How much difference does a lightweight bike really make.

[GrumpyGregry]

I use 2 bikes for commuting with about 4kg difference. There is a 2mph difference but much of that is probably tyres and wheels.

Genuine question (not overspill from elsewhere...)

Are we saying we can't drive the heavier bike 2mph faster by putting in more work?

 

[SS Retro]

When pedants dye (sic) they still end up dead. Just like everybody else.

Just that pedants end up dead nobbers as opposed to live ones.

Spot the scary typo

Deliberate surprised it wasn't picked up by our local post inspector.

 

[Globalti]

Of course a lighter bike makes a difference. Last summer I rode the tour of High Street with a bunch of guys on full suspension mountain bikes. At the start of the ride you have to get you and your bike 3000 feet up a steep mountain, which is much easier if you can shoulder the bike rather than push. My titanium hardtail with rigid carbon fork weighs considerably less than a FS and on that terrain lack of suspension didn't put me at any disadvantage at all. By the end of the ride I still had considerably more left in the tank than the others, who were goosed.

 

[fossyant]

Personally, it makes very little difference. If someone is quicker than you, it's because they are fitter than you.

Yeh it's nice having a best bike, but I'd not say it makes much difference in the real world. I can still set similar 'strava' times on segments whether I'm on a fully loaded fixed gear commuter with panniers or my 9kg steel bikes (yeh not super light, but not bad for steel considering there is a 2kg frame and fork penalty - 3.5kg steel vs 1.5kg carbon).

MTB's are a bit different, but it still boils down to the rider.

So a Traban 5 won't be slower than a £1k bike. Stick some quality race tyres on and the bike will feel much livlier though.

 

[MikeG]

Of course a lighter bike makes a difference. Last summer I rode the tour of High Street with a bunch of guys on full suspension mountain bikes. At the start of the ride you have to get you and your bike 3000 feet up a steep mountain, which is much easier if you can shoulder the bike rather than push. My titanium hardtail with rigid carbon fork weighs considerably less than a FS and on that terrain lack of suspension didn't put me at any disadvantage at all. By the end of the ride I still had considerably more left in the tank than the others, who were goosed.

No disrespect intended towards you, but this post illustrates one of the great fallacies of internet arguments. Firstly, you are comparing yourself with others. You aren't comparing your bikes, unless you are absolutely identical to the other riders. The only useful comparison would be between yourself on the 2 different types of bike doing the same course against the clock (but even then you would have to make sure that the preparation was the same, the conditions were the same, and so on.......). Furthermore, you would need to only have one variable (weight) rather than 2 (weight and different suspension set-ups). Secondly, you are looking at their state, rather than their times. Plenty of people look "goosed" who aren't, and plenty who are "goosed" can look perfectly composed. You need to measure something, objectively, before you can say with the certainty you did, that "of course a lighter bike makes a difference".

You may be right of course. In fact you are right. It's just that your post doesn't demonstrate that at all.

 

[400bhp]

% difference in lightweight bike = (RW + obw) / (RW +nbw) - 1

Where:
RW = rider weight
nbw = new bike weight
obw = old bike weight

Difference for me in winter bike and summer bike is about 2.5%

Which means nothing of course.

But I like maths ;-)

 

[Hacienda71]

% difference in lightweight bike = (RW + obw) / (RW +nbw) - 1

Where:
RW = rider weight
nbw = new bike weight
obw = old bike weight

Difference for me in winter bike and summer bike is about 2.5%

Which means nothing of course.

But I like maths ;-)

That would be about two seconds up The Brickworks then......

 

[palinurus]

My friends bike as he kept informing me cost £1000..

*sigh*

*wonders where 'rolls eyes' smiley has gone*

 

[400bhp]

48 seconds is huge, whats that in terms of training, a few week hill training programme?

Well, it is and it isn't Peter.

It's 4% (assuming 20 mins on old bike)

Nickyboy must be 88kgs ;-)

 

[400bhp]

That would be about two seconds up The Brickworks then......

Grrrr

about 19s with my very simplistic calculation ;-)

So, technically I am 17s ahead

 

[Hacienda71]

Grrrr

about 19s with my very simplistic calculation ;-)

So, technically I am 17s ahead

Ah but my light bike weighs a shoot load.

 

[Rob3rt]

I threw my bottles and pump in in a field before I set my PB up the Brickworks and I still didn't get the KOM

(I didn't actually discard them for the fast time, I discarded them to make my bike feel as close as possible to how it would when riding the National HC)

 

[nickyboy]

Well, it is and it isn't Peter.

It's 4% (assuming 20 mins on old bike)

Nickyboy must be 88kgs ;-)

Oi...stop calculating my weight so accurately !
My time up Brickworks yesterday (on the light bike) was a minute slower than my best (on the winter bike)......maybe the warm weather makes the tarmac more viscous

 

[Hacienda71]

Jon Mould ain't all that slow though Rob.

 

[Rob3rt]

Jon Mould ain't all that slow though Rob.

Still, have to aim high

Kristian House is no slouch either