Lance Armstrong bonks at 1/2 Ironman, loses a spot at the finishline and ignores his daughter

Sciatica Road wrote:

Wha? You are joking, right?

It's not about the bike; uh yeah, sure thing buddy.

What are you talking about? I ride at a high level, the difference between my carbon bike with carbon tubulars and my alu bike with box wheels is pretty small.

In a 40km TT - the diff between a TT superbike with aero wheels, wearing an aerohelmet and skinsuit, over a non aero frame with regular wheels and a regular helmet, is about a minute to a minute thirty - in a race that is about 50 minutes long.

So yes, a more expensive bike is necessary all things being equal. But trust me, the reason Lance wins is not because he has a better bike.

More importantly, the reason good bikers would blow your doors off in a bike race is in no way because they have better bikes than you do - so let that little fantasy go.

Didn't Lance originally retire because he wanted to spend more time with his kids.. Correct me if I am wrong....

Get off the guys back. He is competing for Livestrong to promote his cancer foundation.. He is a multi-millionaire celebrity. He has to wave at the crowd when he finishes. Dude was pissed. He is tired, 2ft taller than his child... He didn't even look in her direction.

Have you ever run anything bigger than a 5k? If you have run a Marathon, done a 100 mile bike race, you would begin to understand what your body feels like. You would also understand what to feel like when your body has bonked..

Oh and as for the dude celebrating for nipping him at the line. HELL YA! I would have done the same crap. That would be my claim to fame right there. I beat LANCE FREAKING ARMSTRONG THE BIOLOGICAL FREAK OF NATURE. And Lance is in great shape, its not like beating Frank Shorter in a marathon right now you igit.

Remember that within the pro ranks, the differences in the bike are negligible these days. There is also a weight restriction (minimum weight) so they are all riding pretty much the same equipment.

uncle bobd wrote:

reddit wrote:

I like how that guy sprinting past him acts like he just won the Boston Marathon. F.ucking tool.

Hey, guess what? It's a race. You're supposed to do that.

not for 6th Place.

I suppose next someone will say in the Pro ranks they're all doing the drugs, so they don't make a difference either.

fsadfads wrote:

Lumping Jordan in the "dbag" department may be a little harsh. Yes, he cheated on his wife, but other than that, and openly admitting he was hard on teammates at times, there are very few people who have ever really said much derogatory about him. I get the impression he's, overall, a fairly good guy, albeit a bit overly competitive.

I think you're the first person I've ever read say that MJ wasn't a horrible person. The famous anecdote from his college days was when he cheated at a board game to beat his teammate's grandmother.

It's Noy about the Wife!

what shoes is lance running in?

You are either a troll, or dumb. The point is, bikes don't make the diff.

Drugs make a very big diff between a man on the street and a pro rider (or runner).

But to some degree what you say is true. I think they are all doped, so it is a pretty level playing field within the pro field itself.

I am pretty sure tho even if you had all the drugs and the best bike, lance would still eat you alive. That really is the point.

G-lancer wrote:

Without fail, Lance Armstrong will be bashed on these boards.

Lance,Rupp,Webb,Fernandez - The obsessiveness of the hatred is chilling. I really wonder if 1/2 of these trolls have ever finished a long race with nothing left. I'd love to stick a camera in their face and see how they feel.

asdfsdf wrote:

You mean the opposite. Trust me - the fastest bike will not materially improve you. Lance could have ridden a very basic road bike and still won 7 tours.

