Weight?

[ryan16]

I am curious I am 6 ft 1inches tall and I am 180lbs. If I was to lose 20lbs and drop down to 160lb and keep the strength that I have now do you think I would gain 2-3mph on a ride? Say I average 20mph on a flat circuit would I then be able to average 22-23mph? I am just curious how much weight has to play with are speed any comments would be great.

Thanks

 

[Lonnie Utah]

The answer to your questions lie within....

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

I ran the numbers for you. With no wind on flat ground, at 180 it will take you 247 watts to go 20 mph. By losing 20 pounds will gain you 0.4 mph with the same 247 watts. *** the earth upwards and you'll see bigger gains....

L

 

[soonerbiker]

I am curious I am 6 ft 1inches tall and I am 180lbs. If I was to lose 20lbs and drop down to 160lb and keep the strength that I have now do you think I would gain 2-3mph on a ride? Say I average 20mph on a flat circuit would I then be able to average 22-23mph? I am just curious how much weight has to play with are speed any comments would be great.

Thanks

I'm 6-2 and I dropped from 195 to 165. Now that I'm settled in at 170, I can ride about an average of 2 mph faster than I did at 195 (17.5 mph vs 19.5 mph); so I think it's possible. Losing weight (and likely gaining some cardiovascular fitness) will really help your endurance and it will keep you fresher towards the end of your rides.

 

[dhk]

The answer to your questions lie within....

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

I ran the numbers for you. With no wind on flat ground, at 180 it will take you 247 watts to go 20 mph. By losing 20 pounds will gain you 0.4 mph with the same 247 watts. *** the earth upwards and you'll see bigger gains....

L

The calculator I use agrees with your 247 watts at 20 mph for a 180 lb rider sitting upright, but only says 20.13 for a 160 lb rider (a savings of .13 mph on the flat). As you know, weight just doesn't matter a whole lot on perfectly level ground.

Up steep hills though (less than 10 mph), speed is almost proportional to weight. EG, on a 10% grade at 247 watts, dropping from 200 lbs total (bike + rider) to 180 lbs, the calculator says you go up from 5.31 mph to 5.87 mph. That's a full 10% faster, about the same as the ratio of 200/180 lbs.

 

[ryan16]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the comments. I guess il just work on the engine.