Lighter mountain bike wheels

[stefmeister]

20 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

173 at 83kg means you could definitely shed a few KG too

I'm marginally taller and 8kg lighter and am by no means skinny or at optimal shreddies.

Get fitter, stronger and lighter. I can guarantee that a few hundred grams on each wheel are not your bottle neck. You still have lots and lots of wiggle room to improve physically before marginal gains become relevant

This^^^, I'm 173cm and 10 kg less, ~12% bodyfat.

I can tell you, I fly up the mountain when I drop to under 68 kgs, regardless of the bike, be it a 160mm enduro with minions or epic with gatorskins. The difference in performance is not only the result of weight, but the accompanying training. If you care for that, then it's time to start with more structured training.

[Yyyy]

On 6/13/2021 at 9:14 PM, Nicomrs said:

Im now the fittest ive been in years and the lightest that i ever will be so im at that point where i cant blame myself alot anymore.

 

10 hours ago, Nicomrs said:

173cm 85kgs

 

My V*k bru

either you a body builder or you delusional about your body fat %

you have lots of weight to loose.

(unless you have a medical conditional then I take the entire statement back)

[TNT1]

5 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

 

 

My V*k bru

either you a body builder or you delusional about your body fat %

you have lots of weight to loose.

(unless you have a medical conditional then I take the entire statement back)

And, also, a lot is two words...

[LazyTrailRider]

1 hour ago, YaseenEnos said:

 

 

My V*k bru

either you a body builder or you delusional about your body fat %

you have lots of weight to loose.

(unless you have a medical conditional then I take the entire statement back)

You've pretty much summed it up.

I know it's tough to hear OP, but spending money on wheels won't make you faster, it will just be a placebo. Step up your training; besides being more cost effective, it will probably be more satisfying!

EDIT: Just so I don't seem harsh, let me qualify the above by stating that I have 3 bikes with carbon wheelsets in the garage.

• On the trail bike, they're for stiffness (I'm a tight line picker and live for improving my segment PRs one second at a time). 
• On the gravel bike (which serves as my road bike), they're for the quality of the hubs that came with them and for bombproofness, because full-on road bikes and their wheels are too twitchy for me.
• On my wife's e-bike they're purely for lightness when pushing and picking it up, because the bike's already heavy. Does it make enough of a difference? Not sure, but every little bit helps.

My point is that there are many different reasons for buying bling gear. In some scenarios though, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if your goals don't align with what the gear's able to deliver.

Edited June 18, 2021 by LazyTrailRider

[Spy007]

2 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

173 at 83kg means you could definitely shed a few KG too

I'm marginally taller and 8kg lighter and am by no means skinny or at optimal shreddies.

Get fitter, stronger and lighter. I can guarantee that a few hundred grams on each wheel are not your bottle neck. You still have lots and lots of wiggle room to improve physically before marginal gains become relevant

Seriously. I am 194 and 105 ish kg depending on the size of my morning movement and have no more F#ks to give.

 

Sux it up and get faster leaner meaner you will kill me on the uphil but downhill and into a head wind hahahahahahahahaha

 

Bloody light weights

[LazyTrailRider]

11 minutes ago, Spy007 said:

Seriously. I am 194 and 105 ish kg depending on the size of my morning movement and have no more F#ks to give.

 

Sux it up and get faster leaner meaner you will kill me on the uphil but downhill and into a head wind hahahahahahahahaha

 

Bloody light weights

Haha, I'm 181 and 67kg!

[StevieG]

Ha ha, i'm 186cm and 96kgs. The last time I weighed 60 I must have been 12yrs old...

Biggest difference I ever noticed in my riding was when I dropped another 6kgs, down to 90. Aside from the fitness level being way above normal for me, the weight of the bike didn't matter at all. It felt like a completely different machine, because I felt like a completely different machine. Now the weights back on again, and i'm sluggish as hell, go figure.

[Mark James]

1.86cm, and when doing hard training (weight training) weigh around 98-100kg, 10-12% body fat. Recently been cycling a lot more, and weight has dropped down to 92/93kg, and the difference up hills is remarkable.

I thought it was the weight difference of the 2 XC bikes (comparing normal to carbon wheels, 10.3kg vs 9.8kg XC bike, 1 vs 2 water bottles, camelpack vs bottles, spares vs no spares, etc, etc, etc...) until I realised that it was body weight, plain and simple! 

Even with a 2-3kg difference in body weight, I can feel a SIGNIFICANT difference when riding uphill, and over technical terrain. Difficult to admit for a newbie, but I've learn that body weight is where it counts most  

Edited June 18, 2021 by Mark James

[stefmeister]

[Steady Spin]

11 minutes ago, stefmeister said:

Since it is Friday.... 

I don't agree. My 29er made me a better rider because of the bigger wheels. 26 is dead.

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, LazyTrailRider said:

Haha, I'm 181 and 67kg!

nee moer .... jy moer begin eet .... 

[Nicomrs]

We have some very clever guys here!!

Back to my question, will it make a difference or not? 

With some of the advice here i can just fit solid steel rims then i will be ok, as long as i loose weight and get fitter.

Length and weight doesnt tell anything about bmi. Its like telling me a rugby prop must now weigh 60kg if starts cycling??

I came from 115kg, now 83 actually, i look like a skeleton keeping my bone structure into consideration. 

[TNT1]

5 minutes ago, Nicomrs said:

 

Back to my question, will it make a difference or not? 

With some of the advice here i can just fit solid steel rims then i will be ok, as long as i loose weight and get fitter.

 

You will see a more significant difference in losing weight and increasing fitness than you will from riding a 5kg bike.

 

Ergo, at this particular point, lighter wheels will do very little other than make you think your first couple of rides are better. When your brain catches up with the novelty of a new item, you'll be here asking if a R10k pair of shorts will make you faster, and the same people will tell you to lose some weight first.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by TNT1

[bertusras]

13 minutes ago, Nicomrs said:

Back to my question, will it make a difference or not? 

I mean you're changing something so obviously it will make a difference, how much of a difference is debatable and has been debated. But if you think that it will make a difference then get them. A lot of it is in the mind afterall.

13 minutes ago, Nicomrs said:

Length and weight doesnt tell anything about bmi.

Those are literally the only two things that you use to calculate BMI and why it's being argued that BMI is not a good metric to be using across all shapes and sizes.

Edited June 18, 2021 by bertusras

[The Ouzo]

if the lighter wheels will get you riding more which will intern make you fitter and leaner then yes they will help you climb faster.

[wessie12]

For what it's worth I am 176 and currently 78kg with my " racing weight " at 75kg. My overall fitness now is higher than it was when I last weighed 75kg and I struggle to climb as fast although i am fitter. Ironically I fitted a new carbon wheelset and I can feel the difference in acceleration but as soon as a climb is longer than 3 meters my extra 3 kg gulps my carbon wheelset advantage