File this under “damnit, why didn’t we think of this!”
Peloton Magazine has just introduced Mr. H (for Hematocrit), a helmet-masked pro who, in Top Gear vein, anonymously flogs road bikes in an attempt to see what the fastest road bike is. Now, if they could just secure a single bike for the year and start getting cycling celebrities to pit their safety against the clock for bragging rights. That, my friends, would be awe. some.
How about they compare some bikes that are more equally matched. Anyone else notice that the fastest bike was a state of the art aero road bike. Sure the Tarmac was close, but the Moots and the Fuji are not aggressive race bikes like the Specialized bikes were. It would be like comparing the Roubaix to the Venge on a decent… the Venge would be much faster.
How about next time get some bikes that are more comparable to each other…. also, how do these bikes climb???
Seems like a dumb test to me. All about advertising.
How about the same wheels on every bike for realistic #’s. I would almost rather see how long it took him to climb on each of the bikes. In the real world more time is lost climbing.
How about a # given on his own personal bike. That is a good # to reference.
Fun, silly and innovative. Maybe not so accurate??
@ Jdog. Precisely! Road bikes aim at ‘making’ the climbing more easy for the riders. That’s why so many carbon frames, so that you will able to climb faster & easier than the alloy frames (at least, + an other reason for going carbon). He did the opposite instead without pads…
So, what about an iphone app in order to spot the oncoming cars?
i dont know if you guys have ever watched top gear, but whatever the car comes with as it is, is how they race it. the only thing they don’t allow are non “street legal” cars. this would be the same thing as saying, whatever you can buy from your local bicycle dealer (at least to me). it’s for fun. they will most likely have a long list of bikes in the end so you can compare the bike to its closest rival, as long as Mr. H doesn’t kill himself.
but then again, Mr. H isn’t human, so can he die?
I heard that Mr. H tried recording the power he can put down on a power meter, and never found out. He did however get an offer to power the New Year’s ball in Time Square.
Common people, lighten up. It’s a joke or an advertisiement, not a bike test, unless they show you that the wind was the same each time and Mr H put out the same power and applied the brakes as much each time. I could make a dual suspension MTB with 2.5″ tires go down that hill faster than a Tarmac. Just pedal a lot harder and use the brakes a lot less. Before the advent of power meters, this might be the best someone could have done for testing, but not today.
Hmmm. From the way the clip started and from the introduction of Mr. H, I pretty assumed the clip was a light hearted effort that made no pretense about scientific accuracy or rigorous bike testing. There seemed to a significant tongue in the editorial cheek.
Thumbs up to Peloton for not taking themselves too seriously w/ the test and what I assume will be upcoming tests. For their part, they do put out a beautiful magazine that is definitely unlike what anyone else puts out……except for Paved. Their both damned fine.
Wow… people are taking this way too seriously. Really good bit of fun… the guy even says all they are doing is figuring out which bike is fastest down that descent. Would much rather watch this than hear about more machines testing stiffness to weight and telling me which bike is best. Ride the damn things! And Scott, “and applied the brakes as much each time.” Isn’t that one of the things that sets a good bike apart from a crap one? You can hit the corners harder, with less brake. Brake it the same place and you are artificially changing the result. And I say no way you can get a MTB around corners that fast… no way. But MR. H… watch that center line.. kids might be watching.
