500g off wheels/frame/rider = same difference?

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swee'pea99

Legendary Member
A couple of chaps on another thread have been most insistent that I'm totally wrong to imagine that a 500g reduction in wheel weight makes a bigger difference than taking 500g off the frame weight, or for that matter 500g off my own weight.

Less weight is good, they say, but as to where in 'the system' that weight is reduced, that makes not a jot of difference. Having tried riding with heavy v light wheels, and with/without a water bottle, I'm unconvinced.

Have to say, I don't actually care as much as they seem to, but I'm still curious, and would welcome any thoughts, however ill-informed!
 

jim55

Guru
Location
glasgow
I'd say the wheels as its rotating weight and stuff , that has most effect I think
 

Cuchilo

Prize winning member X2
Location
London
When I was buying round things for my machines I had a choise of steel or aluminium . I was told that once they are spinning they are weightless so its only on start up that the machine needs more power . I doubt you can spin a wheel as fast as my machines spin blocks but its something to ponder on if you're bored or something .
 
From memory the weight on the wheels makes a difference to stopping and starting as the wheel is going much faster than the bike and needs to get up to speed on starting and slow down on braking. So the wheel weight affects the starting and stopping. Same reason sports cars have alloy wheels.
I do not know if that actually then makes any overall difference re the weight on the bike over the whole ride.
 
Location
Loch side.
A couple of chaps on another thread have been most insistent that I'm totally wrong to imagine that a 500g reduction in wheel weight makes a bigger difference than taking 500g off the frame weight, or for that matter 500g off my own weight.

Less weight is good, they say, but as to where in 'the system' that weight is reduced, that makes not a jot of difference. Having tried riding with heavy v light wheels, and with/without a water bottle, I'm unconvinced.

Have to say, I don't actually care as much as they seem to, but I'm still curious, and would welcome any thoughts, however ill-informed!


Why not have a look at this post in this thread and highlight the errors in the logic? Surely that's far more objective than vague terms like "jot of difference".

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/road-racing-aero-wheels.173743/page-2#post-3523626
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
A couple of chaps on another thread have been most insistent that I'm totally wrong to imagine that a 500g reduction in wheel weight makes a bigger difference than taking 500g off the frame weight, or for that matter 500g off my own weight.

Less weight is good, they say, but as to where in 'the system' that weight is reduced, that makes not a jot of difference. Having tried riding with heavy v light wheels, and with/without a water bottle, I'm unconvinced.

Have to say, I don't actually care as much as they seem to, but I'm still curious, and would welcome any thoughts, however ill-informed!

As serious riders and mechanics I imagine they care because it furthers knowledge and understanding of cycling performance and might make everyone save a bit of money and or exercise harder.

Notwithstanding their motivations, I'm at a loss as to why you started a separate thread looking for empirical backup rather than taking their arguments on in the aforementioned other thread!
 
OP
OP
swee'pea99

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
I'm at a loss as to why you started a separate thread looking for empirical backup rather than taking their arguments on in the aforementioned other thread!
I just thought it might be interesting to get some thoughts from a wider audience...the noise of grinding axes was beginning to get a bit....wearing?

One factor that comes out of the above, eg, which didn't emerge from the other 'discussion', or the linked irrefutable logic, is the significance of stopping/starting. I can intuitively get the idea that once things are rolling, it's only the 'system weight' that really matters, but when a lot of acceleration/deceleration is involved, there might be an issue. Which might, if the case, be an issue for me, since most of my riding is inner-city, and long-distance cruising is a rarity.

But like I say, I raised the issue out of interest and curiosity, and thought a broader discussion might offer more grist to my curiosity mill, and would almost certainly be more interesting. So far, looks like I was right! (About that, at least.)
 
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