Additional to yesterday’s publish, by which I pushed George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer to its very limits (or a minimum of gently nudged it in direction of the overall neighborhood by which it limits may presumably be discovered)…
…you could have famous that the bike has fairly a tall fork crown, which Paul of Basic 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 in line with Y-Foil nerds on the Web it’s as a result of Trek designed the bike to be appropriate with a suspension fork:
As we speak in fact 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 can be at the moment widespread, 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 wholly new dimension to its dorkiness, and it’s changing into more and more clear to me that on the subject of absolutely 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 publish, my completely scientific testing confirmed that George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer is certainly quicker than The Final Dad Bike:
Exhilarated by the joys of discovery, I resolved to speed-test yet 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 completely different, just like the Homer?
Setting out, I knew the Homer could be slower than each the ‘Mond and the ‘Foil. The true query was: How a lot slower would it not be? So I strapped on a pair of sandals and hit the street. The outcome?
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 (nicely 36 rear, 32 entrance) carry out practically identically to the featherweight LeMond with its minimally-spoked ultralight race wheels? Nicely, I’ve just a few theories:
- Jan Heine is correct and wider tires are quicker (even once they’re rugged Schwalbes with reflective sidewalls and never supple Heinian tires)
- Because of the aforementioned wider tires, plus the bike’s inherent stability because of its lengthy wheelbase, I used to be in a position to trip quicker over the tough sections of the bike path the place the roots are forcing the pavement to buckle
- The Homer is extra snug, and so I used to be in a position to spend extra time within the drops
- Whereas I truthfully thought the Homer could be measurably slower, as soon as I received began perhaps I subconsciously hoped for an upset and thus made extra of an effort with out realizing it
- Satirically the handlebars on the Homer are narrower than the bars on each the Y-Foil and the LeMond, so perhaps handlebar width is much more vital than stuff like spoke rely, which would definitely clarify why the professionals are driving such slender bars as of late
- As an previous, out-of-shape, and balding semi-professional bike blogger, I merely don’t trip quick sufficient to appreciate any of the advantages of aerodynamic bicycle gear
I feel every one in every of these theories has benefit, however finally I believe it’s that final one which explains like most of what’s occurring right here.
