Is rolling weight important?

['Dale]

"Don't buy upgrades... ride up grades..."

 

Merckx

[jcza]

Don't bother - I am not a pie-eater, so I cant relate.

However, lighter wheels was the difference for me - HUGE difference.

Sorry professor....as you were.

[NINER_boy]

Here is my take on weight savings on a bike.

 

PS, I REALLY like nice and unique stuff, so shis is more aimed at the "saving 60g here and cutting 25g there" approach...

 

 

Death of a Weight Weenie _ 29er Online.pdf

[Rider3000]

Hi Josh,

 

I wish this was something one can discuss and put to bed, myself i spend years looking into this and got absolutely no further than that! You'll find both people stating yes and no (which wont mean anything to you), and also i looked into soooo many frames, wheels and data but nothing in my mind was convincing that lighter wheels/frame makes a difference.

 

My 2 cents to sum it up for you... loose body weight (healthy ways) by training and you'll never ever go wrong!!! I have been cycling for about 20 years and upgraded many items... and believe me that with the right "training program" it doesn't matter what you ride... you will see results and those results are real and something to go by. If you want cooler gear then that's all it is.. cool!

[Hairy]

I went from a 15.5/15.75kg bike to a 13kg bike.

 

The difference in weight and feel of the bike is massive (Granted slightly different geo)... you can just move the bike around so much easier and quicker

 

Go ride your bike with the wheels as they are, then do the same on the same trail with some form of weight strapped to the bikes wheels and then comeback with a report.

 

A good light bike (Light, as is sensible light and not stupid light that you are too scared to sit on the damned thing, let alone ride it) will always be a nice to have.

 

Even on the HT, when in SS mode the bike just feels so much more responsive when getting the wheels off the ground vs when the rear der and cassette are mounted in geared mode. 

 

Also going from heavy tyres to light tyres have made big differences for me in bike feel ... again, not stupid light, but sensible light!

[Hairy]

I remember many years ago, the chaps from one of the international bike mags did an internal test.

 

They took two Kona Dawg's and added lead weights to certain area and in various configurations. They also had the riders add or remove weights from back packs.

 

From what I recall

Weight off the wheels made a big difference

Weight off the suspension fork also made a big difference (Unsprung mass)

 

Will have to see if I can dig this up somewhere.

[Hairy]

Here is my take on weight savings on a bike.

 

PS, I REALLY like nice and unique stuff, so shis is more aimed at the "saving 60g here and cutting 25g there" approach...

COPY AND PASTE FROM THE PDF:

 

Even with wheels though, the benefit, when quantified, seems underwhelming.

Here is what I found in an article on Wikipedia. â€oeThe formula for power

suggests that 1 lb saved is worth 0.06 mph (0.1 km/h) on a 7% grade, and even

a 4 lb saving is worth only 0.25 mph (0.4 km/h) for a light rider.†Check it out

of you want to delve deeper and are not scared off by formulas with strange

symbols: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance. The article does

point out that lighter wheels aid in acceleration. However, since I dont

know anybody that does standing start drag races on

 

MY VIEWS:

 

Now hell man, on a MTB at least (If you are riding trails and not grond pad) you are constantly accelerating and decelerating, so being able to move that mass quicker and with less effort is a bonus.

[Fisan]

Also don't forget that in terms of bike parts it is usually a case of expensive = good quality = light. Why ride heavy, poorly engineered components if you can afford better?

 

My problem with this view is that the most expensive components does not last that long. The keep balance in the universe, durability is sacrificed by weight savings.

 

My dad has a XTR drivetrain, while I have a XT drivetrain. We had to replace our drivetrains in the same month. That was the first time I realised how expensive XTR actually is... While it is nice to have the best of the best, you will be paying more in maintenance. But if you can afford it, by all means, go for it.

[DieVlieg]

Here is an interesting thing.

 

Over the last three or so years i have had an early morning ride which I do with a bunch of guys. I have ridden it about 200 times on different bikes, mtb and road.

