Interesting Facts Road Cyclists Are Passionate About

Cycling Weekly

Road cyclists are a passionate bunch and they really do love their sport. This can lead us into caring a bit too much about something's which maybe we shouldn't.  Cycling Weekly's Sam Gupta runs through nine different aspects of the sport that maybe we should let go of in the pursuit of getting back to the core of why we really love road cycling.

Transcript

00:00We as cyclists are a bit of a funny bunch, but there's no disputing that. We get obsessed over

00:05the small details and are pretty well known for sweating the small stuff. Now, I'm sure like most

00:11of you, geeking out on the details is actually really quite fun and satisfies a weird part of

00:17our brains. Quietly thinking about every detail of my bike and the parts that I may wish to upgrade

00:23in the future consumes more of my brain activity than it probably should. But recently, I took a

00:30step back and realised that there's actually quite a few dumb things that we as cyclists

00:35probably shouldn't care about. So, let's get into them.

00:44Bike weight is one metric which is poured over more than most. Most people generally want a lighter

00:50bike. The reason being that lighter bikes take less effort to power over climbs. They feel more

00:56responsive and generally make the experience of cycling a lot more fun. However, while enjoying

01:02the difference, a one kilo saving is something that everyone can do. If you already have a bike that is

01:08between seven and eight kilos, you really do start to fall into a game of diminishing returns. Sure,

01:15it might be possible to save 50 grams with a change of pedals or 100 grams with a change of saddle. But

01:21when you consider what that difference is as a percentage of overall bike and rider weight combined,

01:27you're not even close to making a 1% improvement. Also, the thing that makes me laugh is the fact

01:33that you can have a beautifully lightweight bike and then slide in a full bottle of water which will

01:39usually weigh in at more than 700 grams. Also, I believe that the smallest of weight savings should

01:46probably be reserved for riders who might not have much weight to lose themselves. If you are carrying

01:52a little bit of extra timber, perhaps riding your slightly heavier bike could actually net a larger

01:58weight saving game and make you faster in the process too.

02:07The latest trend of pretending your bike is completely cable-less and brake hose-free is rife.

02:14Massively helped by the widespread adoption of integrated carbon bars, those which allow for the cables and

02:19hoses to be rooted inside the bars themselves and then down through the head tube, mean we're left with

02:25something which is rather aesthetically pleasing. While I'm not going to argue against the clear

02:31improvement in aesthetics, in my opinion at least, the resulting aero saving gains are slightly

02:38questionable and it's those aero efficiencies that these bars are often marketed as offering.

02:44I'm sure tucking the hoses out of the wind does create a saving, however, that saving is not going to

02:51be more than a couple of watts. So, if you are a rider who wants to be as slippery as possible,

02:58perhaps spend more time thinking about the width of your bars and your position rather than whether

03:03your cables are exposed. I can guarantee you will find a bigger saving.

03:14Another one for the diminishing returns brigade are ceramic bearings. They are absolutely mesmerizing

03:19when you give either a wheel or a chainset a spin and then they spin seemingly endlessly. However,

03:25before you go and get yourself to the point of investing in such an upgrade, ask yourself this,

03:31are you staying on top of your steel bearing maintenance? Are you keeping your chain clean

03:36and using a high quality lubricant or wax? Are you ensuring your tyre pressure is correct before every

03:42ride? All of these things will net a greater improvement compared to ceramic bearings and on the whole,

03:49cost a fair bit less too. So, while ceramic bearings do have their place for those who can extract the

03:56benefits of their silky smooth ways, I think the majority of us really don't need to worry ourselves

04:03too much with them. There's nothing quite like having someone ask you what your FTP is,

04:12only to have to justify it with what your watts per kilo are. At least, that's true in my experience.

