Additional to yesterday’s publish, during which I pushed George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer to its very limits (or no less than gently nudged it in direction of the final neighborhood during which it limits may presumably be discovered)…

…you might have famous that the bike has fairly a tall fork crown, which Paul of Traditional Cycle has in comparison with “high-waisted denims:”

I had simply assumed the body should require an unusually proportioned fork as a result of the body is optimized for aerodynamics and blah blah blah, however based on Y-Foil nerds on the Web it’s as a result of Trek designed the bike to be suitable with a suspension fork:

At this time in fact gravel bike suspension forks have gotten more and more widespread, Lob assist us:

[My gravel bike suspension fork buyer’s guide: Don’t.]

However like so many different concepts in biking which can be at the moment widespread, that is nothing new, and for awhile there riders have been even deploying them at Paris-Roubaix:

Anyway, if what I’ve learn is true and the Y-Foil is certainly “suspension-corrected,” this provides a completely new dimension to its dorkiness, and it’s turning into more and more clear to me that with regards to totally comprehending the character and magnitude of its dorkitude I’ve solely simply barely begun to make out its contours within the fog.

Additionally additional to yesterday’s publish, my totally scientific testing confirmed that George Plimpton’s Y-Foil a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer is certainly sooner than The Final Dad Bike:

Exhilarated by the fun of discovery, I resolved to speed-test one more bike. However which? La Faggin con Spinerghese? The Cervino with its pro-quality tubular tires and cutting-edge componentry from 1982? However testing but extra street racing bikes simply appeared like splitting hairs. Then it hit me: why not strive one thing completely different, just like the Homer?

Setting out, I knew the Homer could be slower than each the ‘Mond and the ‘Foil. The true query was: How a lot slower would it not be? So I strapped on a pair of sandals and hit the street. The end result?

Yeah, that’s proper: whereas the Homer was slower than the Y-Foil, it beat the LeMond by 15 seconds.

How might this be?!? How might the Homer, full with full fenders, touring tires, a headlight sitting on the market within the wind, and 36-spoke wheels (nicely 36 rear, 32 entrance) carry out practically identically to the featherweight LeMond with its minimally-spoked ultralight race wheels? Nicely, I’ve a couple of theories:

• Jan Heine is true and wider tires are sooner (even once they’re rugged Schwalbes with reflective sidewalls and never supple Heinian tires)
• Because of the aforementioned wider tires, plus the bike’s inherent stability due to its lengthy wheelbase, I used to be in a position to journey sooner over the tough sections of the bike path the place the roots are forcing the pavement to buckle
• The Homer is extra comfy, and so I used to be in a position to spend extra time within the drops
• Whereas I actually thought the Homer could be measurably slower, as soon as I received began perhaps I subconsciously hoped for an upset and thus made extra of an effort with out realizing it
• Sarcastically the handlebars on the Homer are narrower than the bars on each the Y-Foil and the LeMond, so perhaps handlebar width is much more essential than stuff like spoke depend, which will surely clarify why the professionals are using such slender bars nowadays
• As an outdated, out-of-shape, and balding semi-professional bike blogger, I merely don’t journey quick sufficient to comprehend any of the advantages of aerodynamic bicycle gear

I feel every certainly one of these theories has advantage, however in the end I believe it’s that final one which explains like most of what’s occurring right here.