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Olympic Cycling Events

Lord Camomile said:
It is an unfortunate additional thing to worry about in any sport where you're reliant on more than just your own body.

Very novice question: are the bikes custom or spec?
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Off the shelf frames built up to the rider's spec (within sponsor limits)... Their pro team bike sponsors will probably be doing additional quality control on the frames/wheels etc too. Depending on the rider. And custom colours of course.
 
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beesonthewhatnow said:
Well, traditionally they are very different. There’s just a new generation of riders (MvdP, WvA, Pidcock…) who didn’t seem to get the memo.
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Yeah, see, I would have thought to a certain extent you'd need different physiology, particularly between something with a lot of climbing as opposed to pure speed along a flatter surface.

Heard the commentators saying Pidcock talked about using his lighter weight to his advantage in the climbs, which again sort of makes sense but also would have thought you'd need big leg muscles for climbing!

Take it not quite the same crossover with track cycling?
 
Lord Camomile said:
Yeah, see, I would have thought to a certain extent you'd need different physiology, particularly between something with a lot of climbing as opposed to pure speed along a flatter surface.

Heard the commentators saying Pidcock talked about using his lighter weight to his advantage in the climbs, which again sort of makes sense but also would have thought you'd need big leg muscles for climbing!

Take it not quite the same crossover with track cycling?
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Track riders often cross over to road, but that’s usually the big powerful sprinters.
 
Lord Camomile said:
Yeah, see, I would have thought to a certain extent you'd need different physiology, particularly between something with a lot of climbing as opposed to pure speed along a flatter surface.

Heard the commentators saying Pidcock talked about using his lighter weight to his advantage in the climbs, which again sort of makes sense but also would have thought you'd need big leg muscles for climbing!

Take it not quite the same crossover with track cycling?
Click to expand...

Climbing is generally dependent on watts/kg... So say he's riding at 300w at 50kg, he's riding 6w/kg. MvdP weighs 75kg, so he would have to put out 450w for the same 6w/kg.

You might say 'well sure, but MvdP just increases his muscle to compensate, and we're all good'. I'm a little unclear on this, but I think here we get into the square-cube law. The one that says an ant is stronger than an elephant. Your mass increases at the cube of your height, while the surface area of all the things in you only increases at the square. Surface area includes lung capacity and blood vessels, so your heavier rider is working harder to sustain that output. On flat sections, or gentler climbs, gravity is no longer the dominant force you're trying to overcome, so this becomes a lot less significant.
 
Cid said:
Climbing is generally dependent on watts/kg... So say he's riding at 300w at 50kg, he's riding 6w/kg. MvdP weighs 75kg, so he would have to put out 450w for the same 6w/kg.

You might say 'well sure, but MvdP just increases his muscle to compensate, and we're all good'. I'm a little unclear on this, but I think here we get into the square-cube law. The one that says an ant is stronger than an elephant. Your mass increases at the cube of your height, while the surface area of all the things in you only increases at the square. Surface area includes lung capacity and blood vessels, so your heavier rider is working harder to sustain that output. On flat sections, or gentler climbs, gravity is no longer the dominant force you're trying to overcome, so this becomes a lot less significant.
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Aaaaaaaaand we've lost me :oops: :D ;)

No, cheers, I think I understand the basic principle, at least :thumbs: Like many sports it's a question of managing power capacity with the fuel needed to sustain it? Think Michael Johnson said similar about GB sprinter Dwaine Chambers back in the day, that he was actually carrying too much muscle to the point where it was hindering more than helping.
 
These games are not going well for the Dutch.
Two favourites fail so far and Belgium will probably rub salt in the wounds with a win in the men's time trial. Netherlands will probably fail in the women's time trial at this rate.
 
Lord Camomile said:
Aaaaaaaaand we've lost me :oops: :D ;)

No, cheers, I think I understand the basic principle, at least :thumbs: Like many sports it's a question of managing power capacity with the fuel needed to sustain it? Think Michael Johnson said similar about GB sprinter Dwaine Chambers back in the day, that he was actually carrying too much muscle to the point where it was hindering more than helping.
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Kind of yes, if fuel includes oxygen intake. Wiki actually explains it quite well...

Thus, an equally proportioned cyclist who has 50% more body mass (i.e. is 50% heavier) will generate only about 30% more aerobic power. On a steep climb most of the cyclist's energy goes into lifting his own weight, so the heavier cyclist will be at a competitive disadvantage.
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It was quite interesting listening to the GCN+ commentary, as one of them had obviously done this in the past. If you get a clean break apparently they can plate and pin it and get you back on the bike almost immediately. Well, back on a turbo trainer. Wiki says he was back on the road after just over a week. Probably a little longer for the bone-shaking stuff I imagine mind.
 
philosophical said:
Pidcock broke his collarbone less than two months ago.
Great achievement.
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Also he had to choose and spec his own bike as his day job employers don't make mountain bike frames.

www.bikeperfect.com

Why is Tom Pidcock riding a BMC at the Olympics?

Pidcock's team sponsor Pinarello doesn't make a mountain bike so the Briton is riding an unbranded BMC. Here's what we know about his mountain bike set up ahead of the Olympic mountain bike race
www.bikeperfect.com www.bikeperfect.com
 
The commentators were going on about how Kiesenhofer will be in demand from the pro teams...but if she really can't ride in a peloton, what role can she take? Seems her only tactic is to escape at km zero. Is there such a thing as pro TTing anywhere?
 
What was that track one with the seemingly random rules/scoring*? I liked that if i did have no bloody idea what the hell was going on.

*To the uninitiated anyway. Sure there must be method somewhere in the madness...
 
beesonthewhatnow said:
For anyone new to watching cycling that wants to learn a bit more about how it all works I can highly recommend this book:

Full Gas: How to Win a Bike Race – Tactics from Inside the Peloton Full Gas: How to Win a Bike Race – Tactics from Inside the Peloton: Amazon.co.uk: Cossins, Peter: 9781787290204: Books
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Does he write well? I see he has done one on the Monuments which is good because most English language books on cycling are usually about the Tour de Crap.
 
I'm looking forward to the indoor events but I should I also get excited about the time trials tomorrow? As in get up at 6:00 for the men's one (not getting at 3:30 for the women sorry). I guess the end of the events might be a lot more exciting than the start?
 
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