Today's Bike Ride

[Gambatte]

Even me with my minimal biking experience knows the answer to that: lower gears, a lighter bike, skinny little frictionless tires and mahoosively huge quads ��

I could not disagree more.

Low gears are available to all. Yet there is still big difference, at all levels, between climbers and not.

Weight difference between decent modern bycicles is too small to explain such difference between climbers and not. Percentage-wise, once added the weight of the cyclist, is minuscules compared to the differences in climbing times.

Tires are all the same, almost.

Big quads. If two cyclists with same weight height strength endurance, the one who is a better climber is so because of bigger quads, how come he's slower on the flat?