How much does singlespeed slow you down?

Yeah I know about the Athletes hour e.t.c I', not a complete idiot but not everyone does that do they. I mean a stage on one of the tours, mass start mass finish public roads decent length e.t.c

edit @hippy

Hippy, you mean you can't SEE you toes when you touch them?

Does this mean that you are welated to Bigguth Dickuth, Centuwion of Wome?

he wishes

Yeah I know about the Athletes hour e.t.c I', not a complete idiot but not everyone does that do they. I mean a stage on one of the tours, mass start mass finish public roads decent length e.t.c
edit @hippy

With everyone on the same bike? Why? They have enough bikes. They'd get nothing from bike sponsors. They're all on different drugs anyway.

Here's something more your style Captain Retrogrouch:
http://www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk/cycling/leroica

I never said anything about being retro just standarised. Just make the playing field as level as possible for one stage within a race. I know you can't get rid of the drugs but level it off a little.

The biggest problem would be that for a sponsor it would be adventitious for their top man to do really badly on the standard bike so as to claim the bike took Mr average to Mr champion.

I'm not retro I'm an idealist in the fact that I would like to see one regular event that was more about the person than the technology.

I would never want to remove technology or to freeze it, the progression is important but it's nice to beable to have the odd event that is more raw.

cycling's not really the right sport for that, based on the fact that it's all about man's ability to power a machine. not all bikes suit everyone, so who decides what bike to use?

you tell 'em!

"Level it off a little" - how much advantage do you think one pro's bike has over another?
Almost all the bikes are under-eight. They all run power meters and their choice of deep carbon wheels or ultralight carbon climbing wheels. It's not like F1 where there's an obviously faster make of car, I just don't see the need to level the playing field in pro cycling. All the kit is feckin' good.

Maybe the TT bikes give a bit of an advantage but at the top level I'm sure more time is lost due to the rider being a poor tt'er than small changes to carbon layup.

I wonder if there has been a comparison done between pro bikes and their relative performances? I just think they're all damn close and it ain't worth leveling.

Did you read about the Japanese moaning about the Speedo swimsuits. There's technology for you, apparently the new Speedo's are so effective that 30 world records have been broken because of the swimsuit in the past 12 months and now the Japanese fear that their country will be at a disadvantage at the Olympics solely based on swimsuit.

And thinking of which... Chris Boardmans bike was an advantage when that was raced.

cycling's not really the right sport for that, based on the fact that it's all about man's ability to power a machine.

The machine can be thought of as a power measuring device, in which case if each one of these devices gives a different reading it makes perfect sense to have a standardised race every once in while. This allows us to asses the athletes within this one sport which they (the athletes) have found to be the best according to a combination of metrics for them and hence chosen to compete in.

not all bikes suit everyone, so who decides what bike to use?

Everyone rides the same genre of bike in road race anyway so it would just be standardizing the bike and have in different sizes.

you tell 'em!

Tell them what bikes to use?

Sweet.

From now on, all cyclists will use 80's Peugeots, with heavy carbolite tubes and a playing card pegged in the spokes.

@tommy, are you copy and pasting that from some where??
grammar is bloody good :)
@BRM haha

I wonder if there has been a comparison done between pro bikes and their relative performances? I just think they're all damn close and it ain't worth leveling.

Exactly you think, but don't know. If on one or every tour of the tours (or some other annual popular event) there was this test it would be nice to see the difference once a year or every so often. I never said all events should be like this but that it would be nie to see the odd event (or one) like this.

Exactly you think, but don't know. If on one or every tour of the tours (or some other annual popular event) there was this test it would be nice to see the difference once a year or every so often. I never said all events should be like this but that it would be nie to see the odd event (or one) like this.

Like a Keirin race?

@tommy, are you copy and pasting that from some where??
grammar is bloody good :)

The sun shines on a dogs ass some days.

Like a Keirin race?

I know about that but as I stated this is not widely participated in the sense that the tours are. It's not a road race e.t.c

edit:

Hence it's different people as well as a different style of race.

edit2:

that sounds a bit rude but not meant to be hope you get the point without being upset.

The sun shines on a dogs ass some days.
#

Sweet. I'm going borrow that.

what the dogs ass?

If that's cool with you?
:)

Tell them what bikes to use?

Sweet.

From now on, all cyclists will use 80's Peugeots, with heavy carbolite tubes and a playing card pegged in the spokes.

For once, i'm one step ahead of the competition.

ぐずぐず！！

ぎりぎり　(girigiri) my favourite- dodgy

the UCI are pretty tight on regs - banning innovative frame designs, maintaining min weight (6.8kg). Means that bikes don't really matter in races, whatever the industry might like to say to flog expensive kit.

By any terrain I meant any road in London

There's "terrain" in London? Lol
Come to Wales, we have real "terrain".

the UCI are pretty tight on regs .

Yeah, not fair is it?

See, it was an enlightening debate, after all. Perhaps not the one I had in mind, but glad to have started it anyway :-)

FWIW, I ride singlespeed 'cos I don't like changing gear, don't like cleaning/maintaining gears and like the elegance of a simple design.

I don't subscribe to this 'my way's the best way' mentality so prevalent on forums, particularly when people get so agressive against the 'other side' which threatens their way of thinking (eg Mac v PC). If you're really sure that something is best for you then that's cool; who cares if people don't agree with you.

So, in summary, I don't have gears. Some other people do have gears. And I still like them (unless they're a tosser for other reasons).

Simon