thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
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thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby zill » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:32 pm
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby Le Mong » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:33 pm
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby herzog » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:45 pm
For endurance road cycling you need to be light. Tyler Hamilton's book throws a lot of light on this (amongst other things)
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby cp123 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:37 pm
You can't compare 85 kg Thor Hushovds with 60 kg Alberto Contadors. Each are good in their own right.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby zill » Sun Apr 13, 2014 11:53 pm
Would the person with the thicker or thinner legs be preferred?
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby Derny Driver » Mon Apr 14, 2014 12:48 am
Neither.zill wrote:Please note that I am assuming two riders with the same weight!!!!!!!
Would the person with the thicker or thinner legs be preferred?
The guy with the best genes would win.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby bychosis » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:39 am
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby nescius » Mon Apr 14, 2014 7:07 am
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby Xplora » Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:45 pm
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby Rhubarb » Mon Apr 14, 2014 1:51 pm
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby rogan » Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:41 pm
The real difference is above the waist. A thinner upper body is definitely an advantage for road cycling.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby im_no_pro » Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:06 pm
Depends on so many other variables. Are they racing up Alpe D'Huez or a hot dog crit? Each will have areas/disciplines they outperform the other in.zill wrote:Please note that I am assuming two riders with the same weight!!!!!!!
Would the person with the thicker or thinner legs be preferred?
master6 wrote: Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby boss » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:01 am
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby zill » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:07 am
Ok but how do you measure heart and lungs? What tests are available?boss wrote:The one with the better lungs and heart.
Also what training can be done to improve it?
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby herzog » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:10 am
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thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby toolonglegs » Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:58 pm
A VO2 max test ... That will tell you your upper limit, but it isn't the be all and end all. Have a super high VO2 max doesn't mean you are guaranteed success... That comes down to hard work and mental toughness.zill wrote:Ok but how do you measure heart and lungs? What tests are available?boss wrote:The one with the better lungs and heart.
Also what training can be done to improve it?
You can only sustain a certain percentage of your maximum ... That can only be improved with training, how much of your maximum you can sustain is the more telling figure while figuring in your VO2 max.
The biggest most efficient heart and lungs don't win...Certainly help though
PS ... A MAP test can be done at home on a trainer, if you have a power meter you can get a pretty good result... It won't tell you your VO2 result but there are comparisons there... If you get up over 500 watts for the last minute then you are at a pretty good level ( if you body mass is also in a good range ).
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby zill » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:37 pm
Thanks for the information. Was it true that Cadel Evans had an insane VO2 max?toolonglegs wrote:A VO2 max test ... That will tell you your upper limit, but it isn't the be all and end all. Have a super high VO2 max doesn't mean you are guaranteed success... That comes down to hard work and mental toughness.zill wrote:Ok but how do you measure heart and lungs? What tests are available?boss wrote:The one with the better lungs and heart.
Also what training can be done to improve it?
You can only sustain a certain percentage of your maximum ... That can only be improved with training, how much of your maximum you can sustain is the more telling figure while figuring in your VO2 max.
The biggest most efficient heart and lungs don't win...Certainly help though
PS ... A MAP test can be done at home on a trainer, if you have a power meter you can get a pretty good result... It won't tell you your VO2 result but there are comparisons there... If you get up over 500 watts for the last minute then you are at a pretty good level ( if you body mass is also in a good range ).
How about a 20 minute power test? What is that useful for?
Do you think I could fit a 20 minute power test and a MAP test in one hour? Or is that not advisable?
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby Xplora » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:13 pm
The plus side, MAP and 20 minute power test aren't that different in their aims. I think you are focusing on the How of training, rather than the Do of training. My personal experience, after having a little time off - hard training is incredibly draining on the mind, and you can't get around that. Better to ease into all of this, and do it sustainably.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby toolonglegs » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:59 pm
You could probably do a MAP test one day and a 20 min the next if you freshen up before hand.
Really they should be part of your training... Testing once a month or 6 weeks.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby g-boaf » Mon Apr 21, 2014 6:41 pm
You wouldn't do that. You'd do one test - and then the other one at a different time. Otherwise I would guess fatigue from one will hurt the other. Once you've done the test - then you've got to take that info and use it to make your training work.zill wrote:
Thanks for the information. Was it true that Cadel Evans had an insane VO2 max?
How about a 20 minute power test? What is that useful for?
Do you think I could fit a 20 minute power test and a MAP test in one hour? Or is that not advisable?
And that's the DO bit that Xplora is talking about. If you don't put in the hard work, it's pointless. The mental toughness is more difficult. Get out there and push your limits .
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby jules21 » Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:16 pm
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby zill » Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:24 pm
What about doing one test followed by one night of rest then the other test the next day?g-boaf wrote:You wouldn't do that. You'd do one test - and then the other one at a different time. Otherwise I would guess fatigue from one will hurt the other. Once you've done the test - then you've got to take that info and use it to make your training work.zill wrote:
Thanks for the information. Was it true that Cadel Evans had an insane VO2 max?
How about a 20 minute power test? What is that useful for?
Do you think I could fit a 20 minute power test and a MAP test in one hour? Or is that not advisable?
And that's the DO bit that Xplora is talking about. If you don't put in the hard work, it's pointless. The mental toughness is more difficult. Get out there and push your limits .
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby g-boaf » Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:25 am
But wouldn't you just stagger the tests so that you do one, and then later on do another one 5-6 weeks later?
The MAP test would give you a reasonable amount of what you need to know, and you could supplement it with another bit of testing done at the end of each effort if you were really serious. Another variation of that, you could start it at 70% of your FTP and every 3 minutes, ramp the percentage up by 10% until you get to 150%. You would probably finish up at around 130-140% when you reach failure point. That's one I did a while back.
Or you could do something like this:
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/02/ais-p ... e-testing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That will also give you a lot of information to guide your training. If you want to see someone suffer, watch someone doing that test. Believe me, the 10 minutes at the end really hurt, especially the last 2 minutes of the 10 minute effort.
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby dynamictiger » Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:38 pm
Personal observations...Kiwis are good at Rugby. In fact if you go there you will see Rugby is more or less all that is played. When you look at Kiwis as a group they tend to be of a fairly solid build. Not the imports the ones born there I mean. The blokes tend towards stocky rather than thin. This is an ideal build for Rugby...not so good for cycling I think.
In WA I have met more people than any other time of my life across four countries who are all over 188cm tall. This sort of height favours AFL so WA are quite keen on aussie rules and again it is played a lot here.
It seems on personal observations different populations and environments favour one body shape over another. I would be reasonably certain diet comes into the equation as colder climates tend to eat heavier and thicker meals than warmer countries so lead to heavier and thicker builds. What this has to do with legs...
Logic would suggest the person with the thicker legs comes from a population and environment where the heavier thicker set is favoured more than the thinner and lighter builds seen elsewhere. I think it would suggest the two persons side by side, assuming weight is the same, height is similar the thicker legged person would be at a disadvantage. My reasoning follows that the person built naturally bigger should be bigger and to get down to the same size as the smaller opponent is not really fuelling themselves properly.
Anyway for what its worth
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Re: thicker or thinner legs better for road cycling?
Postby nirismo » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:47 pm
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