Cyclist magazine reviews - bike weight, rolling resistence etc

[sojournermike]

Froome didnt break the minimum weight rules - it was receiving the food that was verboten.

Ah, I think I understand your point now... I thought you were suggesting that carrying a 50g gel would have taken him over the 6.8kg weight limit. ...

I knew Froome had low body fat, but hadn't realised he was that light;)



Oh yes, the reviews are largely nonsense. Anyone with a vaguely technical perspective will laugh or cry, but just remember that their job is to sell stuff

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Is the rider position identical on both bikes?

Given that the TCR is a road bike and the Transition is a TT bike, I strongly suspect not.

You understand why I asked the question. If anything, the speed difference should have been the other way.

[dim]

so ....

I have 2 reasonably good bikes .... a Giant TCR and a Specialized S-Works transition E5

The Giant is full carbon with standard Giant wheels and 105 groupset

The S-Works is an aluminium frame, with carbon fiorks, carbon seatpost, carbon handlebars etc and has a Campagnolo Chorus Groupset

the S-Works is more than a kg lighter than the TCR ....

but the TCR is 3km/hr faster than the S-Works using the same tyres, the same effort and the same wind conditions.... and I've tested both bikes over the same coures with the same conditions over a long period

bottom line..... the TCR is a fast bike .... I need to try this bike with a pair of Specialized Turbo Cotton tyres and later upgrade the wheels

You are saying that the full aero bike is much slower than the non aero frame?

I strongly suspect something is very wrong with your riding position on the aero bike. You are obviously getting more power out when riding the giant.

forgot to say, the specialized transition has normal bars (not time trial bars:)


The Giant TCR is also an aero frame:

[IJL]

The work you do in cycling up hill relates to the weight of the bike+rider+ kit.  In my case saving a Kilo would be a 1% change so I doubt I would notice.  That percentage change would be different if I was a skinny racing snake rather than 6 foot and 14 stone or if the weight saving on the bike was several KG's.  The 1st factor requires more will power and the 2nd deeper pockets.

 

[Brucey]

to me the bike setup (and thus riding positions) look different enough to cause a significant difference in power output.  I doubt very much that you will be equally comfortable on both machines.

cheers