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What we need is a Man of Science to work out the energy generated by a spirited descent of Ventoux by a laden tandem.
Right then
The major component of this would be kinetic energy (rather than the component of gravitational potential energy you are resisting by going down a slope), so lets estimate this.
Assume m = 175kg (tandem, two riders, loaded)
At thirty five miles an hour, v = 15m/s approx.
Kinetic energy = 1/2 m * v squared
= circa 19,700 joules (or Watt-seconds)If you wanted to stop all of this dead in ten seconds, you'd need to apply 1970 watts.
Or five seconds, 3940 watts.
Olly398
@Dammit
The other option might be to get some discs laser cut that have a much larger surface area and can radiate the heat out more ably than a standard 203mm disc.
What we need is a Man of Science to work out the energy generated by a spirited descent of Ventoux by a laden tandem.
On my cycle to Excel last night I'd been imagining how we might use a magnetic drag brake as seen in (for e.g.) turbo trainers - they seem to have no issue generating 300 watts of retardation for an hour without cooking themselves. Lot of mass there, of course.