Who would win a bike race between a BMX, MTB, road and track cyclist? Manon headed down to Castle Combe and organised a series of bike races between some of the nation's top cyclists, to see which cycling discipline would come out victorious.
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Which cycling discipline is your favourite?🤔
Road, hands down.
Road, but it was really impressive to see the BMX and Track cyclists perform
Road
Road.
Trials 🙂
Put the BMXer on the road bike and she might smoke them all. Her Cadence was off the charts!
If we put all the riders on the same bike, would the results change from each distance?🤔
@@gcnthat was what I was expecting to see in this video
@@gcnnow that's a good test!
With the roadbike gearing she would probably not be able to get the same cadence (as quick) as on the BMX bike. Nevertheless impressive.
@@mseekles1972 here's a secret unveiled: roadbike has lots of differerent gearing ratios. I'm more afraid Betsy will snap the thinner 12 speed chain
I thought this was going to be ridiculous concept, but the speed and acceleration of Betsy on that BMX changed my view. Insane cadence and fitness level! The way she was still spinning off the line like crazy on the 1km version too. Full commitment 😮
This
BMXers have some power! 💪 Did you catch Hank giving it a go 👉 kzhead.info/sun/iKtqmr2bmJiHh68/bejne.html
@@gcn Thanks. But I think we're all really waiting for Conor to give BMX-ing a go...
Absolutely LOVED watching Betsy tear it off the line for the 500m and 1km races. She knew she had no chance. But why not go down in glory. Incredible cadence, strength and acceleration.
I make your words mine. Completely unexpected, I thought the BMX racer would have no chance. I think it would be really nice to replicate the 1 Km challenge in a circuit having the 4 different kinds of surface.
The BMXer out the gate has incredible speed. Props to the MTBer for just having fun out there.
The cadence was incredible, wasn't it! Would you give BMX a go?
Of course! I've ridden all except for track.@@gcn
@@gcnI prefer a 20" foldable bike for my city/urban rides. It's perfect: straight back and 180° vision and fast small wheels. I smoke them at the lights even cars. 😊❤
Poor, poor mountain bikers...all bike handling and zero fitness.
@@roadcyclist1erm, Pidcock, Schurter, Pieterse? No fitness? You gotta be joking
That's incredible how long Betsy was able to sustain the level of her explosive power and high cadence! I bet that if she had gears, she could win on all the distances!
Not to mention the skills she would have too! Cyclocross better watch out 👀
Now let's do this again but with all the bikes in off-road
Completely different if they were all on similar bikes. I thought the video was going to be them all having a go at each other’s discipline? Maybe that is a video for the future 😊
I thought similar too, or the cyclists swap discipline bikes , eg Track-BMX, BMX-road, road-mtb and MTB-track
Give them all balance bikes and race again!
There is always space for more videos 👀 How do you think the BMXer would get on with the road bike?
@@gcnnot each other's discipline, but each other's course. BMX track, velodrome and XC short track course. You're going to need one very brave track cyclist! 😂
I suspect you'd have the road bike fastest still - since they probably all have experience on road bikes. Last would be Track or BMX because they require the most experience with that specific bike.
This is hands-down my favorite video you've done. It's a perfect illustration of the trade-offs of different kinds of cycling. I think it'd be interesting to give these four cyclists opportunities to race in each of the others' disciplines, perhaps after a bit of coaching from the expert in the given discipline. Also I loved seeing Betsy represent BMX in a GCN video (too rare!) and how absurdly fast she can get off the line and accelerate. She's a machine!
Betsy was epic! Would you like to see more BMX content on GCN? That power is mind-blowing 🤯
Glad you enjoyed the video!
YES PLEASE!!@@gcn
That made a lot of sense. The BMX had mad off-the-line speed but was dead on long pulls, The downhill specialist had no downhill to play with, the track cyclist had massive power but only one gear, the roadie had all the power and gears to shift through for the distance. It shows how good road bikes are. Great racing.
