Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- The Urban Fringe
A naked CAAD frame chimes at about 1150g in size M, about 650g more than the very lightest daft-money single purpose lab built carbon frames that sit around the 500g mark, give or take.
At thats just the exotica. Premium, but not dodo rarity CF frames are around the 750-850+ gram mark.
The cheaper CF like my old Board closer to 1kg or even more, virtually nothing in it.
So, built up with otherwise identical components the CAAD will only be 650g-ish more than a £50k top flight dream machine, 300-400g more than a good quality carbon bike, and no more if any than a lower tier CF machine. And remember, that weight is in the frame, non rotating mass, where it has the least effect on performance.
So yes, being sensible and sticking strictly to physics and the energy required to move x grams y distance at z velocity there really is nothing meaningful in it. It will indeed come down to rider, their power, endurance and (most importantly when considering moving mass from one point to another) their waistline.
Of course as one ascends the price scale the finishing equipment tends also to get more expensive and lighter as well, so a lot of finished CF machines do end up a lot lighter. However, thats down to commercial choices with the market a particular build is aimed at rather than any mystical advantage to CF. A light frame is a light frame regardless ofnthe material.
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