Yeah. I didn't notice the power suck nearly as much on the Macho King I test rode a few years ago, it felt way snappier and was a lot lighter. Alas that frame was unavailable, and the new one has a totally different frame. With Bike Revs closing, there goes my AC dealer too. It was Reynolds 853 though, so I'd assume any 853 frameset will be similar? Voodoo Rada could fill that gap.[user not found] wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:55 pmYeah, a noodly frame will definitely suck some watts out of the legs.Johnny_P wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:47 am
So the road setup I have is the stock boat anchor All City wheelset (Alex Black Dragon 32 spoke f/r with cheap Novatec-ish hubs probably like 2200g), to 32c Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons with tubes.
The tires have some added rolling resistance over GP5000's. But added puncture resistance. The wheels are probably the issue, mounted up they're notably heavier than my WTB/Bitex/40C Nano off road set.
The Macho Man's frame isn't the stiffest. Kind of pedals like an older steel bike, I'd bet its somewhat similar to your Schwinn. Some BB flex.
I really don't know why this bike feels so much slower than my Cervelo did. I guess that bike's stiffness really made it snappy and feel super fast. I'm a hell of a lot slower climbing on this bike than I was on the Cervelo. It weighs 10 lbs more than that bike did though.
That’s how I feel on the Schwinn. The Sacklist is pretty stiff laterally, so power transfer is surprisingly good for a steel frame.
Thoughts like these always spiral out of control though. I guess I could get a better wheelset for the road, something that can convert axle diameters easily, so I could swap it to a different bike at some point, which is likely in the minimum $500 range to try out. I think if I were to switch it up, it would be a Giant Revolt or a Santa Cruz Stigmata. But then there's the whole carbon fiber rigid bike off road vs steel... cheap vs expensive, etc.
I guess should go on a road ride on this thing and just try and focus on what it is that I don't like about it. I haven't been road riding much anyway. Mostly just dirt. All my friends only ride dirt/mixed surface anymore. Turn on Strava and find out how slow I really am.