Thoughts about road bike weight

[PaulSB]

Lighter bikes are slower downhill

Heavier riders are faster downhill

 

[Blue Hills]

As a beginner, I doubt if you would notice the difference between an 8kg bike and a 10kg bike, even on hills. I'd suggest looking for a decent second-hand bike to start out, or a new bike with a reasonably good frame and fairly basic components. This will let you go through the learning curve for cycling on the road, build up some cycling fitness, and get the cycling habit properly established.

Once you've got the cycling bug, then you can look at upgrades (tyres & wheels first) or a newer, better bike.

Decent suggestion. And by then there might be better availability, even better pricing bargains on new bikes, particularly if out of season.

 

[DCBassman]

Lighter bikes are slower downhill

True! But similarly, marginal gains...

 

[gzoom]

I like Trek as a brand but I'm certainly not set on it. I'm not sure they're the best value for the spec. The Domane is a nice looking bike but it's almost 10kg.

My biggest 'issue' with upgrading my 2011 Trek Madone is weight of current road bikes.

My Madone with DuraAce wheelset are both nearly a decade old now, the bike with 105 shifter + Ultegra mechs shift perfectly every time, and even after a recent 'off' everything still just works. The wheels still run true, and make the all important 'clack clack' noise when freewheeling to tell everyone your serious about your cycling .

The weight for the bike (58cm) including pedals + bottle cages.....7.8kg, and to my eye it still looks fantastic.

I've been thinking about upgrading (don't we all), and the 2020 Domane looks lovely, though actually surprisingly similar in profile to my 2011 Trek??

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/trek-domane-sl6-review/

But here is the real kicker, the cost of new bikes versus weight gains. Like you I was bought up with idea lighter = better, its the first thing I look at on any bike. I paid £750 for the Madone second hand back in 2013, the wheels were second hand for £300, so just over £1000 10 year ago. If I sold it now I would probably get £500 for it, a new Domane in decent spec is £3000+, so for a total cost increase of £2500 I get a bike a weight 2kg+ MORE

Now I get disc brakes weigh more, and aero weigh more, but paying so much extra cash for a heavier bike is something my brain cannot compute, the only option for me is to get a SLR branded frame, but than am into near five figure sums for a pedal bike.......Bare in mind my current Trek works perfectly and its still my legs which slows me down not the bike. Infact recently I've just hit my aim for the summer, to average 18mph over rolling terrain.

So instead of dropping £3k+ to swap out my decade old road bike for a HEAVIER new bike I've got old of a Ultegra crank set (used ofcourse), and will source some Ultegra shifters to put on my used bike with an aim of getting the weight down to 7.5kg, at which point that'll do me for next summer .

I think the 'best value' new bike is the Boardman 8.9 carbon, under £1k, lighter than a £3K Trek, with the money saved buy some good wheels (it really dose make a subjective difference!!) and your have change left over.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-slr-8-9c-2020-review/

 

[nickyboy]

By all means spend your money in whatever you like but a bit of simple maths shows that for almost all cyclists, fitness gains are what make the difference, not bike weight reduction

Assume a cyclist weighs 80kg and has a 10kg bike. Reducing the bike weight to 8kg is going to be expensive but will only reduce the total weight by 2.2%. So you can reasonably expect to go that much quicker uphill but flat speed will be unchanged and you'll actually be a bit slower downhill

How hard is it to improve fitness by 2.2%? Not hard. Most recreational cyclists could do it in a few weeks. For example I was typical recreational cyclists going into lockdown. 3 months of reasonable effort and my power is up about 10% and weight is down 4%. Result is I'm quite a bit quicker but without any expenditure

So spend your money on whatever you like but the biggest gains by far come from improving fitness

 

[gzoom]

my power is up about 10% and weight is down 4%. Result is I'm quite a bit quicker but without any expenditure

Though to be 100% sure of power gains you must have a power meter, which is 100% associated with expenditure .

