Additional to yesterday’s put up, during which I pushed George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.okay.a. The Charity Experience Destroyer to its very limits (or at the very least gently nudged it in direction of the overall neighborhood during which it limits may presumably be discovered)…
…you will have famous that the bike has moderately a tall fork crown, which Paul of Traditional Cycle has in comparison with “high-waisted denims:”
I had simply assumed the body should require an unusually proportioned fork as a result of the body is optimized for aerodynamics and blah blah blah, however based on Y-Foil nerds on the Web it’s as a result of Trek designed the bike to be suitable with a suspension fork:
Right now after all gravel bike suspension forks have gotten more and more frequent, Lob assist us:
[My gravel bike suspension fork buyer’s guide: Don’t.]
However like so many different concepts in biking which are at present in style, that is nothing new, and for awhile there riders have been even deploying them at Paris-Roubaix:
Anyway, if what I’ve learn is true and the Y-Foil is certainly “suspension-corrected,” this provides a completely new dimension to its dorkiness, and it’s turning into more and more clear to me that in relation to totally comprehending the character and magnitude of its dorkitude I’ve solely simply barely begun to make out its contours within the fog.
Additionally additional to yesterday’s put up, my completely scientific testing confirmed that George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.okay.a. The Charity Experience Destroyer is certainly quicker than The Final Dad Bike:
Exhilarated by the fun of discovery, I resolved to speed-test one more bike. However which? La Faggin con Spinerghese? The Cervino with its pro-quality tubular tires and cutting-edge componentry from 1982? However testing but extra street racing bikes simply appeared like splitting hairs. Then it hit me: why not strive one thing totally different, just like the Homer?
Setting out, I knew the Homer could be slower than each the ‘Mond and the ‘Foil. The actual query was: How a lot slower would it not be? So I strapped on a pair of sandals and hit the street. The consequence?
Yeah, that’s proper: whereas the Homer was slower than the Y-Foil, it beat the LeMond by 15 seconds.
How may this be?!? How may the Homer, full with full fenders, touring tires, a headlight sitting on the market within the wind, and 36-spoke wheels (properly 36 rear, 32 entrance) carry out almost identically to the featherweight LeMond with its minimally-spoked ultralight race wheels? Effectively, I’ve just a few theories:
- Jan Heine is correct and wider tires are quicker (even after they’re rugged Schwalbes with reflective sidewalls and never supple Heinian tires)
- Because of the aforementioned wider tires, plus the bike’s inherent stability due to its lengthy wheelbase, I used to be capable of journey quicker over the tough sections of the bike path the place the roots are forcing the pavement to buckle
- The Homer is extra comfy, and so I used to be capable of spend extra time within the drops
- Whereas I actually thought the Homer could be measurably slower, as soon as I bought began possibly I subconsciously hoped for an upset and thus made extra of an effort with out realizing it
- Paradoxically the handlebars on the Homer are narrower than the bars on each the Y-Foil and the LeMond, so possibly handlebar width is much more necessary than stuff like spoke depend, which would definitely clarify why the professionals are using such slender bars as of late
- As an previous, out-of-shape, and balding semi-professional bike blogger, I merely don’t journey quick sufficient to comprehend any of the advantages of aerodynamic bicycle gear
I feel every one in every of these theories has benefit, however finally I think it’s that final one which explains like most of what’s happening right here.