Road bikes are just so effective! They really are the best bikes 🙌 ... don't tell GMBN
Yeah the BMXer would've had better results on the longer distances if she chilled out on the start, hung with the roadie then sprinted at the end. Also at the longer distance if she was able to switch to a higher seat, should could've taken advantage of sitting down.
@@gcn But gravel bikes outperforms roadbikes for general biking on variable surfaces , because they take fatter tyres. On Tarmac I can stay in the drag behind roadbikeriders stronger than me until we hit a small climb.On the gravelroads I can keep fresh for hours without getting tired in my neck. But some roadbikes are closing the gap, growing their tyreclearance up to more adult 35 mm tyres.
There is a dutch version of MTB vs Track vs BMX featuring Jeffrey Hoogland. The results are different, very interesting to see! Maybe if Rhian (the track cyclist) would have got a bigger chainring she would have won.
Pretty sure that video was the inspiration for this… the BMX dude killed it despite losing due to the way they weighted each distance differently.
That's a great video.
We'd be in trouble if the track cyclists shows up on a bigger chainring 👀
Nice video, highly amusing. Brave effort on the MTB from the always absolutely epic and brilliant Tracy Moseley. Really wondering about Betsy’s max watts per kilo. That must be off the charts. Get them all back again but maybe just all on road bikes for one set of challenges and all on mountain bikes for another set, just to make it simpler.
It was shocking that Tracy was even in the same postcode on a MTB. On a bike built for so much more, she made it look seriously non-slow. Absolute legend.
@@ollieelgie Yeah, absolutely, on an MTB and up against some young whippersnappers and still in there, complete legend. Plus, one of my favourite cyclists to listen to. She just talks good sense.
Kudos to GCN for gathering these amazing athletes for this entertaining race. Well done. I think it is fair to expect the roadbike to win all the races over 1 kms... I liked the BMX rider races, amazing cadence
This was great to watch! I think accumulating the points over the different races was clever, I feel like the results accurately represented the “all-aroundness” of road bikes on the pavement. Also, incredible efforts by all the ladies! It was great to watch all these disciplines collide
This is consistent with what I experience with my bikes. Over a short sprint, my BMX is always the quickest to accelerate. It’s fast! But with a 25:9 gear ratio it’s never going to beat my road bike once the distance increases. My road bike takes longer to get up to speed but once it does, my other bikes have no chance. And my hard tail is never the fastest. But it makes up for that with what it offers for off road fun.
Fascinating. This simultaneously shows just how much can be done with a single gear and how much difference multiple gears can make.
Is one gear all you need 👀
@@gcn I could manage with one gear only, and that could be 34 - 25.Making it possible to climb standing 8% and spinning out at maybe 20 km/h (boring). If I lived in a flat area single speed would be more fun, maybe with 40- 20 chainrings. I am 100 kg heavy.
Well done GCN for assembling such an awesome group of athletes across the disciplines. I'd love see more footage (and even data?) of the BMX - those cadences looked just crazy.
What an incredible watch. An amazing effort by all people. Please continue the amazing work!
Really interesting. Add the variant of some elevation too would be fascinating. Or get them to swop bikes. So many permutations ❤
Oooo swap bikes could be fun! Do you think the road cyclists would do well on a different bike?
@@gcn No, lol that's why fun
@@gcn not a chance! My money would be on the track cyclist- similar enough of a position, with the added benefit of gears, with no climbs or downhills to shake anything up. Just pure watt cannon.
GCN is fast becoming my most favourite youtube channel. Its amazing you guys are so creative and able to come out with video so interesting and fun to watch.
Thanks! We've got so much more great content coming up so make sure you've got those notifications on!🔔
This video just reminded me that in the past five years how I went through a roster of vintage and modern road bikes, hardtail and full-sus mountain bikes and a BMX just to end up with track and urban fixies. It took me a long time to figure out that I value simplicity and reliability. It would be interesting to see other people's journey.
I got lucky on the first try and just dove straight into fixed gear without the detours :)
Ive ended my 40 year journey at Modern, 12 speed, aero, electronic shifting......everything else to me is just blah. I wish I had this tech when I first started!
