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Step aside, step aside, track sprinter about to drop the gym knowledge... pfft :P
Crit racers and track racers are absolute monsters who spend loads of time in the gym
Not true at all. Crits are still massive endurance events and it's very difficult to replicate the SPEED of muscle movement required for crit racing in a gym. Plyometrics maybe but cadence in a crit is 110+ so good luck getting that leg speed out of squats. Track sprinting, different ball game - much lower starting cadence and much bigger gears.
If strength work was without value to road cyclists, then none of them would do it
Most of them wouldn't do it, if it wasn't for their teams insisting. There's some evidence it can be beneficial and I'd put money on there being tonnes of racers who've had success having never stepped foot in a gym.
Strength work certainly isn't restricted to off-season and isn't restricted to outside so your ice/snow arguments falls down too - just because you like gyms - roadies like eating road grit. A good turbo will allow most road riders to complete high gear low cadence work quite effectively.
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hippy
dan
So much breeze on this page about strength training!
Size doesn't always equal strength. If I've not been in the gym for a month, my legs will still be the same size, but I won't be able to get nearly as much out of them. I will be able to do 5 reps in a set at a weight I was able to do 10 at a month ago. That matters.
It's stupid to think that strength isn't important though. If strength work was without value to road cyclists, then none of them would do it - the reason that they keep the weight down and reps up is because they are all completely neurotic about weight. Crit racers and track racers are absolute monsters who spend loads of time in the gym - just look at Clancy et al.
And as for in the gym versus on the bike - most road cyclists do weight training during a build phase in the winter. Would you rather do low cadence hill reps in rain/ice/snow/sub zero temps or squats in a nice warm gym where you can have a steam and a shower after?
I've done both this winter and I know which I preferred.
Lastly - and pretty importantly, compound lifts like squats and deadlifts really build up all stabilising muscles (core, back etc) in a way that cycling never does, and that you'd be hard pushed to recreate with planks and 'cyclists core' workouts you see in magazines. Cycling requires those muscles but doesn't build them. Muscle also protects bone in a crash.
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edit: that wasn't so much a reply to @Smallfurry - more one to a bunch of stuff on this page