Since I was on longer cranks, I never really hit the same obscenely high
speeds as the Germans (especially Ana (spelling?), who is a crazy beast
on descents), but I did hit 26.0mph a few times like Corbin. Generally
on the downhills I was between 22 and 25 mph, spinning as fast as I
could on my long cranks. Short cranks could have made my descents
faster, but...
I think long cranks are the way to make a geared 36 go fast over a long
distance. You get to use more of your legs' range of motion (lots more)
and your legs don't wear out nearly as fast. Going down isn't quite as
fast, but I barely ever shifted into first gear for hills, and when I
did, it was a rest because my cranks were so long (and I was still able
to "push" 10-12mph up the way-steeper hills). With my 150s, I was
probably in my high gear 98% of the time, just pushing up the hills. It
hurt, but at least it was possible. I think that first gear on 125s
would've been much slower, and I know I'd have been in first gear had I
been on 125mm cranks.
On the flats I'd usually go between 19.5 and 21.0 mph, but that's
without wind. With heavy winds I'd usually get knocked down to the
18-19.5 range, leaning way over my T7 to make things easier. These
speeds are actually a good 2mph faster than my previous cruising
speeds. On Tuesday I learned how to lean over, and it made my 150mm
spin much "cheaper" to maintain as well as keeping me out of the wind.
(at 20+mph, the wind is huge... about 2-3mph of difference between
sitting straight up and leaning down.)
I think the stretch of road that was a true testament to the Schlumpfed
up 36 was the last 10 kilometers of the Friday stage. The hills were
rolling, and there was an insane tailwind, and for that 10K I averaged
19.7 miles per hour, and that even included shifting down once. On the
big descent that immediately preceded that last 10K stretch, I was
descending at a constant 23mph for 3 or 4K... (averaged 36km/h!) which
is as fast as I could spin for that length of time. 125s would have
been better than 150s for that descent, but for any situation where
power input is required, I think that 150s and a good healthy spin are
the way to go for long term averages (like the time trial - 21K of
rollers with a few short evil climbs thrown in there). I don't think
I'm strong enough to push 125s or even 137s over "average" flat/rolly
terrain for much longer than 10K or so.
--
chuckaeronut
Uni to work, work to eat, eat to live, live to uni. 🙂
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