There is something great about fixed gear riding! Simple, easy and down to earth. The big questions though... what's your go to Gear ratio for road riding?
48x15 at the moment :)@@gcn
I have 9 bikes in my room right now 😅
Fun video! This was a very entertaining and eye-opening set of data. Thank you!
That was great Manon. I'd love to see it again but with each athlete free to choose a different bike each race. All the athletes are amazing and it's their bikes that let them down.
Not true. They all have different fitness levels due to their discipline. For example, the mountain biker has weak sustained power, low ftp and low v02 max in comparison to the other 3. But hey, she has great bike handling!
We don't want to give them a choice! Let's make them rides bikes they don't feel comfortable on 😂
Great stuff! Would be fun to also see them all race on the same types of bikes.
Absolutely stellar content Manon and gcn! These women are amazing athletes!! Now, take all of them through each discipline BMX course, Single track, road circuit, and velodrome. I don't usually go for racing, but this got me! Anything with women like these, and I'll be there! Huge respect!
Love this! Would like to see these great cyclists swap bikes and then race too.
Betsy on that BMX bike is a beast! They all are though, clearly. Really enjoyed that one. Would be fun to have them all ride the same bike or perhaps two bikes and see how they do. Keep this theme going if you can GCN!
Please, do this race again, on a gnarly gravel section. Would be interesting to see, how much the BMX and MTB benefits there.
RIP track & road bike
@@sanicfast482 LoL yeah, anything other than tarmac and those two woudl not get round the course. But would be really interesting to BMX lady on the track bike - she got soem real power there
Wow the BMX just rips off the line I am blown away how fast she was. What a dream team of cyclists all experts in their fields! Hope you have them back for more challenges.
That was a lot of fun to watch. Each was so strong and fast! They all blew me away.
Great videos :-) Maybe have a Gravel/Indoor Track/MTB terrain for the next stages :-)
We need these types of content from GCN❤
We'll keep them coming 🙌 Turn your notifications on and you won't miss any videos 🔔
Great video! Let's see a similar race in a velodrome, BMX course, and through the woods to crown the real champion!
Please do it!
Interesting! Is there a limit on the track gear ratios?
@@gcn Maybe just constrain the competition to the frame, gears and tires are variable. A huge front chainring on the BMX for the velodrome would be awesome!!
@@heathdelzell9547 Third wheel sized chainring for the bmx lol
Actually been waiting for this video
Love this type of content.
I know swapping bikes may skew things, but maybe swapping gear ratios on the BMX & Track bikes for the different distances may be interesting.
Yep.
Super entertaining video idea and awesome athletes! Would love to see them racing on dirt! Or give them all a road bike!
Nice one! Didn’t ride a BMX for more than 25 years and totally forgot how explosive and fast those bikes can be. 🤘😊
Loads of comments here about Betsy! More BMX content please @gcn . There are two great clubs on your doorstep in Bath BMX Club and Bristol Jets BMX Club.
Enjoyable. That BMXer was impressive.
Betsy is super fast!⚡
Lots of fun! Can't wait to see them competing in different terrains or with different bikes
Okay that turned out to be a cool video. I was a little skeptical at the beginning. but it was actually pretty good.
Would love to see the watts and heart rates Gearing on the track and BMX as well. This was fantastic. Time for the guys to have a go.
Great vid, great riders, great day 😊
I really enjoyed the video!
great race ... showing any bikes can win a race depending on the track and distance !
Did the fixed gear riders change gears between efforts? You’d obviously want a different gear for 25m than you’d want for a kilo.
no. If she had I think she would have won them all.
Bro fixed gear does not have a gear
@@kavin5979 there is obviously one, otherwise the bike wouldn’t move off the spot. It’s trivial to change the ratio by swapping chainrings or sprockets.
@@kavin5979 there is obviously one, otherwise the bike wouldn’t move off the spot. It’s trivial to change the ratio by swapping chainrings or sprockets.
