# Do tall riders have an advantage?



## konradprz (Apr 7, 2011)

I was Just wondering out of curiosity does a tall bike rider have and advantage over a shorter one or does it not matter at all.


----------



## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

It dosent matter.


----------



## ElvisMerckx (Oct 11, 2002)

The Power-to-Weight formula doesn't include height.


----------



## scottzj (Oct 4, 2010)

I would think US tall guys have a disadvantage somewhat.....since we are taller and most likely have a taller bike, it puts us more into the wind drag, harder to tuck behind smaller riders in group rides and usually weigh a tad more too hehe. However, I have never used my height to hinder my riding, in fact most I ride with, say I have some beastly strong legs to power out of corners like mad. haha


----------



## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

scottzj said:


> I would think US tall guys have a disadvantage somewhat.....since we are taller and most likely have a taller bike, it puts us more into the wind drag, harder to tuck behind smaller riders in group rides and usually weigh a tad more too hehe. However, I have never used my height to hinder my riding, in fact most I ride with, say I have some beastly strong legs to power out of corners like mad. haha


+1....


----------



## dysfunction (Apr 2, 2010)

scottzj said:


> I would think US tall guys have a disadvantage somewhat.....since we are taller and most likely have a taller bike, it puts us more into the wind drag, harder to tuck behind smaller riders in group rides and usually weigh a tad more too hehe. However, I have never used my height to hinder my riding, in fact most I ride with, say I have some beastly strong legs to power out of corners like mad. haha


Yea, I don't get much of a draft off most folks


----------



## mcfly (Feb 19, 2004)

yeah, i know in our training races if im at the front going down hill i cant get anyone to come around as they are riding my slipstream and refuse to get out of it!


----------



## andulong (Nov 23, 2006)

They can see farther ahead!


----------



## Hank Stamper (Sep 9, 2009)

All other things being equal....yes they would have an advantage. Longer legs have more leverage.


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

My best guess (and in the absence of any known study, it _is_ a guess) is that the answer lies with the most successful pro riders. Are they generally taller than their rivals? From what I've seen, sometimes... sometimes not. So there's the answer.


----------



## dgeesaman (Jun 9, 2010)

Hank Stamper said:


> All other things being equal....yes they would have an advantage. Longer legs have more leverage.


And longer legs need larger muscles to move them. And do more work to push thru more air resistance. These differences all matter but they are also canceling each other out.

Like someone else said, have a look at the highest levels of the sport. While really small riders aren't favored, it's clear that really tall ones aren't either. It probably boils down to the most watts/pound or something like that. So if there is a height advantage it's very minor in cycling.

It's been said many times (as a taller-than-average runner, I heard this often) that long legs mean you can run faster / longer because you're taking fewer steps. But the world record holders in the distance events are rarely taller than 5'-8". Bob Kennedy was about 6' even and he stood like a giant on the european track circuit. In that case the facts dispelled the notion.

David


----------



## nathan84318 (Aug 7, 2007)

Advantage at what ?


----------



## hollowlegs99 (Jun 26, 2006)

Ha! I love to say, "I never met a wheel I won't suck!" Last year my friends were behind me when a father and son came around us. The son was maybe 10 years old on a little bike but he was keeping up with his father. I, of course, jumped his wheel and drafted off the little guy. This story gets repeated often by my wheel buddies.

Forty years ago when I started riding these wonderful, light bicycles this was a constant riding subject as my riding buddies were quite a bit shorter than me. I'm 6'4". One of my friends was also into physics which exacerbated the debate becuase he always brought up the fact his bike weighed just about the same as mine and he was handicaped by his shorter legs. Yada, yada you've got the advantage blah, blah... We beat this subject to death, with no clear conclusion. Similar to what's been said here. I've decided to start commenting on this begginers forum to hopefully give back some of what I've learned. Kinda payback...been at this a long time and I wish I could give everyone the pleasure riding has given me.

Drafting: Anyone who thinks a big guy can't draft on a little guy is not feeling the hole right. The most drag in the wind is your wheels. You should be able to "feel" when your wheels match up with the hole from the wheels you're drafting. (After reading this I want to add your legs and lower body are down there too which is a significant part of the hole you should be finding too.) Your (upper) body should be secondary. Of course you want to get your body in there too (the hole created by the guys upper body) and naturally if you're a big guy behind a little guy you've got to get on the drops and hunker down. Since the wheels are the same size the hole they create should be the same as your wheels ergo it's not that hard to get a good draft off a tiny guy/gal in front of you. You gotta feel where your wheels gotta be (and your legs behind his/her legs).


