Abstract
Energy in bicycling is primarily expended to overcome air resistance, which is proportional to a cyclist's surface area (SA). Thus we hypothesized that large cyclists should have a lower O2 consumption normalized to body weight (V̇O2/BW) than small cyclists because of the former's lower SA/BW. We measured the V̇O2/BW of small (BW = 59.4 ± 4.1 kg) and large (BW = 84.4 ± 3.2 kg) cyclists while they bicycled on a flat road at 10, 15, and 20 mph. The large cyclists had a 22% lower V̇O2/BW than the small cyclists at all speeds. However, the SA/BW ratio of the large cyclists was only 11% lower than that of the small cyclists. We then photographically determined the frontal area (FA) of the cyclists in a racing posture, and found that the large cyclists had a 16% lower FA/BW ratio than the small cyclists. We conclude that 1) large cyclists are at a distinct advantage, in terms of V̇O2/BW, while bicycling on level roads, and 2) this advantage is principally due to their lower FA/BW ratio.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 668-672 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Physiology |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 2 |
State | Published - Jun 30 1987 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Physiology (medical)