Do longer legs = more power?

[flatclimb]

Hello,

I was wondering if riders with longer legs have a genetic advantage? If your legs act as a lever would you be able to generate more power to the pedals and use less energy?

 

[David Suro]

Riders with longer legs can ride longer cranks. Longer cranks do provide a power advantage.

If two riders are the same height & weight and one rider has longer legs, then he has an advantage. Upper body mass does not help propel the bike. The rider with longer legs typically has a larger percentage of his body mass in his legs. This gives an advantage.

 

[lostintime]

Hello,

I was wondering if riders with longer legs have a genetic advantage? If your legs act as a lever would you be able to generate more power to the pedals and use less energy?

There are so many factors (most of which we'll never understand) that go into how some people generate more power than another, it'll make your head spin.

No two humans are alike, so isolating one trait as an advantage or disadvantage is being disingenuous to whatever makes all of us.

 

[MTBrider]

Riders with longer legs can ride longer cranks. Longer cranks do provide a power advantage.

Longer cranks mean higher torque for the same force, not more power.

Power is the product of force and velocity or for a crank, angular velocity and torque. Long legs may allow more torque but make it difficult to produce high angular velocity. Short legs may mean less torque but make it ieasier to have a high angular velocity.

In other words, leg length doesn't mean anything.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Longer cranks mean higher torque for the same force, not more power.

Power is the product of force and velocity or for a crank, angular velocity and torque. Long legs may allow more torque but make it difficult to produce high angular velocity. Short legs may mean less torque but make it ieasier to have a high angular velocity.

In other words, leg length doesn't mean anything.

Atta boy - you obviously understand physics. Some recent examples of how long leg length means nothing: if longer leg length counted, then guys like McEwen and Cav would not have much chance against guys like Boonen.

 

[brianf7]

Hello,

I was wondering if riders with longer legs have a genetic advantage? If your legs act as a lever would you be able to generate more power to the pedals and use less energy?

simple answer is NO

 

[forty four]

Riders with longer legs can ride longer cranks. Longer cranks do provide a power advantage.

If two riders are the same height & weight and one rider has longer legs, then he has an advantage. Upper body mass does not help propel the bike. The rider with longer legs typically has a larger percentage of his body mass in his legs. This gives an advantage.

upper body mass helps in sprints very much so actually.

 

[forty four]

Atta boy - you obviously understand physics. Some recent examples of how long leg length means nothing: if longer leg length counted, then guys like McEwen and Cav would not have much chance against guys like Boonen.

ridden with great squat compact riders and great stork like builds no prediction of ability that i have found between the two types.

 

[mountaindew]

Betinni & Pantani. Short legs.

 

[Darryl Webster]

Any evidence ( all other factors being equal) that % of thigh as a whole of leg length has any impact?

 

[Polyarmour]

upper body mass helps in sprints very much so actually.

Then why isn't this guy bulking up?

 

[M Sport]

upper body mass helps in sprints very much so actually.

Upper body strength and core strength helps, not mass.

 

[CoachFergie]

British and Australian track sprinters do very little upper body weights. It's just extra mass to accelerate and increased frontal area to punch through the wind. The Aussies sprinters have very well developed legs but less developed upper bodies. Doesn't actually take much strength to ride the bankings at speed. More good technique.

 

[oldborn]

Hey Poly remember my Ivan Basso celebrity endorsement Fergie almost eat me Please leave Cav alone Because i got a lot of studies

Stay well my friend!

 

[Polyarmour]

Hey Poly remember my Ivan Basso celebrity endorsement Fergie almost eat me Please leave Cav alone Because i got a lot of studies

Stay well my friend!

I remember your "joke" about pretending to know Aldo Sassi.
How are the weights going? 300kgs leg press?

 

[Polyarmour]

Upper body strength and core strength helps, not mass.

Where did this core strength thing come from? I'd never heard of it until a few years ago and now it is being credited with everything from riding a bike faster to giving you a bulletproof immune system.

In the overall scheme of things I would have thought cyclists rate pretty low on core strength. Let's be honest cyclists need legs not sixpacks.

Now here is a skinny guy with core strength

And here is a skinny guy who cycles really well but needs his mother to open those tight jam jars.

 

[oldborn]

I remember your "joke" about pretending to know Aldo Sassi.
How are the weights going? 300kgs leg press?

No 300kg, that is too much, lower weights about 20-40kg and i am seeing some progress but this is just me, wright? And you? How are yours legs?

 

[Polyarmour]

No 300kg, that is too much, lower weights about 20-40kg and i am seeing some progress but this is just me, wright? And you? How are yours legs?

20-40kgs? About the same weight force as... ummmm..... riding a bike up a hill.

My legs are coming along nicely thanks, ....apart from the varicose veins.

 

[Bike Boy]

Just grabbed my physics book from the shelves and I think it helps in solving this poblem.

I'm guessing that not everybody is familiar with physics so I will take it step by step

from newtons mechanic we have:

torque = force x lever

(vektorial denotion is not essential for understanding)

and from rotational dynamic:

power = torque x angular velocity

hence longer legs = greater torque, but it will be outweighted by the decreasing angular velocity so no more power to gain I'm sory.

But this isn't the end. greater force will not be outweighted by decreasing angular velocity. So the real question is:

Will (the muscles in) longer legs cause a greater force?

This is clearly more of a biological problem so I'm now going out of my comfort zone.
I'm guessing that the force caused by the muscle must be greater because longer legs equals more muscles mass, hence greater oxygen up take, and hence a greater force.
So longer legs indirectly causes more power.

I can't justilfy my answer to the biological question so please correct me if I'm wrong