The Hour Record Over the Years
I wrote this after reading about Kent Bostick's attempt at Alvis' American
Hour
record. Later I decided to retrieve it from dejanews and put it here.
This is from Velonews.com:
+++++++++++++++++ From VeloNews +++++++++++++++++++++++
Kent Bostick set a World Masters hour best distance
of 49.361 kilometers at the Manchester Velodrome
in England on Saturday.
The 47-year-old Bostick had scheduled to beat
Norm Alvis's US national record of 51.505km, but
after a strong start, steadily lost ground.
...
Bostick, who rode the GT frame he used in the
Atlanta Olympics, said his 55 x 13 gear was too high.
"Now I've had the experience of an hour bid I might do
it again. But I'll use a lower gear, say 53 x 13 next
time."
++++++++++++++++++ From VeloNews +++++++++++++++++++++++
From http://ida1.physik.uni-siegen.de/menn/hourrec.htm
and other
sources.
I'm assuming some of the differences in rollout measurement for
identical gears is due to differences in tire size.
Oscar Egg (1912)............ 24 X 7 = 7,22 m 42.122
97 rpm
Oscar Egg (1914)............ 24 X 7 = 7,22 m 44.427
103 rpm
Maurice Richard (1933)...... 24 X 7 = 7,32 m 44.957
102 rpm
Giuseppe Olmo (1935)........ 24 X 7 = 7,32 m 45.090
103 rpm
Maurice Richard (1936)...... 24 X 7 = 7,32 m 45.398
103 rpm
Frans Slaats (1937)......... 24 X 7 = 7,32 m 45.558
104 rpm
Maurice Archambault (1937).. 24 X 7 = 7,32 m 45.817
104 rpm
Fausto Coppi (1942)......... 52 X 15 = 7,40 m 45.848
103 rpm
Jacques Anquetii (1956)..... 52 X 15 = 7,40 m 46.159
104 rpm
Ercole Baldini (1956)....... 52 X 15 = 7,40 m 46.393
105 rpm
Roger Rivire (1957)......... 52 X 15 = 7,40 m 46.923
106 rpm
Roger Rivire (1957).. ...... 53 X 15 = 7,54 m 47.346
105 rpm
Ferdinand Bracke (1967)..... 53 X 15 = 7,54 m 48.093
106 rpm
Ole Ritter (1968)........... 54 X 15 = 7,69 m 48.653
105 rpm
Eddy Merckx (1972).......... 52 X 14 = 7,93 m 49.431
104 rpm
Francesco Moser (1984)...... 56 X 15 = 8,12 m 50.808
104 rpm
Francesco Moser (1984)...... 57 X 15 = 8,27 m 51.151
103 rpm
Graeme Obree (1993)......... 52 X 12 = 9,25 m 51.596
93 rpm
Chris Boardman (1993)....... 53 X 13 = 8,56 m 52.270
102 rpm
Graeme Obree (1994). ....... 52 X 12 = 9,25 m 52.713
95 rpm
Miguel Indurain (1994)...... 59 X 14 = 8,76 m 53.040
101 rpm
Tony Rominger (1994)........ 59 X 14 = 8,85 m 53.832
101 rpm
Tony Rominger (1994)........ 60 X 14 = 9,02 m 55.291
102 rpm
Chris Boardman (1996)....... 56 X 13 = 8,95 m 56.375
105 rpm
Jacques Anquetil (1967)..... 52 X 13 = 8,54 m 47.493
93 rpm Disallowed
Nico Emonds (1995).......... 59 X 14 = 8,85 m 52.466
99 rpm Belgian record
Norm Alvis (1997)........... 54 X 13 = 8,78 m 51.505
98 rpm US record
So there is not a lot of variation in cadence from 1914 all the
way up to 1993, although Anquetil is somewhat of an outlier in 1967.
If he was shooting for 51.505 in a 55 X 13 then his target cadence
was about 96 rpm,
the actual was 92 rpm. A 53 x 13 would have put his target at
around 100 rpm, much
closer to the historical norm. Or historical Norm, if you prefer.
So it appears that even for renowned big gear mashers, the rule of
thumb that power over
an hour peaks at ~100-105 rpm applies.
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