 

[Dan77]

By all means spend your money in whatever you like but a bit of simple maths shows that for almost all cyclists, fitness gains are what make the difference, not bike weight reduction

Assume a cyclist weighs 80kg and has a 10kg bike. Reducing the bike weight to 8kg is going to be expensive but will only reduce the total weight by 2.2%. So you can reasonably expect to go that much quicker uphill but flat speed will be unchanged and you'll actually be a bit slower downhill

How hard is it to improve fitness by 2.2%? Not hard. Most recreational cyclists could do it in a few weeks. For example I was typical recreational cyclists going into lockdown. 3 months of reasonable effort and my power is up about 10% and weight is down 4%. Result is I'm quite a bit quicker but without any expenditure

So spend your money on whatever you like but the biggest gains by far come from improving fitness

Yep. The fitness and weight loss is happening regardless. Already dropped 7kg since I started at the end of May and most of that is since I've been pushing harder and further (since July).

I'm not going to obsess about bike weight but as I'm buying my first road bike and have a decent budget, it is one of the considerations.

Just looking at specs for the money I think I'd go for a Canyon but I don't want to make an expensive mistake. I can probably give a Domane a go at the LBS.

 

[nickyboy]

Though to be 100% sure of power gains you must have a power meter, which is 100% associated with expenditure .

That's true. But my main point is that, with a bit of effort I've produced the same effect as having a weightless bike with zero expenditure. Living in a very hilly area the effect is huge. 1.5mph quicker on average

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Heavier riders are faster downhill

If they can get up them to start with.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If you want to obsess about bike weights, make sure you are obsessing about real-world weights - that means with the frame in the size you actually ride, the tyres you want to fit, and a set of pedals and bottle cage fitted. A lot of bike manufacturers are very naughty with their weight figures, they quote for small frame sizes and without things like pedals fitted. An incomplete, unrideable bike is always going to weigh less than one that is fully functional.
A lot of people who buy a bike based on these false weight specs will actually find their bike could be a pound or more heavier in real life, once in a rideable condition. After all, you'll have a job riding anywhere without pedals, and if you're going more than a few miles, you are going to also need to be able to carry water.
Also the frameset weights mentioned further up the thread for AL are not really much lighter than a vintage full Reynolds 531 steel frame, so don't be fooled into thinking all modern road bikes are automatically lighter than old steel ones. In many cases they aren't.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Add 1kg for a couple of 500ml water bottles. Add 1/2 kg for puncture repair kit and spare tubes. Add 1/2 kg for mudguards. Add 200kg for the rider on top...

 

[Cycleops]

I’ve also got a Trek @gzoom , mine is 2007 so even older than yours but aluminium not carbon.

Picked up from under a heap of others down here for ten quid minus a rear wheel and with a broken rear mech. Nobody is really interested in these bikes here. Don’t know how much it weighs but feels light. Now my favourite bike which goes to prove the older models can still be great bikes to ride and provide similar performance.

 

[Grant Fondo]

There is a big difference between a lightweight fixed gear and a touring bike - could be 4 or 5 kg potentially. I'd argue that a 10kg road bike with appropriate gearing vs a 7kg road bike with for the average rider isn't particularly noticeable over even reasonable length rides.

Both my road bikes are in the region of 9kg so not light weight by any means, once you add in my weight I doubt I'd notice it if the bike lost a couple of kg - I certainly haven't in the past when I was lighter and riding a much lighter bike than normal. For endurance, gearing and comfort beat weight up to a certain point, obviously if you're riding an 18kg bike you will notice the weight.



Wirral's not hilly

Moel Famau is

 

[si_c]

Moel Famau is

Haha, fair point, although that's South for me so I forgot about it

 

[gzoom]

@Cycleops I got hooked on Treks by this, a 2000 5500 USPS spec race bike with full DuraAce groupset. I did the LEJOG on it a few years ago with it, despite it having a proper double chainring (none of this compact/triple stuff), it was sublime.

Still the best bike I've ridden, they come up for sale sometimes at around the £700-800 mark, and weigh in at sub 7kg. I have to say they do make a £4k+ brand new Trek with a weight close to 10kg look very very very overpriced.