Bike weight vs Body weight

[Wimmas]

A random thought that crossed my mind the other day. I am no medical or scientific expert - literally just had a brainwave and thought about something:

 

The majority of cyclists including myself is obsessed with the weight of a bike, but how many of us consider our own body weight. Many cyclists, and once again, myself included, are weekend cyclists, and the audience to whom I pose this question.

 

I am 1.7m and 84kg. I know I am supposed to weigh around 74kg, so I need to lose 10kg of fat. My MTB weighs around 12.6kg. When I cycle, I drag my fat body + the bike's weight.

 

If I lose 10kg, it would make me faster, which is obvious. But many of us want to spend thousands of rands on lighter components (Stems, handlebars, pedals, wheel sets, tires, group sets etc), but what if the heavily or slightly overweight folks just lost the weight in body weight.

 

Is it a simple equation of overall weight coming down, or am I thinking too simplistic about this?

 

I know many components are worth spending money on i.e. stronger, more durable etc, but I am specifically thinking of shedding weight off a bike.

[jdwet1980]

Yes, untill you hit a plateau where diet and exercise no longer makes you lose weight. Diet now becomes starvation and exercise becomes overtraining syndrome and this is always followed by dehydration and injury.

Sometimes it is cheaper and smarter to waste a lot of money on a few grams weight saving on something stupid like your gps mount.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Loss of weight on self is MUCH cheaper process than loss of weight on bike. But. A lighter bike is always noticeable immediately whereas you don't notice the loss of weight (in terms of performance) until you actually record it and take notice of it in a measurement / fat % / mirror etc and *feel* the change.

 

Also - 1kg loss on a bike is definitely noticeable as it's between 7% and 14% of a bikes weight. Next time you swing a sledge or axe, feel what the difference in feel (required input force) between a 4lb and 6lb hammer is like. It's massive. Same concept, just on a slightly different scale due to the different forces applicable to the situation.

[Me rida my bicycle]

Don't always look at the scale. Scale and bmi says I am obese 175cm 97-99kg depending on breakfast ???? have been riding for about 5 years.

In the beginning it was to lose weight after a big accident. I lost quite some weight but the last couple of years I have been hovering just under 100kg.

My weight has not gone down but my speed, distance, endurance and skill has improved dramatically.

So looked at some of my stats from beginning to now as I can't understand with the increase of riding and not loosing weight. My calves have grown 4cm, quads 6cm.

So though I have not lost weight I have gained quite a bit of muscle. I am still working on getting into better shape but I don't use the scale.

[Vetplant]

Don't always look at the scale. Scale and bmi says I am obese 175cm 97-99kg depending on breakfast ???? have been riding for about 5 years.

In the beginning it was to lose weight after a big accident. I lost quite some weight but the last couple of years I have been hovering just under 100kg.

My weight has not gone down but my speed, distance, endurance and skill has improved dramatically.

So looked at some of my stats from beginning to now as I can't understand with the increase of riding and not loosing weight. My calves have grown 4cm, quads 6cm.

So though I have not lost weight I have gained quite a bit of muscle. I am still working on getting into better shape but I don't use the scale.

Yep. Some of us are never destined to look like Meintjies, some of us will look more like Greipel, making peace with that is key.

 

On a similar track, check out 2 videos on GCN from the last month or so.

 

The 1st is one: https://youtu.be/7_2bybJWQFg

Too light is not always good.

 

The 2nd one:

https://youtu.be/cTtC4Rq_ScM

They talk about how your body mass is such a massive part of the mass balance that a small change in positioning has a big impact on the performance. So geometry is very important to get right. Ie:bikefit + modern geo can make a massive difference.

[Patensie]

I've lost 10kgs in the last 9 months (from 75kg to 65kg @ 1.66m). The difference in my riding is very noticeable. I am not as fit as i can be, but I'm klapping the hills i do ride. Had to buy a new wardrobe as the only things that weren't sitting like gôing sakke are shoes and onderbroeke...not that cheap either.

[corriekuilder]

Yes, untill you hit a plateau where diet and exercise no longer makes you lose weight. Diet now becomes starvation and exercise becomes overtraining syndrome and this is always followed by dehydration and injury.

Sometimes it is cheaper and smarter to waste a lot of money on a few grams weight saving on something stupid like your gps mount.