You are absolutely right. I was a runner got into cycling, beat most guys at a local TT on a borrowed schwinn varsity flat pedals wearing my Nike Waffles. Everyone was actually pretty nice and telling me how much faster i would be when i got a real bike. Yeah i was alot faster but not near as fast as they thought. Fast forward a few years i go to do my first tri, Olympic distance. I see all these pro geeks with their funny bikes and disc wheels and know that they will be sucking on the long uphill from Lake Mead to Boulder City. Yup, me on my little 500 dollar bike passed almost everyone one of them on the climb the few i did not i passed soon after, I was first into the transition. these guys spent so many times more on their bikes but it is all hype. I have a friend who is a pro placed in the top 10 in the olympics. the discussion turned to my bike. I ride a ten year old alum bike now, older wheels etc. Basically it was a TDF bike from a decade ago. I asked how much different are the pro bikes now? He said its nothing, just marketing to sell bikes and the pros go along because they need the sponsorship dollars. 8 speed is as good as 11 basically. aluminum is as light as carbon within a few grams, the wheels are really no different except the price tag. All Hype & marketing. Go get a giant aluminum TCR off ebay, put a 9 speed Campagnolo Veloce group on it, get some Neuvation carbon wheels, add a set of clip on tri bars for triathlons and you have as good of bike as they used in the TDF ten years ago. Put Lance on that bike he would maybe lose a few seconds here or there from his expensive TT bike but he would still win.

Look at it this way you never see an also ran pro improve into a top tier pro when he joins a team with a "better" bike. You will read reviews saying how much better one bike is than another and yet the riders never improve when they switch. thats a big clue to they are all the same.

Marketing.

In my arena, both Lance and you are lightweights.

Maybe he ignored his daughter because she is obnoxiously yelling \"dan Dad DAD.\" I mean, has anyone here ever been around kids? They are annoying as hell.

Since no one else has mentioned it: take note that Lance also had to keep his front side photogenically flawless at the finish by rotating his bib around to his rear side sometime before the finish. (Photo 21 shows that he had the number in front earlier in the run.)

asdfsdf wrote:

You mean the opposite. Trust me - the fastest bike will not materially improve you. Lance could have ridden a very basic road bike and still won 7 tours.

Absolute bullsh!t. you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

TT bikes shave MINUTES off a time in long TTs. 15 lb pounds up the tour climbs would be MINUTES faster than a very basic road bike.

asfadsa wrote:

You are either a troll, or dumb. The point is, bikes don't make the diff.

No, bru, you're the one who's dumb with your crap about bikes not making a difference.

Like I said, you don't have a friggin' clue.

He starter out the run at 5:xx pace, the last mile was 14 min or so. Are you sure that he was OK? Is it important to pass judgement based on essentially nothing?

For all that I know Lance may be a nice guy, or a jerk (or god forbid both at times). What I do know is that he could rest on his laurels and spend all his time at parties and on cameo appearances on TV shows, but instead he is training hard and racing hard.In a world of lower expectations his drive to achieve and work ethic is extraordinary. He, and all those who are relentlessly trying to push their limits are prince among men.

asdfasdf wrote:

What are you talking about? I ride at a high level, the difference between my carbon bike with carbon tubulars and my alu bike with box wheels is pretty small.

In a 40km TT - the diff between a TT superbike with aero wheels, wearing an aerohelmet and skinsuit, over a non aero frame with regular wheels and a regular helmet, is about a minute to a minute thirty - in a race that is about 50 minutes long.

This is totally inaccurate. A full aero setup will take way more than 1-1:30 mins off.

An disk wheel all by itself can take 30-40 seconds. Aero bars? Minutes!

But don't take my word for it. Read this cyclingnews article from 2008 that conducted tests and concluded that an aero setup would save

5 MINUTES AND 33 SECONDS

over a regular set up.

And that was at 40km/hr. And we all know (well, I do, you don't seem to know much at all) how drag increases exponentially at faster speeds.

oldhalfmileguy wrote:

All Hype & marketing. Go get a giant aluminum TCR off ebay, put a 9 speed Campagnolo Veloce group on it, get some Neuvation carbon wheels, add a set of clip on tri bars for triathlons and you have as good of bike as they used in the TDF ten years ago.

Marketing.

This is absolutely and categorically ridiculous. And just flat out wrong.

Two minutes of googling can give you wind tunnel and real world data on the aerodynamic superiority of TT specific gear.

Suggesting an aluminum TCR with clip ons would compare to the 2001 Trek TTT or even a Walser (like Ulrich used) is ludicrous.

You guys should stop talking about things you clearly have no knowledge of.