In most sprints, absolute power usually wins. The biggest limiter is the wind, not my bodyweight, although it does matter. If I were to gain 20lbs, my frontal area would be almost the same.
There are always expections, but in general, a larger rider with more muscle will outsprint someone with less muscle. If that weren't the case, track sprinters would all look like roadies. How can you argue with that?
And if I were to put 10lbs of muscle on my skinny legs, do you REALLY think it's going to hurt my ability to pedal fast? Come on.
Like I said before, I'm not looking to be huge. I just don't look like a sprinter at all right now.
BTW, last summer when I gained 15lbs, and was 190lbs, I set PB in all kinds of sprints. Power went up 200watts over my previous best. And I was significantly faster up my 16% hill sprints. Unfortunetly, I lost some muscle this past fall because of a back problem, so now I'm back in the upper 170s.
I am thinking long term with my training. If I wanted to be at my best this summer, I wouldn't be looking to gain weight. But in the long run, the added muscle will enable me to break through previous best performances. I can cut down very easily too, if I feel I am too heavy.
Did you know petacchi has a 5 second power of 24w/kg? Yes, that is the top of the column, which "should" make him a world class match sprinter. But he's not, and he would lose in a sprint against a 200lb+ match sprinter who can do 24w/kg. This is a good example of why power to weight is not the most important for a sprinter. I'm not saying it means nothing and to be a 250lb monster. But absolute power is the most important, in most cases, during sprints.
As for accelerating during a sprint, once you go above 30mph, weight is not that important at all. It's nearly all wind. The rate of acceleration is so much slower that being 30lbs less is not going to make any real difference.
Besides, I just want to hit mega watts