Hank: I feel like a shopper going up Everest. We're not even on the steep bit
and my arms, they're sore. Oh my gosh, it's heavy. 800 watts now. I'm slowing. Guys,
I think I've failed. [music]
Hank: Manon? Manon: Hey, Hank.
How're you? I need your help with something. Hank: I'm in the middle of a GCN training video.
What's so important? Manon: Well, I don't want to tell you what it is,
but I know you love a challenge, so are you keen? Hank: Well, you know I'm a yes man, so--
Manon: Great. Meet me at the hotel at 9:00 AM tomorrow. Oh, and bring some heavy stuff and
your favorite plant. Okay. Bye. Hank: Well, that was weird.
Right, we're ready for another GCN training video. Manon: He's always late.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Steady. Hank: Manon, what on earth
am I doing riding with a bamboo plant? Manon: Well, I'm glad you brought that
Hank because this is GCN Does science. We're going to be riding up this climb, which is pretty steep,
adding weights to your bike. I say, we, you're going to be riding. Yes, that's why you're here.
Hank: Great. Manon: Now, you might be asking why,
and that's a very good question. Well, one, it's a laugh, it's fun, two, Hank, well he just loves a
challenge, doesn't he? Three, in cycling, weight is paramount. You see Tour de France climbers
such as Eagan Bernal coming in at a weight of around 50 kilos. Then, on the other hand, you
see sprinters coming in at 70-80 kilos. How much is too much? How much weight can we add to Hank
and his bike before he fails and has to walk, and most importantly, how much more power does he have
to do to get up? Before we start, this is a GCN disclaimer. Don't be as stupid as us and try this
at home, because, well, it might not end well. Hank: Wait. Who're you saying stupid?
[music] Manon:
This is our test climb, in the south of England, just outside Bath. This is Hoad's Hill.
I have chosen the steepest section for Hank to do the challenge on. It's around 300 meters long,
average gradient of 18% and a max gradient of 25%, although I do think it's a little bit steeper than
that. To top it all off, we've come on a wet day, so it's going to make the challenge even harder
for him, but I'm sure he'll love it. Sorry, Hank. Hank, before we start adding weight to your bike,
I think you should do a run with no weight added to really get the feel for the climb,
see what you're up against, but give us some stats. How much does all this weigh?
Hank: I'm glad you asked that question. Well, I weighed myself this morning, sitting at 70
kilograms, which is 6 kilograms over my race weight. The bike, 800 grams,
is an F12 frame and full bike is just over 7 kilograms. In total, this is 77 kilograms.
Manon: 77 kilograms up the climb, record your power. Are you ready? Turn around.
Hank: Am I ever ready? Manon: I'll give you a countdown.
Hank: All right. Manon: On your marks. Get set. Go.
Hank: Okay. Manon: Come on. Up, up, up.
Hank: It's not time, it's more if I can make it. Don't forget that
[music] Manon:
Come on Hank. [music]
Manon: Now, you might be wondering, how on earth is Hank going to carry all that weight
up that climb? Well, check this out. This is the Topeak Journey Trailer
TX. It's got a 16-inch wheel with a reflective stripe. It's got a mudguard.
It's got a waterproof bag with a capacity of 65 liters and it comes in at a weight of 7 kilos.
[Music] Hank:
Ouch. Time, 1 minute 30 seconds, but we're not worried about that,
we're worried about what time to go back down. Manon: I've converted Hank's fast machine into a
towing machine, Pinarello F12 with a trailer. Hank: Manon,
what on earth have you done to my bike? Manon: Do you like it? It's cool, isn't it?
Hank: Yes. Manon: This is going to be a second
run with an empty trailer. It does weigh 7 kilos, so quite a bit more. How much was your first run?
What power output did you have for that first run? Hank: I averaged 380 watts. I hit a max of 460
watts, with a weight of 84 kilograms-- Manon: Quick maths.
Hank: Yes. How much power will I need and will I even make it up?
Manon: It'll be interesting to see if you can get off-saddle with the trailer. Do you know how--
Hank: Well, fingers crossed while I make it up first run. Are you ready? No? I'm
a bit nervous for this one, but I'm going to give it my absolute best shot, Manon.
Manon: Great. That's what I'd like to hear. One more thing before you get started.