04:18But really, should we even really care what our FTP is? Sure, it does give you an indicator as to what

04:25your fitness level is, but it can also be a pretty flawed metric. For those who undertake a 20 minute

04:32test and then minus five percent, it's not really the best way to calculate how much power you can

04:39sustain for an entire hour, which is what your FTP should tell you. For a lot of people, the maximum amount

04:46of power that you can sustain for an hour can only be found out by doing just that, an hour of pain.

04:54Additionally, for most people, we're never actually riding at pure threshold for an hour or even just

04:5920 minutes. The open roads throw up too many variables. So, perhaps don't worry about what your

05:06FTP is, but instead think about your explosive high-end power, which is the stuff that's great for

05:12getting you away from a set of lights in a flash. Your ability to smoothly and safely ride the wheels

05:18of your fellow riders and building up your anticipation of what the other road users around

05:24you might do. Mastering these things will increase your real-world speed.

05:29Another one that I am guilty of is caring too much about shaving my legs. I've always been pretty

05:41upfront about the fact that I just like the way that it looks, rather than caring about any sort of

05:46aerodynamic or injury-related benefits. Sure, it is handy when getting a massage, but I, for one,

05:53know that it's a problem when I can't go and meet my mates for a ride unless my legs are freshly shaved and

05:59moisturised. Certainly one I'll try and grow out of, but some habits do die hard.

06:09If it's not on Strava, then it doesn't count. A phrase that I have heard maybe a thousand times and

06:16have probably even repeated myself. We're all very obsessed about recording every metre we cover by

06:22bike, but should we be? I know for sure that some of my favourite rides have been ones where I've left

06:28the head unit at home and just ridden without having a little screen to stare at. Sure,

06:34GPS computers are great and they do provide a wealth of information right at your fingertips,

06:40but really not every ride has to be recorded. It's totally fine to just head out and just enjoy

06:47being outdoors with zero distractions. If anything, it's a bit better.

06:52The weather is yet another thing which I am guilty of caring too much about. It's very easy to write a

07:03day off if the wind is too strong or the chance of rain is slightly too high. But if the conditions

07:10aren't deemed to be unsafe, then just go for a ride. It's so rare that you'll feel worse for it and the

07:16chances are the conditions will be better than you may expect. The only reason to pay attention to

07:22what the forecast says is to ensure that you've got the right kind of clothing on and to check

07:27which way the wind is blowing in case you want to go for a KLM attempt.

07:36Much like FTP, constantly monitoring your average speed is kind of pointless. For a long time,

07:42all I cared about was always increasing it by another mile an hour. But when I realized how

07:48easy it was for the metric to be influenced by wind direction, traffic lights and other road users

07:54and a dozen other variables, I started to care a lot less. Sure, it's really nice when you head out

08:01and end up getting around your local loop a lot faster than otherwise you may have expected. But if

08:07getting faster is what you really care about, then get yourself a power meter and monitor

08:12those numbers instead. They really are a much better reflection of where your fitness is really at.

08:18And when you complete power-based training sessions, it's inevitable that your average speed will start

08:24to creep up as a by-product. People have been riding bikes for a really long time. So much so that our

08:36beloved sport is steeped in tradition. But this has led us to a point where perhaps we might care a

08:42little bit too much about cycling's long history. On one hand, it's great to understand and learn about

08:49the roots and heritage of a sport. But that shouldn't come at the cost of embracing the future and

08:54understanding that change is inevitable. It's no surprise that we're living in an era of intense

09:01innovation and that can often come with some growing pains. But with the beauty of perspective

09:07and hindsight, the end result is often something that is better than what it replaces. It may just

09:13take a few product cycles to get there. For example, steel frames to carbon frames, rim brakes to disc

09:20brakes and mechanical gears to electronic gears. I know that a lot of you love to celebrate and enjoy the

09:26tech of yesteryear. And that's great. But maybe try and keep an open mind for what's to come. It's not

09:34all bad. Let me know down below, what do you think cyclists care too much about? If you enjoyed the

09:39video, then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content, and I will see you again

09:44very soon.

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