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Size and aerodynamics

  • 02-06-2009 8:50am
    #1
    pburns
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,423 ✭✭✭


    One of my bikes is a 21" MTB which is way to big for an offroad bike of this type (I'm 5'10"). I also have a 20" road bike (although slanted bar) which should be just right for my height. The MTB though has it's advantages on the road. Because the frame is slightly too big I'm leaning down more which I think is advantagous in comparison to the more upright, aggressive road-bike (flat bar racer). The handlebars seem a bit wide but it's quite pleasant. Add in some badly repaired, pockmarked roads and the MTB is as fast on short runs (8 miles) as the supposedly faster road bike...

    I'm thinking of moving back the saddle on the latter, maybe only a mm or so an fitting bull bars (which don't fit easily 'cos the Trek 7.5 grips are fat at the ends).

    I know drop bars are the way to go if yopu want to slip through the air more easily but the aggressive, upright stance of road-bikes surprises me and strikes me as disadvantagous...


Comments

  • #2
    Lumen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,220 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    pburns wrote: »
    the aggressive, upright stance of road-bikes surprises me and strikes me as disadvantagous...

    That's wronger than a wrongun.

    Given proper fitting, your position on a road bike should be narrower with a lower frontal area.

    The only advantage to being more upright (as on a mountain bike) is that you can produce more power due to the more open hip angle, but that's no use unless you're cycling in a vacuum, and that would require considerable anaerobic capacity.


  • #3
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    @pburns- that is a hybrid, not a "road" bike in the sense of a racer.

    A road racing bike will have a more aerodynamic position than a mountain bike.

    Many mountain bikes do have more of a saddle-bar drop than your typical hybrid.


  • #4
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    From a very non-technical perspective I've found the road bike much more versatile than my hybrid.

    On the hybrid there is essentially one position - upright, and while you can vary the width of your grip, there's not, in my experience, much else you can do to change body posture to suit conditions.


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