Additional to yesterday’s publish, through which I pushed George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer to its very limits (or a minimum of gently nudged it in direction of the final neighborhood through which it limits may presumably be discovered)…
…you might have famous that the bike has somewhat a tall fork crown, which Paul of Basic Cycle has in comparison with “high-waisted denims:”
I had simply assumed the body should require an unusually proportioned fork as a result of the body is optimized for aerodynamics and blah blah blah, however in keeping with Y-Foil nerds on the Web it’s as a result of Trek designed the bike to be suitable with a suspension fork:
In the present day in fact gravel bike suspension forks have gotten more and more widespread, Lob assist us:
[My gravel bike suspension fork buyer’s guide: Don’t.]
However like so many different concepts in biking which might be presently widespread, that is nothing new, and for awhile there riders had been even deploying them at Paris-Roubaix:
Anyway, if what I’ve learn is true and the Y-Foil is certainly “suspension-corrected,” this provides a completely new dimension to its dorkiness, and it’s changing into more and more clear to me that in relation to totally comprehending the character and magnitude of its dorkitude I’ve solely simply barely begun to make out its contours within the fog.
Additionally additional to yesterday’s publish, my totally scientific testing confirmed that George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer is certainly quicker than The Final Dad Bike:
Exhilarated by the fun of discovery, I resolved to speed-test yet one more bike. However which? La Faggin con Spinerghese? The Cervino with its pro-quality tubular tires and cutting-edge componentry from 1982? However testing but extra street racing bikes simply appeared like splitting hairs. Then it hit me: why not strive one thing completely different, just like the Homer?
Setting out, I knew the Homer can be slower than each the ‘Mond and the ‘Foil. The actual query was: How a lot slower would it not be? So I strapped on a pair of sandals and hit the street. The end result?
Yeah, that’s proper: whereas the Homer was slower than the Y-Foil, it beat the LeMond by 15 seconds.
How may this be?!? How may the Homer, full with full fenders, touring tires, a headlight sitting on the market within the wind, and 36-spoke wheels (nicely 36 rear, 32 entrance) carry out practically identically to the featherweight LeMond with its minimally-spoked ultralight race wheels? Effectively, I’ve a number of theories:
- Jan Heine is true and wider tires are quicker (even once they’re rugged Schwalbes with reflective sidewalls and never supple Heinian tires)
- As a result of aforementioned wider tires, plus the bike’s inherent stability because of its lengthy wheelbase, I used to be in a position to journey quicker over the tough sections of the bike path the place the roots are forcing the pavement to buckle
- The Homer is extra snug, and so I used to be in a position to spend extra time within the drops
- Whereas I truthfully thought the Homer can be measurably slower, as soon as I acquired began possibly I subconsciously hoped for an upset and thus made extra of an effort with out realizing it
- Satirically the handlebars on the Homer are narrower than the bars on each the Y-Foil and the LeMond, so possibly handlebar width is much more essential than stuff like spoke depend, which would definitely clarify why the professionals are driving such slender bars nowadays
- As an outdated, out-of-shape, and balding semi-professional bike blogger, I merely don’t journey quick sufficient to comprehend any of the advantages of aerodynamic bicycle gear
I believe every one among these theories has advantage, however finally I believe it’s that final one which explains like most of what’s happening right here.