogacar). But it looks like the 180 cm+ riders have a slight advantage in tempo if the hills are not high and Tadej takes it. But why are Mark faster than the big guys? I guess some of the factors are about training, experience, fast musclefibres and the best areodynamic position I have ever seen in a sprint. Myself I guess I am typically a tall and heavy climber that might go faster than today if i lost a lot weight.

@FlatSpinMan 2 года назад

Remarkably interesting video. I liked Alex’s summation towards the end of the video.

@nemure 2 года назад

this is what I've being telling you for a half a year. Aero positions sucks, makes you SLOWER cause you produce LESS power. Aero positioning only works going downhill

@pierce9128 2 года назад

So basically I still have alot more weight to lose. Fromm 144kg down to 100kg. Best 20k TT time is 43min. Hoping to get it down to 39min this summer and just started a strength & conditioning aswell. Tbh I feed up been last on group test events and last on group rides when on hills and the group has to wait for me at the top. It's so embarrassing😭

@philipk4475 2 года назад

Is this really a valid analysis when considering only a single individual? As far as I'm aware, it's not muscle size or cross-section which is the rate limiting factor for determining aerobic performance, but oxygen uptake and transport - and I don't think putting on 10 kg of weight will increase those proportionally. Rather, what your analysis appears to show is that if you have two individuals, for example separated by 10 kg but otherwise equal, the 10 kg heavier rider will have some climbing time which is lower than the lighter rider according to the power law. Similarly for the flat time trial, but with the heavier rider being faster.

@billrose2202 2 года назад

So I'm 5 foot 9 and 66 kilo. I want to know why I haven't won the Tour de France? haha. Oh that's right... I never raced it. I was a bike messenger instead. These days I enjoy riding hills in Phuket, Thailand. Nice video and yeah now I understand why I have such trouble keeping up on group rides in flat areas.

@cypercharged 2 года назад

Very interesting nerdy stuff! Congratulations on how you make fractional exponents understandable by everyone!

@cyclepathhero2024 10 месяцев назад

Well done, however: there is another component to this - accumulation. The heavier rider (normally me at 95kgs) has the power (torque really) but given that rides are rarely 10 minutes long, the extra weight and extra power to move that weight accumulate to show a massive difference in the amount of work completed ( weight moved over distance, especially if calculated by each turn of the pedal) and the impacts of that on the cardio and metabolism systems as I would assume those systems do not scale up equally with the scaling mentioned in the video. Request: a part two episode that takes the maths from this fine specimen and adds the other pieces to get the full picture. Please Keep up the great work!