Question for those who think bike weight doesn't matter ...

[mustang1]

Based on the arguments presented in this thread, I will buy a new steel bike and a big range rover.

Kidding aside, I must say I prefer commuting on my CX bike with the heavier wider tires than on my race bike most of the time. I like using the race bike when the weather is good though.

I wonder if this is why people like SUVs yet people say things like "the only off roaring they do is to king the sidewalk". Humph.

 

[Globalti]

I actually empty most of the water out of my bottle before starting the last climb to my home. No point in carrying surplus weight.

 

[KneesUp]

Based on the arguments presented in this thread, I will buy a new steel bike and a big range rover.

Kidding aside, I must say I prefer commuting on my CX bike with the heavier wider tires than on my race bike most of the time. I like using the race bike when the weather is good though.

I wonder if this is why people like SUVs yet people say things like "the only off roaring they do is to king the sidewalk". Humph.

It's not really the same argument - you'd have to be going some for the weight of an 'SUV' to be relatively unimportant compared to the weight of the driver!

 

[KneesUp]

I actually empty most of the water out of my bottle before starting the last climb to my home. No point in carrying surplus weight.

Living the dream

Reminds me of this:

 

[Dogtrousers]

I actually empty most of the water out of my bottle before starting the last climb to my home. No point in carrying surplus weight.

And if I see a small boy standing at the roadside of a steep hill, I always offer to give him a piggy-back up the hill, because the additional weight will enable me to put more pressure on the pedals when standing up.

In fact I have come to an arrangement with the local workhouse, and they station small boys at strategic points in my rides. The boys like it too, as it means a break from chimney sweeping duties.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

I just get them to push me up the hill.

 

[mustang1]

It's not really the same argument - you'd have to be going some for the weight of an 'SUV' to be relatively unimportant compared to the weight of the driver!

I always wondered why a range rover is so capable off road going up steep hill yet it weighs so much.

 

[KneesUp]

I always wondered why a range rover is so capable off road going up steep hill yet it weighs so much.

It exerts a relatively low pressure because the tyres are wide, and has excellent axle articulation, meaning it can keep most of the total contact patch in contact with the ground at all times. That and a decent power/weight ratio, although of course what sort of tyre you fit makes a big difference. Watching people struggle uphill in their SUVs in summer tyres is fun when you sail past them in a battered Picasso with winter tyres on

 

[mustang1]

In my last

It exerts a relatively low pressure because the tyres are wide, and has excellent axle articulation, meaning it can keep most of the total contact patch in contact with the ground at all times. That and a decent power/weight ratio, although of course what sort of tyre you fit makes a big difference. Watching people struggle uphill in their SUVs in summer tyres is fun when you sail past them in a battered Picasso with winter tyres on [/QUOTE

In my last car, the tires were more expensive than the car. The range rover driver and onlookers were most amused when I pulled a handbrake turn in snow after going up a steep hill right behind the RR.

I understand all that you wrote but I reckon the SUV would still be better at climbing if it weighed less and still had all the features you mentioned.

 

[KneesUp]

In theory it would, those little remote controlled cars can go up almost anything. Slightly cramped if you're bigger than Action Man though.

 

[Prometheus]

I have been out on my steel Basso today. It weighs about 10 kg. I ride a lot of big hills round here and can feel the difference between that bike and my aluminium Cannondale, which is more like 8.5 kg. It isn't enough difference to spoil the rides, but it is enough to tell me that I don't want my bike to weigh 15+ kg! I would love to have a carbon fibre bike weighing 6.5 kg but the Cannondale will do me for the next few years. Maybe I will treat myself to some better wheels and tyres, but that would probably only save about 3/4 kg.

Weight makes a big difference when you have to pick the bike up! (For example, to put it on a roof rack, or to take it to an upstairs flat.)

Which flat have U been disappearing off 2 Mr J not No 36!!

 

[ColinJ]

Which flat have U been disappearing off 2 Mr J not No 36!!

Er ...

No dragging bikes upstairs for me - my bikes, tools, bike stands etc. have taken over the downstairs room to such an extent that I shifted my computer, desk, TV and sofa to the bedroom on the first floor which is now more like a student bedsit!

 

[Racing roadkill]

It exerts a relatively low pressure because the tyres are wide, and has excellent axle articulation, meaning it can keep most of the total contact patch in contact with the ground at all times. That and a decent power/weight ratio, although of course what sort of tyre you fit makes a big difference. Watching people struggle uphill in their SUVs in summer tyres is fun when you sail past them in a battered Picasso with winter tyres on

Ohhhh FFS, someone said winter tyres, here we go

 

[buggi]

E=mc2 and all that. When it's taken in relativity to hills and distance, it matters.

 

[bpsmith]

The problem with this argument is that it attempts to compare the exact same bike, but with different weights. The fact is, there are a lot more factors that make bikes faster or easier to ride.

My better bike has a faster geometry, lighter and stiffer wheels, has a stiffer frame but just as comfortable and transfers more power to turning the wheels than the other bike. The weight saving added to this makes a much nicer bike, which also happens to be faster.

It's like putting a 50bhp engine in a Ferrari. Weight saving on its own is pointless.