Weight Vs Power
There has been major corporate competition to lower the weight of racing bikes. wheels are available with comparatively lower friction bearings and other features to lower resistance, however in measured tests these components have almost no effect on cycling performance when riding on flat ground. The UCI sets a limit on the minimum weight of bicycles to be used in sanctioned races, to discourage making structures so thin that they become unsafe. For these reasons recent designs have concentrated on lowering wind resistance by using aerodynamically shaped tubing, flat spokes on the wheels, and handlebars that position the rider's torso and arms for minimal drag. These changes can impact performance dramatically, cutting minutes off a time trial. Less weight results in larger time savings on uphill terrain.
Read more about this topic: Bicycle Performance
Famous quotes containing the words weight and/or power:
“I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world’s altar-stairs
That slope thro’ darkness up to God,”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“The delicious faces of children, the beauty of school-girls, “the sweet seriousness of sixteen,” the lofty air of well-born, well-bred boys, the passionate histories in the looks and manners of youth and early manhood, and the varied power in all that well-known company that escort us through life,—we know how these forms thrill, paralyze, provoke, inspire, and enlarge us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)