Reminded me of the old MBUK showdowns they did back in the day. Awesome athletes all round. Next up surely has to be challenges on equal machinery. Think Betsy would be an absolute force to be reckoned with.
I really liked the video. Just one suggestion: to make a straight finish line use a carpenter’s chalk string and snap it down first to establish where the tape should go prior to placing the tape on the pavement.
Great video , can't believe how well the BMX did. Defo need to do this again but they all ride the same bikes at the same time and do all 4 disciplines
Now it would be interesting to have a Pump Track and stuff with Jump-Like things... (you could also join a CX-Pro on that...) from the setup it was quite clear for me what results to expect, so we need something to favour MTB (and maybe again BMX)...
this is for debate about narrow vs wide tire on city/comfort riding. there you go. unless you carrying heavy stuff 😅 or your city doesn’t have smooth tarmac 😊
Loving the top cap on Rhian Edmunds bike 🏴🏴
NIce BMX bike! \/ery good video subject. Worth the watch!
For this type of environment, I think it would be interesting to see everyone on a road bike. Then like another poster stated, everyone on BMX, then everyone on single track, and then everyone on the velodrome.
Amazing athletes , fun video 👍🏻
I remember getting my first bmx as a kid after having only mountain bikes. I couldn't believe how much power and speed I could generate
Perfect representation of the advantages of each discipline when it comes to speed. Mtb could not be performing well because of its small chainring. Maybe if it has bigger chain ring and hard tail it could have a chance in 50 meters. BMX apparently the most torque bicycle discipline. Even here in Philippines there are "bmx drag race" but its an unofficial game so it could be done in secret. Even I have a racing BMX even I'm a roadie. I train in my BMX so I could perform well on the road bike. That strategy of track cyclist are so impressive on the 1km distance. Very great video.
Technically this should have been done on a runway, or another long, straight, flat piece of tarmac. But other than that, great video. Great presentation, editing. 👍
You need to do a CUP event. So this is round 1. Another 3 rounds swapping bikes. Betsy was supreme fitness. That leg pump unreal, gotta say I chuckled at the full seat post by the 1km race. 😂
Would love to see the distance, speed, and acceleration curves. From each race because they looked quite different between races and bike
I loved the perfectly straight finish line :D
The results were what I expected but great video
This is one of the best videos this year. Highly entertaining! Although I might add the bloke who painted the finish lines appeared to have stopped by the pub prior to arriving. 🍺
Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes there was some questionable finish lines in this video I have to admit.
The finish line reminds me of the Amstel Gold Race when Pidcock 'lost' (5:00)
Our drawing wasn't the greatest on that one😂
Absolutely awesome race! The track looks fun as hell, would love to go drifting on it
Totally predictable outcome but cool to watch, nice work GCN.
Gearing was a limiting factor for both Betsy and Rhian in most cases. Having been able to install the proper gearing for each attempt, I'm sure Rhian would've smashed everyone else in all races.
Nope. Age was.
I thought this was gonna be a mixed discipline test. One race in each discipline would be really fun to watch
The finish line on that 1K run -- looks like Dan was out there with a piece of chalk after one of his "coffee" stops. A centipede would get lost on that line.
Should Manon have been in the race her self on a gravelbike? Or is she afraid of loosing?
That was a fun and enlightening vid 👍🏻 Be interesting to see them all compete on the same discipline bikes.
Do you think the results would change if they were all on the same bikes?
I was really hoping the mountain biker would just full send off the track and bee line to the goal on the 1k
the Bmx sprint was just amazing .
Four Amazing athletes. I was cheering for the Tracky to smoke everybody. Betting on the Track rider for nr. 1. I was amazed at the BMX spinner. Thanks.
Br8 now give them all the same bicycle. Alternatively keep the bicycle but change the discipline. (Eg. One MTB race, One BMX race, One Road Racce and one Track race) ;-)
Sounds like a great idea! However we're not sure the track bike would be the safest on a MTB Course with no brakes😅
@@gcn Probably ways around it (chosing a track that is safe etc). It will be part of the fun to see what the cyclist do. Of course giving them all commuter style (Amsterdam) single gear bicycle to compete in all the disciplines would be load of fun. Especially if the presenters also participate. (Presenters vs pros) could be a load of fun. Eg. Track discipline, MTB course, road race (shortish), BMX race on commuter bicycles will be hilarious especially if the pro take on their own discipline on a different style bike and get real competitive with each other and the presenters.
