Is your bike fit more or less aggressive than the men you ride with? In other words, can you tuck?

How much do you weigh in relationship to the guys you ride with? Most very light women have a descending challenge. I, OTOH, weigh as much as a lot of the super-skinny male riders and I can totally out-descend most of them.



The other variable that would affect your ability to descend quickly is your gearing irt the grade of the descent. What gearing do you have? I have a compact double (big ring = 50) and a 13-29 so I spin out @ about 31mph. Many men have more favorable gearing options for descending. For example, let's say a male rider has a standard double (big ring = 53) and a 12-25 in the back. He could pedal and continue to accelerate much longer than you could. So you'd have to tuck and use your body weight/aerodynamics to get you down the hill. Obviously, this will be less an issue on very steep hills where the guys might spin out as well.


Quote Originally Posted by nomummytummy View Post
if we are more aerodynamic, why do I get left behind going down hill? I work just as hard as the guys to get up, but even when I hardy touch the brakes I lose them. I keep saying it's b/c I'm not aerodynamic!