Is it easier to walk up a stair than to bike up a hill?

[Bruce W.1]

Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?

I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.

Thanks for your help.

 

[RWM]

"Bruce W.1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:gXjLc.4927$_K2.582@lakeread02...
> Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
> walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?
>
> I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.
>
> Thanks for your help.

I believe that the answer depends on the grade. I think that there was a
discussion about this here, or RBR, during this years Giro and that there
was an agreement that when it gets really steep that the advantage goes to
the runner.

 

[Mike Beauchamp]

Would the advantage still go to the walker if the person on the bike had any
gear to pick from (not just ones that look cool and don't make them look
like a "wussy")?

Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com

"RWM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Bruce W.1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:gXjLc.4927$_K2.582@lakeread02...
> > Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
> > walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?
> >
> > I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
>
> I believe that the answer depends on the grade. I think that there was a
> discussion about this here, or RBR, during this years Giro and that there
> was an agreement that when it gets really steep that the advantage goes to
> the runner.
>
>

 

[Terry Morse]

RWM wrote:

> I believe that the answer depends on the grade. I think that there was a
> discussion about this here, or RBR, during this years Giro and that there
> was an agreement that when it gets really steep that the advantage goes to
> the runner.

The best vertical ascent rates for stair climbing and cycling up a
steep road like Mt. Ventoux are very similar. The stair climbing
record holders didn't have to carry a bicycle, though, so the prize
in the OP's scenario goes to the cyclists.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

 

[Art Harris]

"Bruce W.1" wrote:

> Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
> walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?
>
> I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.

The work (in ft-lbs) required to get to the top is the combined weight
of the bike and rider times the vertical distance. When riding,
additional energy is required to overcome things like rolling
resistance, friction in bearings, etc. So it would take less total
energy to carry the bike up a stairway.

Whether that would be "easier" is another matter. Is it easier to walk
up a long ramp or a short, steep stairway with the same vertical gain?

Art Harris

 

[Rick Onanian]

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 21:47:56 -0400, "Bruce W.1"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
>walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?

Google groups. We had exactly this same question last year.
--
Rick Onanian

 

[RonSonic]

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 21:47:56 -0400, "Bruce W.1" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
>walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?
>
>I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.

I think that's the factor that makes climbing stages so important and
psychologically significant in racing - it's the one time where walking is more
efficient than riding. Let's put it this way, if you're riding on level ground,
no matter how bad you feel, even if your left lung is falling out, you're going
to stay on the bike to pedal home. Now picture yourself going up a mountain and
having a bad time of it, you aren't going to keep pedaling, you'll get off and
walk.

That's a little off your question. but I'd say the stairs were easier and the
bike faster - better than both would be walking, trotting up the road leaning on
the bike.

Ron

 

[DirtRoadie]

[email protected] (Art Harris) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> The work (in ft-lbs) required to get to the top is the combined weight
> of the bike and rider times the vertical distance. When riding,
> additional energy is required to overcome things like rolling
> resistance, friction in bearings, etc. So it would take less total
> energy to carry the bike up a stairway.

Using that logic, a bike would also be slower going downhill because
of all the increased energy required to overcome the rolling
resistance, etc.
I don't think your point is valid since it assumes that walking is
completely free of any inefficiencies and cycling is not.

DR

 

[Harris]

DirtRoadie <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] (Art Harris) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > The work (in ft-lbs) required to get to the top is the combined weight
> > of the bike and rider times the vertical distance. When riding,
> > additional energy is required to overcome things like rolling
> > resistance, friction in bearings, etc. So it would take less total
> > energy to carry the bike up a stairway.

> Using that logic, a bike would also be slower going downhill because
> of all the increased energy required to overcome the rolling
> resistance, etc.

I didn't say slower, I said riding would require slightly more energy.
Whether walking/running is faster or slower depends on the grade.

Art Harris

 

[Dora Smith]

Question I"m working on is, which is easier, riding a bike with a fractured
fibula, or walking on it?

Now, riding FEELS alot easier, and it's sure alot faster; both seem to
annoy the leg.


My answer would probably depend on if you have knee trouble, or asthma!

Anyway, my asthma forces me to walk my bike up most hills.

Walk up stairs carrying a bike?

I'd walk the bike up the hill.



--

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
[email protected]
"Bruce W.1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:gXjLc.4927$_K2.582@lakeread02...
> Say you had to climb a thousand feet. Would it be faster and easier to
> walk up stairs carrying your bike or to ride the bike up a road?
>
> I'd test this theory but I don't know any stairs this long.
>
> Thanks for your help.