- [Simon] Bike technology moves really quickly. Every year new products come out
that are lighter, stiffer, more aerodynamic. All supposedly making us
faster. But, how much difference does it actually make? How much faster are modern
bikes? I really want to find out.
- [retro-Simon] So do I.
- Nice bike.
- Oh, thank you very much. Do you fancy a race?
- Yeah, okay. To the top and back?
- All right.
- Sounds good.
- All right. You're on, retro-me.
♪ [music] ♪
- This bike is a genuine piece of history. It's an Orbea, ridden to victory in the
1985 Vuelta a Espana by Pedro Delgado. This is his actual bike,
and it is a beauty. Steel frame, Vitus 788 tubes, got just 12 gears,
provided by Simplex, Weinmann rims, Weinmann brakes, Michelin tires,
actually quite wide at 25C. The only thing missing, in fact, are the toe clips and
straps. So what am I going to be racing against, then? What is the modern bike?
- I guess you could say that this is the great-granddaughter of Pedro Delgado's
Vuelta a Espana-winning bike. It's the Orbea Orca M-LTD, and over the last 31
years, she's gone on something of a diet and lost some serious kilos.
Now, no one has been near this with a welding torch. Instead of nine steel tubes
we've got 130 laser-cut pieces of carbon fiber that are laid up,
glued, and then baked together. We've also got carbon fiber wheels,
seat post, bars and stem, 22 gears this time, Shimano's Di2, so they're also
controlled electronically, and I'm very pleased to say that I've also got clipless
pedals on this one. So what is our racetrack? Well, the summit of that hill
up there is 280 meters high. We've got four kilometers of beautiful twisting
roads between here and there, and I'm going to race up and then back.
Simply time the difference. No power meters, no heart rate monitors,
we're going old school, purely on feel. How much faster is this bike?
- Run number one. Let's see if I can do a Grand Tour-winning bike justice.
Now, this being 2016, obviously, safety first. I'm not entirely sure,
as well, what Mr. Delgado's going to make of my choice of footwear and lack of toe
clips, but anyway, let's give it a whirl.
Downtube shifters, I got to get used to that.
♪ [music] ♪
Now the eagle-eyed amongst you will no doubt have realized I'm no longer using
Pedro Delgado's back wheel.
We might have a problem, Mike. No, I think we've got a real problem.
And I don't know whether it's because I've got more power than him,
I suspect not, but unfortunately I broke his freewheel, so I've got an entirely
retro bike except for the back wheel.
Tell you what, though, 6V chain shifted very well on an 11-speed block.
♪ [music] ♪
- Run number two coming up. Strava is on, modern bike ready to go, let's do it.
♪ [music] ♪
First thing you notice is how much stiffer modern bikes are. Now,
whether stiffer is faster, I don't know. It feels quicker.
Also changing gear that's got to save time.
♪ [music] ♪
- I've never ridden a bike with friction shifters before. So it has to be said,
you not only lose so much time faffing around on your downtube,
but finding the right gear is an art form. Even when I was actually able to use the
right back wheel.
I can see a steep bit coming up, so I'm going to have to change gear.
I've nearly run out despite having 11 sprockets at the back.
♪ [music] ♪
Close to the top. I'm getting nervous about the descent.
There's the line. I'm getting nervous about shifting into the
big ring. Ready... I'm in! Oh, man, that was easier than I thought.
♪ [music] ♪
- Has to be said, I don't know whether it's because Pedro's bike just didn't fit
me properly, whereas this one fits me like a glove, but I've got a lot more room
here. Modern geometry has us a bit lower, so I find the harder I try,
the lower I get. It's like aero-groveling, or something.
Here's the top. There's the finish line. The half-way point. Right.
The descent. Venga, venga!
♪ [music] ♪
Right. We'll stop the clock. That was bloody good.
Here we are, then. Now, firstly, I would just like to say that this has been an
excellent day. Secondly, I suppose we can't escape the cold hard results.
So here we go. Now, on the modern bike, I did my little 5.7K loop in 12 minutes and
52 seconds. And then, on Pedro Delgado's bike, I did it in a little over 14
minutes. Now, as someone has just kindly pointed out on Strava,
that's probably the slowest that bike has ever been. But, I would just like to say,
that I think for the first time in GCN's history, I'm going to declare this an
unfair test. That's right, GCN has not done science, because not only did I not
have toe clips and straps, I also have just stolen that bike from Orbea's museum
this morning, so it's perhaps not in exactly the same condition that Pedro
Delgado rode it in the Vuelta. But, nevertheless, it was an absolute joy to
ride, and it's been a fascinating day, because those bikes are like night and
day. Yeah, that one's heavier, that one's not quite stiff, and it's also only got 12
gears. But the simple fact is the geometry of retro bikes is completely different to
modern bikes, so it feels totally and utterly different. The way it descends,
the way it climbs, the way you get out of the saddle. Now, I suppose we probably
should make a stab at answering our original question. How much faster are
modern bikes? Well, let's say we've saved four kilos on an 8% gradient,
3-kilometer climb, that's probably worth a good 15 to 20 seconds.
Add in the fact that it is more aerodynamic, even going uphill,
that's probably worth about five to 10 seconds. And then descending,
the brakes are significantly better, so that allowed me to go much,
much quicker. So the fact is technology has moved on, and modern bikes are much
faster. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to spend a bit more time on this one.
Oh, sorry, sorry, I appreciate... Yeah. I'm not going to leave you hanging.
Now, if you want to see some more GCN videos, and if you click just up there,
we've got a GCN Does Science playlist where we tackle some of the burning
questions about cycling and cycling dynamics. Or, if you click just down
there, then we've got our previous retro versus modern video, where Matt takes
Stephen Roche's bike out for a spin. Finally, make sure you subscribe to GCN,
you can do that just by clicking up there.
Can I just say that I was taken out last night, made to drink copious amounts of
red wine, and it's just hampered my clipping-in ability, just temporarily.