Before you go off upgrading your road bike...

[T4tomo]

I wonder how much of that was down to the shoes and the vest?

We do a local sportive every year which takes in Whiteleaf Hill nr P. Risborough, which is in Simon Warren's 100 climbs book. I went up it marginally faster the year I did it on my 1980 steel Holdsworth than on my 2015 carbon Bianchi on the years either side.

 

[matticus]

There is only one reason to buy a lighter - which used to mean "Buy carbon, quick!" - bike: so your mates don't drop you on the hills.

 

[cyberknight]

Having come down steep descents on unlit country lanes in the pitch black in pouring rain I can concur that discs even cheap cable ones are better in those conditions as a rim brake in those conditions is a case of pull on the brakes and hope the water clears off the rim before you reach the junction .In the dry my rims work better but for those days when you need to ride and you know it's going to be horrible then I know what bike I'm riding.

Edit I'm not very cognitive today due to no sleep so don't nitpick my grammar 😉

 

[neil_merseyside]

There is only one reason to buy a lighter - which used to mean "Buy carbon, quick!" - bike: so your mates don't drop you on the hills.

I don't have a carbon bike bike but my wife does, it is from memory 2lb lighter than her steel bike (22lb and 20lb) but was a 10% saving on the bike, but as she weighs 130lbs it is nothing in the all up weight.
1.3% overall (if 22/22lb) isn't going to make any difference to anyone except a TdF rider (and they prefer asthma meds don't they ).

 

[cougie uk]

Don’t/didn’t Shimano call their (early) STIs “flight deck” which is equally stupid for something on a bicycle

Flight Deck was their computer. It could tell you what gear you were in. Until it broke.

 

[freiston]

1.3% overall (if 22/22lb) isn't going to make any difference to anyone except a TdF rider (and they prefer asthma meds don't they ).

I use asthma meds and average at about 11mph (which has gone down since a bout of covid) . I do carry a lot of weight though and I will stop/slow down for a chat or a better look at a hedgerow/field/church etc.

 

[cyberknight]

I don't have a carbon bike bike but my wife does, it is from memory 2lb lighter than her steel bike (22lb and 20lb) but was a 10% saving on the bike, but as she weighs 130lbs it is nothing in the all up weight.
1.3% overall (if 22/22lb) isn't going to make any difference to anyone except a TdF rider (and they prefer asthma meds don't they ).

set a PB up boot hill in atherstone on my 11 year old alloy bike last week , its a similar amount lighter than the carbon steed so its like you say

 

[fatjel]

I don’t have any of that stuff.
Do have a carbon frame, ultegra Di2 , dura ace wheels and carbon flat top bars :-)

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've missed this thread, but I think the opportunities to upgrade a bike to disc brakes would be few and far between. You'd need a frame with the appropriate brake mounts, and if you have a rim braked bike then it's relatively unlikely to have them. So no upgrade path. You could buy a bike with discs, but that's not upgrading your bike. It's buying a new one.

 

[Alex321]

I've missed this thread, but I think the opportunities to upgrade a bike to disc brakes would be few and far between. You'd need a frame with the appropriate brake mounts, and if you have a rim braked bike then it's relatively unlikely to have them. So no upgrade path. You could buy a bike with discs, but that's not upgrading your bike. It's buying a new one.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/before-you-go-off-upgrading-your-road-bike.287114/post-6791477

 

[Dogtrousers]

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/before-you-go-off-upgrading-your-road-bike.287114/post-6791477

Great minds.

And thank you for saving me from having to wade through 7 pages