Hank: Okay, I'm ready. Manon: Just one more little detail.
Hank: You're here to count me? Manon: Yes. Hang on. Three, two, one. Go, go, go.
Hank: I'm off. Manon: That was a bit late, but go,
go, go. Come on. [music]
Hank: I'm ready. Manon, it's not time. Manon: I know, but still.
Go on, Hank. Give it some. [music]
Hank: 380, 390, 400, 470, 500, 500, 540. Manon: Whilst Hank suffers, let's see what I
can find to weigh him down. First up, watermelon. Next up, sugar, not one, not two, but three.
Next up, Hank's favorite bamboo plant. Last but not least, some Cotswold stone
from Hank's dad's house. Hank:
I'm sitting at 540. Just get up now, 540, 510.
Finish. What's that flag doing there? Completed second run.
Manon: Hank, how was it? Give me your stats. Hank: Well, I didn't account for the added
weight you added in the flag, well, thanks for that. I did, you'll be happy to know,
make it up. I did have to average some serious watts though. I averaged 400 watts just to get
up there and I'm maxed out at 565 watts. Manon: That's some big power.
Hank: That's a big power. Manon: Did you find it pretty
easy though, you got up, you didn't--? Hank: I got up, there was a bit of
sliding so I might need to let some air out the tire, but other than that,
I'm pretty happy with my performance there. Manon: Well, I think we should step it up a
notch. 6 kilograms, 5 kilos, 4 kilos and 5 kilos.
Hank: Manon, you've loaded my trailer with an extra 20 kilograms, which brings me to
104 kilograms. Manon: Are you
ready? Hank: That's
quite a heavy sprinter now I think about it. Manon: That is a very, yes, heavy sprinter.
Hank: We'll see how many it's watts I'm going to need to get up here, but first I think I actually
need to let out some air because, otherwise, I am going to be sliding all over the place.
There we go. Manon: That'll do.
Hank: Are you ready? We're ready. Manon: I'm ready. Are you ready? Hank,
this is it. I'm actually going to try and run up with you because
I feel like you might fail. You might need a bit of help anyway, I'll be there.
Are you ready? Hank: Yes.
Manon: Three, two, one. Go. Hank: I'm actually a bit nervous, it's a
slow start. Oh, and a bit wobbly, a bit wobbly. Can I get clipped in? I'm not clipped in yet.
Manon: You might need to clip in. Hank: I'm in.
Manon: Oh, you're off. Hank: Oh my knees.
[Music] Manon: You're off.
[music] Hank:
That was tough. Let's get down and go through the results.
Oh, I can't get back on. There we are. We're back on. Here we go.
[music] Manon: The weather has
taken a bit of a turn for the worst, but it's only going to make it harder, but we're going to troop
on. Hank, how was that, and what were the stats? Hank: That was absolutely brutal. I only think I
just made it up and we added 20 kilograms. My last run, you may remember, at 84 kilograms, I averaged
400 watts and to get out that steep bit, I had to push down on the pedals 565 watts. This time,
well this time my average was 30 watts more, so 430, but the interesting one was
just to get up the steep bit I was out the saddle pushing incredibly
hard on the pedals and I was hitting 700 watts just to get myself and the weight
over the climb. Savage. Manon: How do you reckon you're
going to be if we add a little bit more weight? Hank: I don't know. I think we're quite close
to me not making it up. Manon: Close to the limit.
Hank: Let's see how we get on. Manon: Well, let's see. What else have we got to
add? Hank's next added weight is going to be two water bottles. See how much these coming at. 5,
10 kilos exactly. That's going to bring his trailer up to 30 kilos now. Hank, you did make it
up that climb really well, that was impressive, I have to say, but time to step it up a notch again.
Hank: That's 5 kilograms. Manon: That's five,
put that in. Hank: It's 109. Another five.
Manon: Another five. Hank: 114.
Manon: We're not stopping there. Hank: What. Manon, no.
Manon: Bear with. Hank, I do know it's your birthday. Happy birthday Hank, a bottle
of champagne because you are climbing a hill with extra weight on your birthday.
Then you've got your kit bag with a lot of kit and I'll stick that in there for you too.
Hank: What's that, 6 kilograms? Manon: Yes, 6 kilograms. Don't drop it.
