bobby11 wrote:
Every now and then I try to notice comfort and stiffness differences between bikes but I still can't. Come ride the roads I ride. You will. I know wheels, tires and pressures all weigh in enormously, but I can put the same wheels, tires and pressures on two bikes and go ride my Carolina pave and cross the RR tracks a few dozen times and all and ... well, I know the difference.
I'm with 'ya Bob. I've got the luxury of a large stable of bikes as well (9!) and they definitely all ride/feel different and I "like" each one for different reasons. Such is the life of a bike racer. I actually use a different bike for a tight, technical crit vs. an more open crit for example. TT bike though, just one (P5). Couple of cross bikes, etc.
Stiffness pretty hard to discern unless very obvious (like my BMC TMR01 vs. a Ti bike - huge difference). Actually the BMC is the first bike I've ever owned that I feel is TOO stiff. My foray into aero road bikes (2003 Soloist Carbon) was definitely NOT a great crit bike and on the other end though.
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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD