reddit wrote:
I like how that guy sprinting past him acts like he just won the Boston Marathon. F.ucking tool.
The last time I ran Boston, 2008, was when Lance ran it. The guy who finished right behind me started jumping around with his hands in the air and shouting at the top of his lungs, "I BEAT LANCE ARMSTRONG! I BEAT LANCE ARMSTRONG!" It wasn't even like he narrowly beat him.
I can provide further evidence about the benefit of a Time Trial specific bike over a road bike.
I own a 2011 Trek Speed Concept (Time trial bike) as well as a 2011 Trek Madone (road bike).
I'm roughly 1.5-2 mph faster on the Speed Concept. The size of the hole your body punches through the air makes a big difference here. The rest of the difference is the "aero" components common to all TT bikes.
Runners don't understand this. I didn't understand it as a runner.
And FYI to everyone here...it's absolutely ALL ABOUT the bike. See Rule #4 in this link
readerofthings wrote:
voiceofreason wrote:Do you know him personally? Have you taken your personal time and made personal efforts to raise millions and millions of dollars for charity? Selfish? Really???
How can one be so ignorant? What about the SEC investigation into the cahrity's tax filings?
What about the dubious .com/.org hickup and the share deal for the .com?
Jet fuel to Australia, a short speaking appearance and then netting 7-digit figures for a race _personally_?
-----------------
Nigga's gotta eat.
voiceofreason wrote:
Do you know him personally? Have you taken your personal time and made personal efforts to raise millions and millions of dollars for charity? Selfish? Really???
While I don't think this video warrants the amount of hate people are throwing at him on these boards, lets drop it with the charity angle. Livestrong Foundation doesn't give money to cancer research. Not a single cent. All the money they raise goes to "awareness," aka Lance's personal pr campaign.
To the proponents of TT bikes being so superior. Spend some time on SlowTwitch - with TT pros, industry engineers and others that live aero.
You will soon learn that for all the hype, the best bike will gain you some time, but not nearly enough to make up for a poor engine.
I stand by my minute thirty over 40km as a decent estimate. Your experience of 1.5mph faster on your Speed Concept is not far off.
I ride a P4 with a disk. I also ride an S2 with good position. The difference is not huge.
Let's not forget as well that pro riders spend most of their time drafting. This erases the aero benefit of the super bikes - again, an old school alu bike that I can get on craigslist for 1200 bucks would be in the ballpark (with tire upgrades). Sure weight matters in climbs over 12%, but again, a pro-level rider will crush the rest of us on a 20 pound steel bike (that is heavy), no matter what.
Overall, the point is that there is a myth among many non-cyclists that "if only I had a good bike, I would be really fast too".
This is like when your co-workers believe that if they tried really hard, they could run a 2:20 marathon.
Read Lance's War for the anecdote on Floyd Landis - as a kid he rode a piece of crap in track pants every night. As soon as he started racing it was obvious that he was world class - even as a teen. He did not need a fancy bike to become world class. Not even close.
I will easily admit that if you want to become a time trial specialist, and you are currently losing your 40km time trials by up to four minutes, you should have a dedicated TT bike. But, to the cyclists out there, a 2008 P2 with a wheel builder wheel cover, some latex tubes, and a used aero helmet, can be had, all in, for about 1200. That is a small price to pay for being a TT champ isnt it?
Second, if you have any promise at all - you will get gear comp'ed.
So let's all please stop the whining about how cyclists are only fast because they spend money.
I said charity, no? It is much more than his pr campaign. Jealous people will say anything.
EPO makes more of a difference than any bike and is used in both sports.
word from a spinster aunt wrote:
Typical selfish prick.
Come on, she's just a little girl who wanted to give her dad a medal. Give her a break, poor thing.
The conditions this past weekend were brutal. Extreme humidity and heat. I was running a different race and people were bonking at every exchange and ambulances blaring like crazy. If anything, he could care less about finishing 6th or 7th, and at the finish just wanted some shade and water. All our runners were a little out of it when running throughout the day, and were in lala land after each finish.
asdfsdf wrote:
You will soon learn that for all the hype, the best bike will gain you some time, but not nearly enough to make up for a poor engine.
I believe this was your point all along.
The cyclists/triathletes who are nitpicking are missing the point; in order for the bike to make a difference, you already need to be within 1-2% of the top riders. If you are 10 minutes behind the top tier, a TT bike will make very little difference; you will still be behind the top tier (just a little closer).
There isn't a bike (or shoes, or goggles, etc.) that will bring me significantly closer to the top tier athletes in their field. There isn't a runner-turned-triathlete alive today who isn't winning tris because of their bike....
Penguins can return from hunting at sea, climb up slippery rocks with wet flippers and, among the chaos and noise of thousands of similarly squawking babies, find their own. I can similarly tell the sound of my own daughter calling me in a crowd. I think it's because I raised her. The fact that LA didn't notice his daughter says a lot. It wasn't a conscious thing on his part, I won't call him a jerk because of it. But the unconscious bond is clearly not there and that was hard to see as a parent.
PJO wrote:
Penguins can return from hunting at sea, climb up slippery rocks with wet flippers and, among the chaos and noise of thousands of similarly squawking babies, find their own. I can similarly tell the sound of my own daughter calling me in a crowd. I think it's because I raised her. The fact that LA didn't notice his daughter says a lot. It wasn't a conscious thing on his part, I won't call him a jerk because of it. But the unconscious bond is clearly not there and that was hard to see as a parent.
+1
Junk Master wrote:
EPO makes more of a difference than any bike and is used in both sports.
Then why spend upwards of $8,000 on, not only one, but several bikes per rider. Aerodynamic time-trial helmets, special suits, etc. Cycling is a gear driven sport for the wealthy. If this wasn't the case, everyone would just as well show up with whatever...but they don't. You begin to talk to any cyclist and you're getting an ear full of gear talk. It's lame and annoying and the reason I quit following cycling years ago. Then throw in Lance...
Gear is almost never the case with running. The thing I enjoy most about our sport is that anyone can do it regardless of economic background. Anyone can show up to Boston...or New York...or where ever and win. It's a dynamic that almost no other sport has.
Ferris wrote:
... Anyone can show up to Boston...or New York...or where ever and win..
I can't. Believe me, I've tried dozens of time. Haven't won yet and don't imagine I ever will.
Hats too bee shed wrote:
I can't. Believe me, I've tried dozens of time. Haven't won yet and don't imagine I ever will.
And no shoes will make a difference...
Hats too bee shed wrote:
PJO wrote:Penguins can return from hunting at sea, climb up slippery rocks with wet flippers and, among the chaos and noise of thousands of similarly squawking babies, find their own. I can similarly tell the sound of my own daughter calling me in a crowd. I think it's because I raised her. The fact that LA didn't notice his daughter says a lot. It wasn't a conscious thing on his part, I won't call him a jerk because of it. But the unconscious bond is clearly not there and that was hard to see as a parent.
+1
----------------
-10
He just finished a tri and bonked at the end. Probably doesn't know his name quite yet. Did he know she would be at the end.....probably not? Walked by my entire family and girlfriend after finishing the Chicago Int'l distance tri.
But, let's compare Lance to f*cking penguin. When penguins lose a chick, they try and steal another bird's chick. How about that? Does Lance kidnap people? Brilliant!
I totally agree that running and soccer are the only truly global and egalitarian sports.
Actually there are a few others like basketball that don't take a lot of money - but I exclude them because they are not played globally.
Linsanity wrote:
Hats too bee shed wrote:+1
----------------
-10
He just finished a tri and bonked at the end. Probably doesn't know his name quite yet. Did he know she would be at the end.....probably not? Walked by my entire family and girlfriend after finishing the Chicago Int'l distance tri.
But, let's compare Lance to f*cking penguin. When penguins lose a chick, they try and steal another bird's chick. How about that? Does Lance kidnap people? Brilliant!
-100
Let's try changing the topic completely. Lance does not kidnap people therefore Lance is a good person and a good dad.
BRILLIANT! With STARS! ***** !!!
PJO wrote:
The fact that LA didn't notice his daughter says a lot.
And he promised his personal assistant to kick-start a bike business, who made himself so available to his familiy that he was dubbed "husband no. 2" -- only to part on less than amicable terms.
Oh, if only Kristin Armstrong was allowed to talk!