Is it about the bike? At the very top level, as Chris Froome demonstrated yesterday, it's even worth swapping bikes to gain that crucial advantage. But surely a top rider will beat any of us run-of-the-mill cyclists however much he is handicapped by being made to ride a heavy, slow tank of a bike?
That's what The Guardian's bike columnist Peter Walker and elite racer Iain Cook set out to find out in this video. Walker scored a rather luscious BMC TMR1 aero rocketship and lumbered Cook with a succession of, ahem, more practical bikes: a £250 Pinnacle, Walker's own Dutch commuter complete with child seat and basket full of newspapers and, of course, a Boris Bike.
Starting at opposite sides of the Herne Hill Velodrome, they duked it out in a series of two-lap individual pursuit sessions to determine whether man or machine reigns supreme. The results might surprise you.
12 thoughts on “Video: Man vs bike – The Guardian finds out whether a journo-MAMIL on a superbike is faster than an elite rider on a Boris bike”
Wow this is lame…
Wow this is lame…
I knew it, it’s not me it’s
I knew it, it’s not me it’s my bike. #vindicated
Would’ve made more sense to
Would’ve made more sense to do a hill climb, really. But then I’m taking it a bit too seriously.
It’s vaguely interesting.
It’s vaguely interesting. Vaguely.
But ultimately pointless. There is absolutely no effort from the journo on the first test.
The relevance to being about the bike/rider is what a given rider can do with a given bike. The pro would be many seconds ahead of himself on even the Pinnacle.
I agree the test was pretty
I agree the test was pretty much pointless – but they seemed to mention that themselves several times
A more sensible test would have had two comparable riders – or even the same rider clocked on different bikes
On a slightly related point,
On a slightly related point, I’ve often wondered what difference changing teams, and usually bikes, makes to a pro. In the motorcycle racing world it’s increasingly important to be on the ‘right’ bike o be successful. In pro cycling, is there a ‘best bike’ ?
You can get an aero crouch on
You can get an aero crouch on a Boris Bike: Grasp the front of the carrier, rest your elbows on the bars and go for it!
But yes, very lame.
Amusing but, as the senior
Amusing but, as the senior surgeon said to the junior doctor in one of the old “Doctor in the ….” films, “What’s the bleeding point”.
Amazing what you can get paid for nowadays!
They actually wasted money to
They actually wasted money to make this video ?
Talk about pissing it out the window…
A fourth test – the journo on
A fourth test – the journo on the BMC v the national level rider on his own bike or even another BMC.
Would have shown just how good the guy was.
I don’t mind fluff like this. But you don’t learn anything you didn’t already know…
So I guess this experiment
So I guess this experiment means that buying a £6000 BMC will make me competitive in a national race?
9 minutes long
Can some one
9 minutes long :B
Can some one sum it up, in like, one word – who won 😀