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paintballimpact.com / Sports / Road Racing Bicycle
The Road Racing Bicycle
While sports like the 400 meters and the 100 meter sprint are much the same as they were 500 years ago, cycling events have only been around for the past 100 years or so. Road racing is one of a number of sports that have been created as a direct result of technological innovations in the last 200 years. Relatively recent technological breakthroughs have given us sporting equipment that enables us to climb to the tops of mountains, to dive to the depths of the oceans, and to ride a bicycle over 100 miles in the day. The road racing bicycle is a machine specifically built to enable cyclists to travel quickly over long distances on hard roads. This article examines the technology behind the machine.
The Road Racing Bicycle: the Road racing bicycle is built for speed. Its technology enables racers to cut down on wind resistance as much as possible. The position of the seat, handlebars, and pedals enables the rider to adopt an aerodynamic position, with elbows bent to absorb bumps and chest relaxed to facilitate breathing. An ideal road racing bicycle has two spoked wheels, chained rings, and 9 sprockets, for a total of 18 different gears. Riders adjust these gears based on the incline of the hill that they are riding on. The frame of the bike is designed to be strong but light weight, and it connects the two tires, seat of the bike, and handlebars. The bike frame is usually composed of aluminum or carbon fiber, like a paintball gun barrel. Previous bike frames were composed of steel, which were very strong, but also were very heavy. Though the road racing bicycle is designed to ride on smooth surfaces, there are inevitable bumps and holes on the road. To help soften the impacts of these bumps, the forks that connect the front wheel to the frame are designed to absorb bumps along the road. Until recently, the tires of choice for these bikes have been tube tires, with an outer rubber tire and an inflated inner tube. These tires have worked great, except that the rider is out of business should the inner tube be punctured. Today, cincher tires are replacing the traditional tubeless tires.
The wheels of the road racing bicycle propel the bike forward. The size and shape of the wheels affect the performance of the bicycle. Spoked wheels are light but have greater wind resistance. Mag wheels have three to five white spokes, are heavier, but cause less wind resistance than their spoked cousins. Deep rimmed wheels result in the least amount of wind resistance. The pedals attach to the chain rings and chain of the bike, and are the engine of the bicycle. The pedals are about the same width as the rider's foot, and they are designed to have a solid contact with the rider's shoe so that his foot does not slip off. The rider's shoes must be rigid enough to hold the racer's foot flat. The shoe has cleats on the sole that attach to a toe-clip that keeps the foot on the pedal.
In a long road race, a rider will be gripping the handlebars tightly and constantly shifting his hands, causing a lot of friction. To minimize blisters or bruising, cyclists wear leather gloves to reduce vibrations and protect against bumps. Many cycling events take place in warm weather climates, and riders must wear jerseys that let the sweat and perspiration out so that they don't overheat. A rider's jersey is made of Lycra to absorb sweat and let the skin breathe. It is also stretchy, and clings to the body so that no extra material is flapping in the wind. Any extra material would increase the wind resistance of the rider. The cyclist's helmet protects his head in case of a fall off the bike.
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