How much does tech affect performance? Pro and a £100 bike versus killer climb

For most of professional cycling's history, there have been constant debates about the importance of bike tech and how much difference it can make to performance. It’s what prompted Eddy Merckx to share one of his most often-stated sayings: “don't buy upgrades, ride upgrades”.

While we’re in no position to argue with the man widely considered as the greatest of all time, it’s obvious that bikes and technology do have some effect on performance. Sure this is only minimal at the higher echelons of the sport, where tech choices can save a few watts here and there. But in a world where races can be won by milliseconds, those saved watts can be the difference between winning and losing.

But, in a more extreme example, how much slower would a pro rider be on a cheap £100 bike compared to a superbike?

Read more: Coffee and cycling: Does caffeine make you faster on a bike?

Conor Dunne and James ‘Hank’ Lowsley-Williams decided to find out, so they recruited Max Stedman of Turkish Continental outfit Beykoz Belediyesi Spor Türkiye for a challenge. Max has been a previous visitor to the channel and we previously covered his Everesting attempt in 2020.

That attempt provides a nod to Max’s speciality, climbing, so it was only fair that we conducted our experiment on a hill, to find out how much a cheap bike would impact his climbing performance. Luckily we quickly found the climb for the job in the form of Draycott Hill. 1.93km at an average gradient of 11.4%, it’s a vicious incline, but one Max was more than familiar, sitting second on the Strava leaderboard with a time of six minutes 45 seconds - fellow GCN-regular Andrew Feather topped the leaderboard with an incredible effort of six minutes and seven seconds.

That time of course was set on a top-level bike but how close could Max get with something a little less high-tech? The steed in question for the effort was Hank’s ANC-Halfords team-editions Peugeot bike. Hailing from the 1980s, it was once considered cutting edge, but cycling technology has developed considerably since it first emerged. Its 12kg weight and 42-23 easiest gear would be alien on a modern bike.

Would the bike defy its age or would it struggle on the steep slopes? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

Explore all of our challenges on the GCN website