Something smells fishy

[Seph]

So tell us about yourself. Age, height, weight…what’s your threshold, 5’, 60”, 15” power? How aero are you? What frame, wheels, tires, etc. are you running?

30 yo.
60kg.
173.
power dunno
aero umh, 40mm wheels, 90° elbows or hands on drops.
bike bmc slr 7.6kg
sports only cycling

[CasualRider]

This is your answer, the power. If you don't know your power how can you compare yourself to others? Power/weight is one of the main metrics in cycling. Some guys have 200 Ftp at 60kg while others at 350 Ftp. But even if your FTP is relatively high but you are new to cycling you will still lose to many less powerful riders.

There are a ton of other important metrics in cycling: how trained are you, repeatablility, ablity to clear lactate, how may all out matches you have etc, how taxing is going to V02 zone on your body, are you better at sustained efforts. I can go on.

In real life your equipment plays much smaller role than your fitness. Wheels, frame etc is not that important. Once you get to 4-5W/kg then you can try to work on marginal gains.