The Light Fantastic?

[Vapin' Joe]

I wouldn't want to ride this in a crosswind...

http://www.velonews.com/article/73034/the-7pound-road-bike-

 

[Aperitif]

I saw that Joe - I'm sure it is an object to behold but... that photo makes it look as though it hasn't been cleaned for many a mile. I suppose a bit of paint weighs an extra 30 grammes or so...
Minature wings, or aerofoils on racing clothes will be next - making the rider 'lift off' slightly, and lighten the absolute weight of the rider.

I'm going to Tescos to lift up 8 packets of digestive biscuits - just to get a feel for this beast. My dog weighs twice as much!

 

[curve]

What about attaching balloons to the frame so that it lifts the bike off the road a little?

 

[Alan Frame]

Obsession is very sad, in my opinion.

Paris Roubaix, anyone ?

 

[Keith Oates]

If he's happy in what he's doing then so be it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[stevenb]

I agree Keith. He's set out to achieve his goal and he's done so.

Not sure I could cope with a 6 speed cassette though.......only commuting would work for with with a 6 speed.

 

[Alan Frame]

I agree Keith. He's set out to achieve his goal and he's done so.

That's fine, but he'll be distraught when the next obsessive betters the weight by a whisker.

 

[simonali]

He's spent all that money and it'll be in bits in a few months after he gets caught in the rain on one of his 100km rides and then wishes he hadn't had all the lacquer sanded off all the parts!

 

[simonali]

Obsession is very sad, in my opinion.

There're forums devoted to this obsession where they all sit around and discuss how to shave grammes off their bikes.

Weight Weenies is the most popular one. I sometimes have a look there coz they seem to know all about the latest bits way before us normal people!

 

[Alan Frame]

There're forums devoted to this obsession where they all sit around and discuss how to shave grammes off their bikes.

Weight Weenies is the most popular one. I sometimes have a look there coz they seem to know all about the latest bits way before us normal people!

As bike bits can be very expensive,I have instead decided to drill holes in my kneecaps, pull all my teeth out, remove all extraneous flesh and have a good dump before each ride.

I'm afraid this hang-up about bicycle weight reduction does irritate me. I remember seeing one of Alf Enger's time trial machines and it had so many drilled out bits on it, it looked like it was moth-eaten. Probably increased wind resistance too !

At the end of the day it's about the rider, not the bike. Eddy Merckx could have beaten most of us on a Halfords special.

 

[stevenb]

I agree Keith. He's set out to achieve his goal and he's done so.

That's fine, but he'll be distraught when the next obsessive betters the weight by a whisker.

Thats fine....gives him another goal to aim for.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

As bike bits can be very expensive,I have instead decided to drill holes in my kneecaps, pull all my teeth out, remove all extraneous flesh and have a good dump before each ride.

I'm afraid this hang-up about bicycle weight reduction does irritate me. I remember seeing one of Alf Enger's time trial machines and it had so many drilled out bits on it, it looked like it was moth-eaten. Probably increased wind resistance too !

At the end of the day it's about the rider, not the bike. Eddy Merckx could have beaten most of us on a Halfords special.

Merckx was the rider who first started to lighten his bike by drilling holes all over it in the early seventies. It became something of a fad for a few years and every other rider you saw had attacked his chainrings and brake levers with a Black & Decker. People were even slotting headtubes and bottom bracket shells and covering the holes with insulating tape. However, Eddies bikes were lightened by trained engineers who new what they were doing. Many a clubman wrecked their expensive kit following a dose of incompetant over enthusiasm with the drill.

I have heard that Colnago once made Merckx a bike which had been shaved down to 13lbs, no mean feat in the days of steel frames, but after trying it he declared it too dangerous to use.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

what a pussy - bar tape????

He could have saved 12.5g there straight away!!