These sort of people crack me up, because every one of them hates e-bikes because they’re ”cheating". Like, dudes, we’re not racing. There are a lot of hills by my house and I would literally never ride a bike if I didn’t have some help going up them.
I don’t see how having a motor to help you out and spending a few grand on a carbon fiber frame are much different. It’s all just making it easier for you.
I ride fixed distances (25 and 50 miles). Any improvements to the efficiency of my bikes means I’ll just get less of a workout each time. Why pay (so much) more just to get less exercise?
I agree, that’s why I stopped lubing my bike chain and leave my tires 30 psi low (well that’s for glass and nails, but h workout is a free bonus)
I don’t see how having a motor to help you out and spending a few grand on a carbon fiber frame are much different.
Some people cycle as a sport, and races don’t let you have e-bikes. Plus, putting in all the work to climb a hill under your own power and getting to ride down is rewarding. Sure, getting a carbon fiber bike makes the work a bit lighter, but you’re still the one putting in all the work, which isn’t the case with e-bikes.
While the people in your example are failing to understand that people habe different motives for cycling, you’re doing the exact same thing here.
I peed before riding and only carried one water bottle.
I zipped up my jersey.
I drove the other direction, which is with the wind and downhill
I asked the principal engineer about the rider used in aerodynamic testing. He grinned and replied – “but they sure are pretty, right?”
"Me, I’ve got a secret motor in the bottom bracket powered by batteries in the shaft
Are we still talking about bikes?
Bikes?
The most hilarious mod I’ve ever seen is people who remove three of the six screws holding the front chain ring in place – while being easily 50 pounds overweight.
Yeah it’s dumb. I bought my used mountain bike from a entusiaist. The bike was in really good shape with some of the best components money could buy at the time. Out of curiosity i asked him why he would sell the bike. He said he really liked it a lot, but it was just too heavy for long uphill rides. He then showed me the bike he replaced it with. A brand spanking new high end mountain bike. When i was home, i just had to know and compared the specs roughly from what i knew. My calculations said that his new bike was like 50 to 100gramms lighter. The guy wasn’t really a featherweight either. Eating less would’ve saved him like 5k
I’m slightly convinced that for everyone under pro levels this is all just placebo. But I still shave my legs and if I had the money I would buy all the cool stuff.
It absolutely is, but as with any hobby spending money on new things is part of what keeps it fresh. The issue is that cyclists get really insecure about this. I am a commuter who does a solid 200 miles per week and can drop most of our local bike club on my steel commuter bike while wearing a tshirt and baggy shorts. I honestly don’t judge though, whatever makes you happy, but I do occasionally run into people who are like “you can’t join the group ride without proper equipment” because I don’t wear a skin suit or use the clipclop shoes. Whatever bro, let’s see if your $800 padded onesie can beat my 8 year old gap Khakis.
Pros just cheat. See Icarus and all that.
True, but not eating 2 family sized pizzas a week would probably help my performance more than shaving my legs.
Or, eat the pizzas, then do some combo of Ozempic + PEDs…winning!
Ozempic works by making you not want to eat the pizzas. It’ll never be a performance enhancing drug for sports because the top levels already have nutrition habits indistinguishable from eating disorders.
It will make you go faster. It only makes any difference at all if you are competing for something, whatever level you are.
But if you like cool bike stuff, great, go get it.
For me it is also any advantage I can get to keep up with my boyfriend. No competition, just hoping he feels slightly out of breath when I am panting for air. Unfortunately he is the weaker one in a group of bike friends too, so he also tries to optimize as much as possible.
Most amateurs have signifcantly more time they can cut by training better and harder than spending thousands or tens of thousands on better components.
Its a very small list of amateurs who train to the same level as a pro who has a good chance of winning any of the big competitions.
Stick that under 30s pro on a cheap bike geared the same as a midlife crisis amater 45 year old gear head on an ultra expensive bike and guess who wins?
If you want to buy wins enter an amateur car racing event, those are mostly reflective of money spent given a base level of talent and training (which costs far more money per hour than training for cycling).
Yeah, I’m doing nothing but running right now, adjusting my workout, training often. That’s it. When I see a long plateau, then I’ll consider looking to other things, but right now I know there’s room in my purse running training for improvement, so there’s no point in messing around with other shit.
