Yeah, Sheldon mentions it in this article. I don't think those mods helped. Weight has no impact on sustained speed.
> Weight has no impact on sustained speed.
On a nice track, assuming a perfectly smooth surface and zero elevation change, I'm willing to accept the effect may not matter enough to care. But introduce even just a little bumpiness or some elevation change (perhaps in the track curves), and it might matter for someone pursuing the hour record.
You're not going up and down the track during an hour record. Just doing laps at the bottom (zero elevation change). Track surfaces aim to be very smooth in general.
Rolling resistance increases linearly with weight, so it does have some impact.
Ok. Almost no impact. Worth keeping in mind we're talking about a system weight of like 180 lb vs at most 185 lb here (Merckx was ~163 lb), for a relative difference of up to 3%.
You slow down incrementally between every power stroke.
A heavier bike would slow down less. At the end of the day the energy is lost to friction.