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Old October 9th 18, 08:37 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Joerg[_2_]
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Default road bike questions

On 2018-10-09 12:19, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Joerg wrote:


[...]

How could pedaling "empty" decrease the
speed? The ticking freehub causes a very
small amount of braking force. If you pedal,
the ticking will drop in rate, so less drag.
However, the difference is probably so
miniscule that it really doesn't matter.


OK, let's rephrase:

If one pedals normally, the bike goes forward
because the energy from your body and legs is
transferred to carry the bike forward.

But if you pedal "empty", i.e. too low gear for
the current speed, where do the energy go? a)
same as above, only you won't notice because
the effect is so small; or, b) somewhere else?

And if b), what aspect of the construction (or
physics perhaps) is the explanation for this?



It's a) and b). a) is as I explained above, you'd be conteracting the
ratcheting of the freehub a ltlle bit but likely too small to even measure.

b) is the lion's share. Like a car's idling enigine uses easily 5-10% of
it's normal fuel per hour, your legs will not be cranking free of any
losses. IOW, it makes absolutely no sense to do this.

--
Regards, Joerg

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