 

On the ride there are 3 decent climbs of about 5 minutes each.

 

On two of those climbs my Strava PR has not been set on my 6.4 kg SL3 S-works, but on a 8.5kg 1992 steel Eddy Merckx, a bike I seldomly ride because I have "faster" ones.

 

I am interested to experiment if I only had another bike. Thanx for this post.

[Guest Karma]

You can have 2 of the 3:

 

1. Durability - Longest lasting being what you want.

2. Weight - Lightest being what you want

3. Price - Cheapest being what you want.

 

Not all 3. 

 

or something like that.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I've just recently got my first carbon bike (Momsen Vipa!) and for me there is a HUGE difference, but in a lot more than just the weight of the bike. It is a lot more responsive and easier to throw around. It's difficult to explain, and yes, the weight difference has to be factored in, but it just feels more direct - like a sports car compared to a SUV. BTW one of my wife's conditions before I could buy the new bike was to lose weight on my body first and I went from 87kg to 78kg - never before have I been so motivated to actually lose the weight!

Oh, absolutely. The difference that comes from a stiffer and more responsive frameset is massive in terms of feel, acceleration and handling. But that's separate to weight, at least weight on you vs weight on bike. 

 

I remember when I got my old Schwinn carbon road machine, coming from an old alu Fuji. The difference in snappiness through extra stiffness alone was amazing. 

[jcza]

You can have 2 of the 3:

 

1. Durability - Longest lasting being what you want.

2. Weight - Lightest being what you want

3. Price - Cheapest being what you want.

 

Not all 3. 

 

or something like that.

 

Light

Strong

Cheap

 

Pick 2

[rouxtjie]

Light

Strong

Cheap

 

Pick 2

Does the same apply to girlfriends?

 

edit...i want a cheap, light girlfriend....strong not big on priorities

[Falco]

My problem with this view is that the most expensive components does not last that long. 

 

Not so sure about this when it comes to road parts. In terms of mtb parts, I have zero knowledge or experience, so it's entirely possible.

 

For road parts, I have never had durability problems with the expensive Shimano components. My Dura Ace equipped bikes cost more to maintain than my 105 bikes ~ simply because the parts are more expensive ~ but there is no major difference in terms of time taken for the parts to wear out. If anything, I think I replace 105 components more often, because they lose their smooth operation quicker.

[rudi-h]

lighter bikes as nicer to ride.

 

i've ridden the 94.7 on a 26kg dutch style commuter bike (single speed) one year and after 5h36 and a terrible day I slowly plunged over the finishing line.  Granted, it was not only the weight but also the geometry etc. but I would have easily klapped a 3h15 that year on my road bike.

 

i also then owned a 14.8 kg MTB (aluminium trail frame + rohloff hub) which I rode for the better part of 8 years.  I did multiple stage races, bike tours and I did enjoy the bike, but I'd often struggle to keep up with mates that I can easily stay with on the road.  The first time that I really noticed how big difference it makes, is earlier this year when a friend kicked my ass with 1h30 on the sabie classic!  Two months later we did (within minutes) the same time on the ironman bike course...

 

so based on my two case studies above, lighter bikes definitely make you go faster and when you go faster you smile more!

 

edit:

 

PS my most recent bike is a carbon trail bike at 12.something kg's and I'm loving it to bits.  Not sure if going full retard on saving weight is worth the while, but you don't want to ride a ship

[Rider3000]

I think this topic goes way off course... the question was asked if saving "2kg" is worth spending a fortune.... offcourse if you compare apples with banannas youll get huge differences... but spending say R 15 000 on your 10kg bike to make it 8kg.... i think that's what he wanted to know... and for the R15 000... i might be understating here a bit also!

 

Yes a lighter bike feels faster and is lighter but go on the road and record actual data (which again would be difficult) and compare if its worth those $$$$$$$$.

 

For me ill definitely shave that off my lazy winter ass and loose 2 KG's and feel soo much better on and off the bike!!