Comparing different bikes: Blind Testing Edition
My brain seems to unconsciously send me out on rides that I've not only done before, but have done before a year or two previously-- sometimes to the day. I have a ~3.5 mile lap around my neighborhood that I've done ~180 times. It's easy, all right turns, only 100ft of elevation change per lap, and I never get very far from the house, so I can quit whenever I want. The magic number seems to be seven-- 7 times around is just a smidge above 40km, so it's a nice length to go at a reasonable intensity and not render myself useless for the rest of the day. Not having to stop is probably the most important aspect-- that's an automatic average speed increase.
So as I alluded to, I had done this exact thing previously, and actually set the PR back on 8/25/17-- on my Cervelo. Today was on my Ritchey in "road format," shod in 700x35 Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR.
This head to head is steel on 700x35s, 1X gearing 42T - 10/42 cassette vs. carbon on 700x25, mid-compact 52/36 w 11-25 cassette. The Cervelo is about 7lbs lighter than the Ritchey. The tale of the tape:
Ritchey effort, 8/10/19, 25.32 miles, 1h14m19s
speed: 20.4 avg, 27.5 max
cadence: 88 avg, 105 max
HR: 148 avg, 168 max
power: 234 avg, 680 max
Cervelo effort, 8/25/17, 25.32 miles, 1h13m24s
speed: 20.7 avg, 25.1 max
cadence: 89 avg, 106 max
HR: 153 avg, 176 max
power: 217 avg, 677 max
More aero, lighter bike, narrower tires, in roughly identical conditions... comes up to 54 seconds faster. A difference of 0.3mph. In the KOM effort, I spent 7:52 in Z4 and 5:13 in Z5. In the slower one, 11:56 in Z4, and just 33 seconds in Z5.
Mind you, I didn't set out on the day to make this a test, it was coincidental. I was just surprised to see how close the two efforts were in all performance categories-- I guess blind testing helps.
So 7% more power to go 1.2% slower. That casts off any doubts I may have had about the rolling resistance and/or aero penalty of the big wide Pirellis. Nothing like a real hill, so a weight penalty apparently doesn't come into play.
I do know that from previous efforts, getting a single lap under 10 minutes requires an average output right around 250W.
...of course, it's like The Game-- now that it's in my head, any subsequent 40k effort will be tainted. These two will stand side by side forever.
So as I alluded to, I had done this exact thing previously, and actually set the PR back on 8/25/17-- on my Cervelo. Today was on my Ritchey in "road format," shod in 700x35 Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR.
This head to head is steel on 700x35s, 1X gearing 42T - 10/42 cassette vs. carbon on 700x25, mid-compact 52/36 w 11-25 cassette. The Cervelo is about 7lbs lighter than the Ritchey. The tale of the tape:
Ritchey effort, 8/10/19, 25.32 miles, 1h14m19s
speed: 20.4 avg, 27.5 max
cadence: 88 avg, 105 max
HR: 148 avg, 168 max
power: 234 avg, 680 max
Cervelo effort, 8/25/17, 25.32 miles, 1h13m24s
speed: 20.7 avg, 25.1 max
cadence: 89 avg, 106 max
HR: 153 avg, 176 max
power: 217 avg, 677 max
More aero, lighter bike, narrower tires, in roughly identical conditions... comes up to 54 seconds faster. A difference of 0.3mph. In the KOM effort, I spent 7:52 in Z4 and 5:13 in Z5. In the slower one, 11:56 in Z4, and just 33 seconds in Z5.
Mind you, I didn't set out on the day to make this a test, it was coincidental. I was just surprised to see how close the two efforts were in all performance categories-- I guess blind testing helps.
So 7% more power to go 1.2% slower. That casts off any doubts I may have had about the rolling resistance and/or aero penalty of the big wide Pirellis. Nothing like a real hill, so a weight penalty apparently doesn't come into play.
I do know that from previous efforts, getting a single lap under 10 minutes requires an average output right around 250W.
...of course, it's like The Game-- now that it's in my head, any subsequent 40k effort will be tainted. These two will stand side by side forever.