----------



## hollowlegs99 (Jun 26, 2006)

Oh, and another thing: DRAFTING IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS TO LEARN IN OUR SPORT. YOU DO 70% WHILE THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU IS DOING 100%! THINK ABOUT IT. I'M CONSTANTLY AMAZED AT HOW MANY PERSONS DON'T GET IT. DRAFTING WILL SAVE YOU SO MUCH ENERGY. IF YOU DON'T LEARN ANYTHING FROM THIS FORUM PLEASE KNOW THAT THOSE OF US WHO LOVE THIS SPORT, WHO HAVE RACED AND LEARNED FROM GENERATIONS BEFORE US, WANT YOU TO BE PATIENT AND LEARN TO RIDE WITH OTHERS, TRUST OTHERS AND BE PRODUCTIVE WHEN YOU'RE IN A PACE LINE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS SKILL, JOIN A CLUB AND RIDE WITH OTHERS. ASK FOR HELP FROM MORE EXPERIANCED RIDERS. THIS IS A PART OF OUR SPORT THAT MAKES FOR A FANTASTIC RIDE. BE A WHEEL SUCKER! IT'S FUN!


----------



## dysfunction (Apr 2, 2010)

Someone a foot shorter (or more) than I am on the bike is a whole lot harder to wheelsuck than the 5'4" person who can sit up while behind me. Really, I ride with folks ranging from sub 5' to taller than my 6'4", it's harder to draft off the shorter folks (especially the sub 5' folks), especially when even in a tuck I'm much taller than they are on their bike. Does the draft still exist? Yep. Can you still get into it? Yep. Is it as effective as sitting behind someone close to your height? IMO, not so much.


----------



## martinrjensen (Sep 23, 2007)

I know you can draft behind anybody but the big guys,....I ride with a group of guys occasionally and one of the guys is 6'3" and he's gotta be 250 if he's a pound. He's pretty good on the flats as he used to race (back in the day) and riding behind him is like drafting a moving billboard, it's great.
too bad he moved away


----------



## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Over all I think they are at a disadvantage. In the pro ranks it's rare to see a rider who's 6'+. Most of the resistance to forward movement, at least on the flats, is pushing the air out of the way. Bigger, stronger riders usually have more "horse power" than smaller riders so there's not so much of a problem there. Hills are a different story. Hills are all about weight. If you weigh more you're going to be left behind on longer climbs despite your (maybe) superior strength. You won't gain enough ground on the downhills to compensate for the slower uphill speeds. Smaller riders have a lower center of gravity. If bike handling skill are the same they're going to beat you in the corners. Think about a school bus and a family sedan. You know which one corners better, right? I won't say anything about drafting because that's already been talked about. Taller, heavier guys ride heavier bikes; maybe not by much, but if you had 2 identical bikes a 54cm bike is going to weigh less than a 60 or 62. Big guys are also harder on tires. I'm a big guy, 6'3" & a sloppy & bovine 220# right now. I ride with guys that with the same brand & model of tires get 1500 more miles out of them than I do. 

So...IMO taller guys don't have an advantage, Where they shine is on the flats & on downhills.


----------



## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

The short and light people are always really tough to keep up with.


----------



## Cni2i (Jun 28, 2010)

When I first really learned how to draft...it was like AHHHHHH! How nice. That was what everyone was talking about. 

Anyways, in my club rides, I often feel kind of bad, b/c we usually almost always end up in the same group of five to six of us (starting usually with as many as 18+ riders). I am one of the "smaller" riders at 5'8" and 141 lbs. Both the lead guys are over 6' and between 175-200 lbs. The other guys are somewhere in between. I sometimes take the front on flats, but not strong enough to keep up front for long....plus the bigger guy right behind don't get a very good draft (at least that's how I feel). Usually, I end up riding in the 2-4 positions. But when we hit the hills, that's when I really push it. Some of the guys have jokingly teased me for taking off on the hills b/c I was drafting most of the time. But, I almost always acknowledge the bigger guys for their pull on the flats :thumbsup:


----------



## Guest (Apr 10, 2011)

I don't like drafting behind tall riders, because I can't see where I'm going.


----------



## drummerboy1248 (Jan 6, 2005)

I'm 6' 3 1/2" and I don't really find that my height is an advantage or disadvantage. That's the same height as Tom Boonen and 1/2" taller than George Hincapie (2 pro's that are often referred to a being tall). Alot of the pro's I've seen are definitely not my height, but, then, neither is the general population, so no surprise there. I can see the whole wind drag argument, but some of the fastest guys I know going into a head wind are bigger / taller guys. Not all though as I am more of a climber. Still that has more to do with power to weight ratio than height I think. I do think there is a bigger driaft behind a taller rider, but I can still get a good draft of a 5' 4" rider. Just have to tuck in a little.


----------