I’m doing nothing but running right now,
that was me when i was younger. now reading that makes my knees hurt.
I’m assuming you’re older than me, but I’m on my way to 39. New shoes have really done a lot for some of the aches and pains associated with running, though if the damage is done I think it’s moot.
the damage is done and i’m a recumbent cyclist now. i highly recommend recumbent cycling it is so fun. slapped a motor on and now i basically have one of these but in real life
Recumbent cycling absolutely appeals to me.
mine isn’t this one, but she’s pretty close. she’s at the shop right now (don’t get me started on my inability to keep my front right tire unpopped) but i’ll post an image on the dull men’s club when i get her back. i usually have my seat more reclined than that, a big orange flag, headlight, taillight, a crate, and mirrors. and a speaker because i can’t exist without music
there are a lot of used recumbents in great shape on craigslist. the tadpoles (2 wheels in front) are a lot more sturdy then the deltas (2 wheels in back) probably because your center of mass is lower, probably other reasons i am not qualified to comment on
Meanwhile, during a shopping stop in a two-day back-country ride:
“Let’s wait for Pus finishing their ice cream.”
Me, with a baseball cap, sunglasses, jeans and a hoodie, headphones on the head, cigarette in the mouth and ice cream in one hand, handlebar in the other:
“What? No need to wait, I’ll follow yall.”
You smoke cigarettes and go on 2 day long bicycle rides for fun? That’s like being a vegan who will eat meat but only if the animal died in some truly awful way.
I tell you hwhat. The meat industry is awful but roadkill… that there’s good eatin.
Some people just really enjoy bicycling. Now don’t get me wrong, I agree this is insane, a cig kills my ability to bike much. But I totally get not caring about your health and just happening to have a hobby you love be exercise
This was me when I smoked.
I’m not sure of its the eight years since my last cigarette giving me superpowers or if I’m just eight years older and my body cries at each minor inconvenience but I think I was healthier when I was downing a pack a day of menthols.
Fuck I miss smoking.
Good news!
Þere will come a time when, statistically, if you started smoking again you would be almost guaranteed to die of someþing oþer þan lung cancer. In oþer words, you can start smoking again when you’re 60!
I’m counting þe days…
Meanwhile I own the world’s heaviest bike ever, and love it. I love the way my chest hair flows in the spring wind as I peddle in my baggy sweats. Nothing more freeing.
Work it
Ooohhhh, chest ticklies!!
Truly the most MintyFresh comment of all time lol.
I had to double take while reading haha.
I knew a guy with one of those bike, and he had special towels in the garage because the tires couldn’t touch the ground
Same dude swapped frames every year cause the manufacturer rolled out upgrades like Apple does iphones. One beam at a time, they went from round carbon fiber to triangular. He dare not be spotted on last year’s model!
What you need an 6000 euro race bike as an overweight man in your thirties how else am I going to look cool.
All jokes aside owning a good bike to commute or travel on the weekends is really nice. And for the people feeling self concious about wearing bib shorts, you can where something over them.
I went into a Subway once in my bike shorts. A bunch of little kids hiked their shorts up wedgie-style and danced around me like the dwarfs in the Spinal Tap Stonehenge scene. Everybody in the store laughed, including me.
Sounds like a jolly good time.
$2,600
Former phreaker detected
I wonder if anyone ever did scientific research on leg hair drag
Plenty. Olympics is very scientific. That level of sports is where you get shaving your body and wearing spandex to ride faster in the first place they aren’t myths.
That level of sport is also where you have sponsors which you don’t want to loose by being outside the norm.
I do a lot of bicycling. I have no idea if the lycra bibs make you ride faster, but they sure as fuck do help prevent the chafing.
When I swam in high school, 20+ years ago now, we would wear drag suits to practice, because it made sense, make it harder to swim in practice.
They now wear leggings or bodysuits in practice because they determined that swimming with the extra drag negatively effected your stroke, and that it’s better to achieve mechanical perfection through consistent practice.
People study the shit out of this stuff, really takes the fun out of everything.
Totally worth it.
That other guy’s gonna be miles behind by the end of the race.
quad gods with god quads
MAMILs are the worst…
Reminded me of this