Hank: We're 120 kilograms of weight. Oh my gosh. Manon: I feel like the bag's going to make it a
bit harder to when you get out of the saddle and be swinging around and precious cargo.
Hank: My arms are already starting to give way. If we make it up here,
it is going to be an absolute miracle and I'm going to buy a lottery ticket.
[music] Hank: Manon's got
absolutely no faith in this run. She doesn't reckon that I can get this 120-kilogram
body trailer weight up this climb. She's already gone at the top of the climb to cheer me on
and to see when I fail. This leads me to setting off on my own. Are we ready?
Five, four, three, two, one. Oh, it's a slow start. Oh my gosh, it's heavy.
I feel like a Sherpa going up Everest. [Music]
Hank: We're not even on the steep bit and my arms are sore.
It's hard to get out of the saddle, so much weight in that trailer now. Slowing, almost 600 watts.
Hitting 700, just to get up. 800 watts now. 800, I'm slowing.
Manon: Come on, come on. Hank: 900 watts.
Guys, I think I've failed. Manon: Oh no.
Hank: There you have it. Go to your blow, 120 kilos
and 900 watts and I failed. [sighs] As we all know, climbing up steep gradients is tough,
really tough. What are the forces we are battling against? When we are riding on flat roads,
we aim to be more aerodynamic. The faster you go, the more aerodynamics comes into play. We
also are trying to overcome the friction coming from our tyres on the road surface,
but when we add hills and gradients, there is another force that comes into play,
gravity. The steeper the gradient, the greater the force of gravity becomes.
When we climb, we need to overcome the gravity. The more mass an object has,
the greater its gravitational pull will be. Speaker 1: Oh god. Where to begin. Allow me
to fact-check this. Gravity doesn't increase as you ride uphill, gravity changes with respect
to mass and distance. If you are riding uphill on a larger planet such as Saturn, it would be much,
much harder and if you weigh more, gravity pulls you more. Cyclists have to overcome gravity,
friction from your drivetrain and tyres, and aerodynamic drag all the time. Gravity
doesn't just appear when you travel uphill. If it wasn't there when you were on the flat, you'd just
float away. It's just that when you travel uphill and start moving at a slower speed,
drag counts for less, gravity becomes the dominant force you need to overcome.
Hank: It's not just that, the added weight also adds more rolling resistance to the tyres.
Extra weight causes a greater deformation of the sidewalls and tread of a tyre,
thus increasing the rolling resistance. Speaker 1: Well, that's minimal, especially
when the added mass is on a trailer behind you Hank. In terms of the optimum size of a cyclist.
In physics terms, the problem isn't that gravity pulls more weight on riders with greater weight,
but it's more to do with allometric scaling. As you increase the volume of a human being,
the power that human can produce increases, but it doesn't increase in a linear directly
proportional fashion. In simple terms, if you double the mass of a cyclist,
you don't double the power that that rider can produce. That's the most simple way to
explain why most top climbers are around 60 to 65 kilograms. It's the sweet spot, but nice try Hank.
Manon: Just as I anticipated Hank, you did come to a fail. You actually had a little bit of a crash,
but we're all okay, aren't we? Hank: I absolutely hate failing,
but I've got to say I had to sustain some big numbers there. I was averaging 470 watts,
but the interesting number that we're all looking for is that I needed 900 watts to get up here--
Manon: That's more watts than Ollie can do. Hank: Way more than Ollie can do. If you're
interested of what gear I was riding, I was riding a 34-32. I still had a fairly small gear. I've
got to say that was a couple of kilos too many. Manon: I knew you'd be the right one for the job,
but solid effort Hank. One more run? Hank: No. Absolutely not.
Manon: I've got some more weights in the car. Hank: No. We're all right for weight. Anyway,
if you guys enjoyed this video then don't forget to give it a big thumbs up and I'll
see you in the next video. Hopefully, it won't be on a massive climb with a load of weight.
Manon: Do you need some help? Hank: Yes, I do Manon. I also
need some crampons. Manon: Some what?
Hank: Go on, give us a push. Manon: What's a crampons?
Hank: Can you take that stuff up I left there, I can't take it up. That water and sugar and
watermelon. Thanks, Manon. [00:17:03] [END OF AUDIO]