Quote:
Originally Posted by choneofakind
Actually, every study I could find a few years back said that human power output is more or less constant regardless of what an athlete (note, the word "athlete" takes a lot of variation due to fitness changes over time here) is riding, whether it's a diamond frame bike, a recumbent, or a rowing machine. The important part is that time is given to allow for the rider to acclimate to the new vehicle. Rojo is a perfect example of this in real life. .
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For steady-state cruising for miles on end, yes, you're limited by same aerobic capacity VO2-max and FTP (aka anaerobic-threshold) regardless of vehicle.
However, for top-speed, anaerobic max-power output of +2000 watts, you need to recruit all muscle-fibres in legs. The seated position doesn't let you use body-weight to fully utilize knee extensors. Knee and hip flexors aren't utlized at all as they require taunt stomach muscles with narrower hip angle..Resultant more lob-sided seated pedaling motion doesn't allow you to spin up to +210-240rpms where max-power is generated.
"According to these measurements the racing upright cyclist can generate considerably more power (mountain upwards or at a sprint), than sitting on the seat." -
http://members.home.nl/vd.kraats/recumbent/pedal.html
There's 'bent group in WA headed by Jeff Wills, a former colleague I used to work with for 10-yrs at Bike'alog. I'll see what kind of data they've gathered for their top-speed record runs. Sam actually had the record @ 81mph for a while. And he certainly wasn't putting out more than 1200-1400 watts. You can find easily dozens of 1-2-P riders at any weekend race that can easily out-power him. Not to mention velodrome match-sprint monsters putting out +2000 watts for a lap.