tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post8414021709214454900..comments2023-07-21T17:26:24.127+04:00Comments on Ron George: The Rate Of Climbing Uphill ExplainedRonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16268869622833968439noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-27026434773318806132009-08-03T03:23:47.455+04:002009-08-03T03:23:47.455+04:00Roads & bike tyres are not smooth & polish...Roads & bike tyres are not smooth & polished steel. Cycle tyres deform into the irregularities of the road surface, forming a cogwheel type effect.<br>Somebody could experiment building an actual cogwheel road & bicycle, but with normal roads, bikes seem to work ok.Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-86165761668396058942009-08-02T07:36:17.553+04:002009-08-02T07:36:17.553+04:00@Spoke - What is Naked Lunch? :) @ Bikeboy - Thank...@Spoke - What is Naked Lunch? :) <br><br>@ Bikeboy - Thank you !! I didn't bother looking for too many computers that have this feature. I did a search myself on Amazon and found a barometer from Oregon Scientific (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EGX30Y) that has the same feature. It costs 220dollars. I think any watch with this feature is going to be really expensive. Looks like buying the cycling specific computer is better than a vario, but a vario is what first came to my mind. I'd still like to see if it would work for a cyclist, because varios are specially made to calculate and record your vertical speed. Hmmm....wish I had some spare cash lying around!!!Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394865788996482667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-25303750930556600312009-08-02T02:45:41.283+04:002009-08-02T02:45:41.283+04:00Ah yes, you are correct about the cog railway.I di...Ah yes, you are correct about the cog railway.<br><br>I did not mean a cogged wheel bicycle on a traditional road surface, but one a surface that matched the cogs on the wheel, which would unlikely be made of asphalt. Although I suppose it would be possible to create such a surface using asphalt in much the same way that rumble strips are used at the edge of lanes on highways to alter drowsy drivers that they are in danger of driving of the edge of the road.<br><br>Perhaps I should try and convince the local road authority to build such a road just to test out my hypothesis. Maybe I can find a cogged wheel for a bicycle on ebay! Heh.<br><br><br>Cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-78396153517305455952009-08-02T02:28:21.992+04:002009-08-02T02:28:21.992+04:00For example, if the bicycle wheels had cogs that m...<b> For example, if the bicycle wheels had cogs that meshed into the slope surface (sort of like the cog railway on the west slope of Mount Washington) then the 40-45% limit could be beaten (I believe). Of course, using a human body to propel such a bicycle would result in very low speed that would likely be beaten by a walker/hiker/climber/snail. </b><br><br><br>If you have enough "horsepower" and "thrust" you can send anything up. For example, the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point climbs the 420 feet at an angle of close to 90 degrees! It can achieve this only through the hydraulic launching mechanism that generates 120 mph of speed in under 4 seconds. That takes about 15,000 Horse Power.<br><br>I and most of the world have yet to see a cyclist climb up a grade of exceeding 40 or 45%. Technically, from the ambiguous way I worded it, you're right...its not so much a handicap of the human body but just a handicap of the human-bike machine to cope with such grades on puny human power alone. Hence for our purposes we are only practically concerned with a portion of the curve that goes upto a grade of 40%. <br><br>Cog wheels?! How would they look? I thought the Cog Railway was named only so because the train used cog gears for transmission, very old school, but pretty innovative at the time they came out. Does it ever head uphill? I really doubt a bicycle with 'cog wheels' can go up an asphalt road of 45%. Let me see one in action :)Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12256394060474969622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-21502764918720623012009-08-02T02:11:10.912+04:002009-08-02T02:11:10.912+04:00"Our human bodies can only use a tiny portion..."Our human bodies can only use a tiny portion of this curve, ranging from 0% grade to 40-45% grade."<br><br><br>I am wondering about the above statement. I has been my understanding that this is not a limit based on the abilities of the human body but based on the amount of friction available between a rubber tire and a road surface (whether asphalt, concrete or packed gravel). As the road grade increases, the amount of friction possible between the tire and the road surface decreases. Even if the bicycle was powered by a motor or engine, the bicycle would still come up to this limit. It is not so much that a human could no longer provide enough force to turn the cranks but that the tires would begin to skid on the road. The only way to exceed the limit to to have a greater transfer of the driving force between the wheel and the surface of the slope. <br><br>For example, if the bicycle wheels had cogs that meshed into the slope surface (sort of like the cog railway on the west slope of Mount Washington) then the 40-45% limit could be beaten (I believe). Of course, using a human body to propel such a bicycle would result in very low speed that would likely be beaten by a walker/hiker/climber/snail.<br><br>Have I misunderstood this?<br><br><br>Cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-20312609748475603562009-08-02T00:25:49.336+04:002009-08-02T00:25:49.336+04:00Woot. Seriously Ron, why don't you make this a...Woot. Seriously Ron, why don't you make this a scientific journal? You really give new meaning to the word "BLOG"! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-23124285700518439972009-08-01T21:55:07.500+04:002009-08-01T21:55:07.500+04:00Here's a rule of thumb I go by. A watt of outp...Here's a rule of thumb I go by. A watt of output will raise one kg a thousand feet in an hour. So, if<br>Tom Danielson and his bike weighed 100kg total, he would have had to<br>put out a minimum of 540 watts continuous.Jenny Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-26547686819789824772009-08-01T09:50:12.514+04:002009-08-01T09:50:12.514+04:00Wow, I just realized how much I forgot a lot of my...Wow, I just realized how much I forgot a lot of my high school trig. Thanks for this whack on my head Ron!!Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-6082624531798693392009-08-01T09:05:38.037+04:002009-08-01T09:05:38.037+04:00Thanks. Was confused there.Thanks. Was confused there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-82735274125123720952009-08-01T06:58:27.555+04:002009-08-01T06:58:27.555+04:00Hmm...I don't get understand this this thing. ...Hmm...I don't get understand this this thing. You say from the power perspective that climbing rate = Speed x [rise/run]. But from the vector analysis perspective, climbing rate is Speed x Sine(hill angle). So that would mean rise/run = sin (hill angle)? Am I right? I'm sorry if you cannot see my problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786784182488135171.post-51880030754897038752009-08-01T05:20:21.482+04:002009-08-01T05:20:21.482+04:00Ron,This is a good explanation of vam. I wish my p...Ron,<br>This is a good explanation of vam. I wish my power meter had the capability to toss a km by km of my vertical ascent into the computer. Perhaps that would tell me how the gradient of the climb changed and compare it to my heart rate and power output. Would make it very interesting.Davenoreply@blogger.com