I am stuck on this plateau, stuck on 84-84kg,coming from 116kg. I am 1.82m tall. After a lekker kuier weekend, i can go up to 88-89kg,but then after a interval session, back to 85kg.so I starved myself, still overtrain sometimes, but can't seem to break the damn 80. Made peace with it, now I'm a happy cyclist again.

[DieselnDust]

Weight is weight. Doesn't matter where you lose it from it alters the power to weight ratio positively. That's all that matters.

Good diet to fuel yourself properly also makes a big difference.

Once your body weight has plateaued the weight of the bike is what you should tackle next

[Jase619]

I did my first Argus weighing in at 96kg at 1.84m. I suffered. Also because I only started riding a month before, but that's besides the point. Every uphill was torture from beginning to end. Fast forward 2 years due to the cancelled 2017 Argus and I weighed aroud 84kg. Exactly the same bike and components. The difference was evident in all the climbs, ones that scared and hurt me 2 years previously I sailed up. 

 

Would I have felt such a difference losing a KG or two on the bike? Probably, but it's hard to look at lightweight components when you are overweight. 

[dave303e]

Losing extra body weight is much better way to get faster, getting down to a lower body fat will always help and is healthier and cheaper than buying parts.

 

As for bike weight you also need to remember not all weight is equal.

 

Rotating mass

Unsprung weight

Sprung weight

 

Lower your rotating mass and unsprung weight and you will feel a bigger difference than if you drop the sprung weight

[NotSoBigBen]

Let's just say that you CAN 'buy' weight off your bike but you CAN'T off your body it requires effort and discipline ... hence for many it's an 'easy' way out

[SwissVan]

Losing extra body weight is much better way to get faster, getting down to a lower body fat will always help and is healthier and cheaper than buying parts.

 

As for bike weight you also need to remember not all weight is equal.

 

Rotating mass

Unsprung weight

Sprung weight

 

Lower your rotating mass and unsprung weight and you will feel a bigger difference than if you drop the sprung weight

And the wobbling weight

Hardest to loose and provides the largest gain in performance

[RocknRolla]

yeah, uhm the OP just debunked the cycling industry's whole marketing strategy.

 

Me, I have never considered the weight of any cycling related item I purchased. Why, because i'm not on the sharp en of the field. I enjoy my cycling (except when I have gotten fat and unfit and have to "start from scratch" like I did in november last year)

My performance have increased by riding more. and thus losing weight (or cm's). When you are "lighter" your body functions more efficiently, it uses the correct energy stores, as it is being trained to do so.

 

A fit person on an average bike, will still kick the ass of an unfit person on a eye-wateringly expensive racing machine (en they don't like it one bit)

 

Like oom ben says, you cant buy speed and fitness, it requires effort and work.

[DieselnDust]

But consider that losing weight off the body has to be done correctly.

The first bit of weight loss is usually just excess water.

You have to burn the fat and build muscle. Get the balance between fat loss and muscle gain right and you'll fly.

Get it wrong and you'll be ploughing into the pizza again in no time.

[RocknRolla]

But consider that losing weight off the body has to be done correctly.

The first bit of weight loss is usually just excess water.

You have to burn the fat and build muscle. Get the balance between fat loss and muscle gain right and you'll fly.

Get it wrong and you'll be ploughing into the pizza again in no time.

 

Pizza and beer is why I ride. and Steak and Boerewors and Pork rashers... and beer...

[NGM]

If I lose 10kg, it would make me faster, which is obvious. But many of us want to spend thousands of rands on lighter components (Stems, handlebars, pedals, wheel sets, tires, group sets etc), but what if the heavily or slightly overweight folks just lost the weight in body weight.

 

 

 

Most of the time we spend thousands of rands because (rightly or wrongly) buying shiny new things makes us happier in a superficial way. Most of us have been conditioned to feel this way since birth. eg: getting cool presents for your birthday. The weight loss is often just a trivial reason we assign to the purchase in order to justify it. "Hmmm, I really do need these new carbon wheels...they're 100g lighter!". Nope, I don't need them, I just want them because it will make my bike feel like a new toy again. #newbikeday. 

 

That said, I agree with the sentiment of some others here. Weight loss off your body is great up to a point, after which you get too thin and it starts to count against you because you're actually starving yourself. Once you get to that point, or just before it, it starts to make sense investing in the marginal gains of ultra-light components. But most of us are not at that point. It's not the reason we buy new stuff.