Maybe next time do one with different terrains. That would be interesting.
Do a video of Different types of bikers to race on 1st bmx, 2nd mtb, 3rd track and 4th road bikes.
And then test they're at mtb XC course, at velodrome, and finally at road tour distance 😅😂 I think mtb (XC) it's all rounded, everything you need nothing you can't (offroad ability, tarmac cruiser)
That was awesome! Now repeat the distances with everyone riding the same type of bike.
Depends on the aerodynamics and rolling resistance
A salute to Betsy for doing so well on her BMX bike. And I certainly learned first-hand how fast the best of those riders could sprint out of the gate to the first berm, faster than me tho' I tried and always seemed to finish fourth or something and O well, it was fun to compete for a time in '79 and experience it all. And even more fun were the eight years that I was a Schwinn Sting-Ray rider all the time, '67 to '75, back when the Sting-Ray preceded and actually birthed BMX and was the best bike a kid could have for riding fast and doing crazy stuff.
that was a great idea. Hope there will be more videos like this, although with a more balanced bikes in order to compete in equal conditions, so they could use those bikes but all of them having the same bike and compete all of them with a different bike every time. Lovely ladies btw.
Glad to see a break from the usual Guy Cycling Network. These women are amazing! How about bringing in Cross and TT champs? Swap bikes and surfaces. Betsy rocks!
Not too surprised about the results. Would be interesting to see if they would preform any differently if they all rode the same type of bike.
Now let's put em on a cline 😂 great job girls this one's on 🔥🔥🔥
Blend each discipline into the one machine. 20 inch wheels, multi gear ratios, triathlon bars
great vid
all this test demonstrated was advantage of a road bike on the road as distance increases. Put them all on identical bikes (from each discipline) and run all the races over, so each rider has a home bike advantage in one round of races for a total of 20 heats.
Absolute respect to the BMX rider, she's an absolute bullet off the line. And it's not like it's a lead for a second, she keeps that pace for such a good distance. But yeah on longer distances, you rather have a light aero bike with good gearing, the MTB being so poor actually reassures me that I made the right decision in getting a road bike for the type of riding I do these days. Cheers on the vid.
If you should attest any knowledge to this video, it is that they had three 20 year olds racing against a 44 year old MTB-er. ;) Bike type has nothing to do with it. Next time, put in Jolanda Neff or any young MTB-er, see how they fare against them :D
Good fun, well done!
The way Rhian (Track Sprinter) speaks is like Chris Pratt doing the Towie Accent in Graham Norton show.
Hey GCN, great content! But please give credit to the creator with the original idea for this video: "Justin Kimman" His video on this same thing was amazing as well.
It's not really a fair competition, it was nice to see the road cyclist win, but this just proves that if your bike is made for the event you will have a massive advantage. I would suggest that you put all of them on road bikes and do a road race, then have all of them on mountain bikes and do a mountain bike race, and have all of them on BMX bikes and do a BMX race and have all of them on track bikes and do a track race. I'm sure they wouldn't be tired after that.
And the award for most squiggly finish line is GCN! Fun video though :)
Our drawing could've been better we must admit🫣
very cool to illustrate the different disciplines and their strengths! need to give the mtb a fair shot though. how about the next round is off-road. :)
Si will be jealous of the track cyclist glasses.
Totally surprised by the BMXer! Wow! Amazing!
Bro that bmxr’s speed and consistency is off the charts
Been telling you at GCN and the folks in the comments, BMX bikes are the Champion-Maker of all disciplines. Not to be sniffed at, definitely not "Just a kids bike" theyre serious kit and a great platform for developing any of the further cycling disciplines like the other 3 shown here, and more ontop.
Very interesting!