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Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

lemond.com

291–300 of 308 posts

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#291

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

> whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves I'm a fluid dynamics researcher, and I'll tell you the money these people spend on "aero" and "weight saving" and "higher drivetrain efficiency" stuff is 99.9% snake oil. Unless you are among the top 1000 road bike racers in the world. Increasing your exercise load by half an hour per week, or spending a little time understanding and implem…

Cycling is huge here in Belgium, definitely as a hobby.

A semi-professional once told me how crazy it is that people with a beer belly spend a huge amout of money on their bike, just to get a few grams off. A proper diet could save them a few kilos for free.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#292

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

> whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves I'm a fluid dynamics researcher, and I'll tell you the money these people spend on "aero" and "weight saving" and "higher drivetrain efficiency" stuff is 99.9% snake oil. Unless you are among the top 1000 road bike racers in the world. Increasing your exercise load by half an hour per week, or spending a little time understanding and implem…

My brother used to run a aftermarket Ducati performance parts company. “Racers” would swap out every bolt on the bike from steel to titanium (which is actually a terrible idea for a high end sports bike), yet leave the 15 lbs “toolbox” (which was a useless joke of a toolset) under the seat. Also, there’s a reason most jockeys (for horses) are tiny...

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-bikes are perhaps the most misunderstood category of bike products right now. Traditional bikers have underestimated demand for e-bikes at every step of the way for one reason: Traditional biking has a massive selection bias effect that excludes anyone who isn’t in great physical shape. The deeper you are into cycling, the more homogenous your perception of what constitutes a biker. You’re not going to see average…

Great points. I just bought two eBikes in the last six months and I love them so much. One thing that I really hate though is how hard it is to change flat tires and dealing with the bike shops. I can't imagine an older person being able to change the tires on either of my eBikes. I swapped out one pair for a pair that is somewhat easier to work with but it can still take me 20 minutes to put on a new tube. The bike…

Haven’t gotten a flat since I went tubeless, you might want to give it a try. Changing and setting up the tire is more involved but once done you’re much less likely to have to do it again.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#294

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

RE: single crank

Monocranks are a new trend with the 11 speed cogs, and electric assist will effectively flatten things so you don't need as many lower gears.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that weight saved on anything that rotates has an even bigger impact, but that doesn't change what you've said. The vast majority of posers bragging about the 500 grams they've saved in parts are carrying an extra 10 pounds on their own frame.

the rotating weight thing is mostly myth, while true that rotating mass costs more to accelerate, cyclists don’t accelerate hard enough for it to amount to anything substantive. source: i did the math in excel

The TdF pros disagree with you. Yes they can be traditionalist and have "pack mentality", but these people spend literally 6-10 hours on a bike straight.

In particular, when you are bonking and trying to keep up with a group or get up a mountain, you become PAINFULLY aware of the deficiencies in your equipment. An extra pound on your bike when trying to keep up with your group up a 8% grade will feel like you're carrying an anvil.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great points. I just bought two eBikes in the last six months and I love them so much. One thing that I really hate though is how hard it is to change flat tires and dealing with the bike shops. I can't imagine an older person being able to change the tires on either of my eBikes. I swapped out one pair for a pair that is somewhat easier to work with but it can still take me 20 minutes to put on a new tube. The bike…

Haven’t gotten a flat since I went tubeless, you might want to give it a try. Changing and setting up the tire is more involved but once done you’re much less likely to have to do it again.

Yea both of my mountain bikes are now tubeless and I agree that it is much less of a hassle. My main point is that everybody is talking about how eBikes can get the older folks back out on the bike but when you start talking about tubes and tires you are right back at that ultra-competitive space where people are shaving grams etc. That is part of the bike culture that I do not like, I wish it was more like the Netherlands here in the US. I imagine lots of utilitarian bikes and decent shops all over the place. Here in the US the shops tend to focus exclusively on the high end. It reminds of high school athletics where the varsity football team gets 90% of the budget all to help out 5% of the students, just one more lopsided aspect of the US and our approach to physical fitness.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#297
post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ebikes in Europe are limited to 250W and electric power cuts off above 25km/h (15.5mph). Ebikes don't act differently than normal bikes on the road/path. They go the same type of speed, and they are silent. They're not scooters.

I don't live in Europe. My buddy has an ebike that can go 30mph for 30 miles. I see the same model on the bike path at least a few times a week, often at high speed. The rules are irrelevant to capability. I do own a European car, it is happy to go 120mph on the highway, even if that's not legal anywhere in my country.

Different ebikes land in different regulatory classifications. Your buddy's "ebike" is legally a moped (US). Class 3 ebikes can only assist up to 28 mph. The people riding that model on bike paths that do not permit mopeds are breaking the law, just as if they rode any other moped on that path.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#298
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truth Cullen ;-)

Awesome bike. Miss ripping down Pioneer and Dreamcatcher with you guys. Hope you’re well.

Yo yo- I recognize the last name and yc refs. First name to Jog the memory? (Geoff)

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truth Cullen ;-)

Please tell your Dad I saw the 30 on 30 on him called "Slaying the badger". It's the most fantastic testament to his grit and achievements. If he's ever in SF, I would happily buy him coffee / beer :)

Noted!

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you do the math you can quickly prove to yourself that reduced inertia isn’t doing anything for you. you then either have to conclude that newtonian mechanics does not apply to bikes or perception can’t be trusted! if you do a blind experiment, where you don’t know the wheels under you, or a third party adds weights to the rim you can demonstrate this. be sure to use the same tires, at the same pressure, as tires…

> if you do the math you can quickly prove to yourself that reduced inertia isn’t doing anything for you. This is exactly what I was talking about. People like to assume that a simple math equation tells the whole story, while ignoring the fact that bikers do more than just exist as rigid attachments to a bike that travels in straight lines. I can do the math, but I can also swap wheels in a matter of minutes and fee…

What bike you ride?
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