I mean bike weight, for the masses of Sunday league riders amongst us not the skinny framed racers amongst us.

Its is really worth spending lots of ££££’s only to save a few lbs? Why?

Discuss.

I prefer light bikes, by and large they are less effort / fatiguing & more responsive / rewarding. Obviously there is a sensible middle ground where bikes need to be beefy enough to cope with rough terrain whilst still being light enough to be fun.

I would hazard a guess that most of us are overbiked most of the time. Whether that is for those ‘just in case’ scenarios, current fashion, peer pressure or a genuine need to ride something strong because of our weight, skills or trail choice, it’s down to individual choice.

In short, Yes.

Even in performance terms its marginal but there are those who believe that removing bearing seals etc could make enough of a difference.

Light bikes feel nicer though, so I like to keep mine light where possible/affordable.

My 22lb carbon 456 is a much nicer ride than the 27lb steel one it replaced.

It accelarates better, slows more quickly, changes direction more rapidly, is better at getting over obstacles that involve front/rear wheel lifts and is easier to get up hills.

some of that may be it flattering my poor technique but, for me, it was a worthwhile change whilst retaining the smae geometry.

depends on the hills acceleration. for steady speed, flat rides less of an issue.

Depends on the use.

When my ML8 weighed 28lbs I thought it was great, but I then burled it up a bit with forks and wheels and it’s now 32lbs but rides so much better on anything but long uphills!

My Epic weights 28lbs at present but am certain it will feel better when I change the wheels and get it down to 26lbs!

I’ve just recently changed bikes. My old one weighed rough 26.5lbs, my new one just less than 26lbs so bugger all in it.

The new one goes quicker, handles better, is much more flickable etc etc. Its made me change my mind to the fact that geometry and suspension design is equally important to how a bike rides, not just weight.

I think the other thing people tend to forget about, or choose to forget about is how important rider weight is and the difference that will make to how good a bike is!

It amuses me how lots of biffers are obsessive about how much their bikes weigh when they have an extra 14lbs+ under their shirts

You have a real bee in your bonnet about that don’t you Al!? I meant to link to this the other day, of Steve Peat’s World Champs bike:

Steve’s mechanic, Rick ‘Ricky Bobby’ Clarkson, went to town on the DT Swiss EX1750 wheels, replacing the spokes, stripping the rims and hubs of paint, swapping grease for light oil and leaving out all the seals and dust shields, to reduce friction. They were so much faster that Steve had to change entry speeds and braking points to compensate!

I suspect it’s rather exaggerated, but it’s certainly not going to slow you down! I assume you leave seized bearings in place, and drag your brakes permanently, as it makes no difference. 🙄

I definitely think light bikes ride better, obviously within reason, although I suspect my ‘too light’ threshold is rather lower than some!

iDave, exactly….and then a rucksack weighing another several kilos on their back, water bottle, GPS/Computer on the bars etc etc….and then fret about whether they should buy lighter tyres or not!

It amuses me how lots of biffers are obsessive about how much their bikes weigh when they have an extra 14lbs+ under their shirts

And the rest, plenty of 100kg+ ‘riders’ on Weight Weenies forking out thousands to save 2g.

I have no idea what my bike weighs but I am 100kg+ so as long as it doesn’t break like the last two I don’t care.

I think if I were an average sized human a light bike would be better.

Has anyone done the rotating weight thing yet?

deviant – Member

iDave, exactly….and then a rucksack weighing another several kilos on their back, water bottle, GPS/Computer on the bars etc etc….and then fret about whether they should buy lighter tyres or not!

thats the bit that really makes me laugh

I try to get a healthy balance but off road I find a feather light bike isn’t necessarily as good on the downhills. Seeing as my weight varies between 10-11 stone I don’t think I need to worry about bike weight as much as my bro-in-law who is 15st. I think road bikes are a different matter though as you don’t need that to feel ‘planted’ on a dh

So after saying that why do I want a chanrge knife over a spoon…

Cycling is different for different people, people get their kicks out of it different ways. Given that, its weird that some people find it odd that not everyone looks at the hobby in the same way that they do.

Bike weight or rider weight? Plenty of places to loose weight without resorting to cash?

Loose X amount of flab resulting in huge performance increase!

Do you need all that crap in your camelbak, Mobile, GPS, just in case crap, water proof?

Have I taken off all the bits I dont need on the bike – commute lights, gps holder, watter bottle holder, under seat bag?

Do you need upppy down seat post for the race?

My own view is that it is far easier to knock off a Kg of body weight than worry about a few grams of weight on components. I think componenets should be robust and fit for purpose. For example I do use a full XTR group set but thats because its strong, light weight and seems to last forever with really slick shifting not because it weights X grams less than SRAM. +1 Geometry and suspension design is equally important.

200 lb rider on a 35 lb bike. It works, I don’t care.

Used to ride a 22 lb hardtail. It felt fragile and unstable on the downs.

I like my bikes to be light so I don’t get tired lifting them onto the the car roof carrier things.

njee – no way can it make a significant difference, believe what you like but don’t present it as fact.

LOL at those LOLing at fat folk on light bikes. Feel superior do you?

Light bikes feel nicer to ride, but don’t make you significantly faster. I like to make mine as light as possible on a budget.

I’ve never weighed a bike and never will, I just ride the things.

I’m not presenting it as fact, I even said I suspect it’s exaggerated, but you’re not answering my questions. Do you replace seized bearings? Do you ride dragging your brakes constantly? I can drag my brakes on my race wheels and they still spin better than my ‘normal’ ones.

There’s two ways to get faster (uphill at least): Lose weight or increase power. Losing weight is much easier than increasing power. Buying weight loss (via a lighter bike / kit) is the easiest of all.

My 22lb carbon 456 is a much nicer ride than the 27lb steel one it replaced.

I think you need to take a look at your scales…, based upon my 24lb 456Ti.

Why? It may just have lighter kit…?

Why? It may just have lighter kit…?

Nah, that would be rather difficult, based upon what mine is built with.

Well my Top Fuel weighs more than 4lbs less, and I’m confident of the weight.

I think you need to take a look at your scales…, based upon my 24lb 456Ti.

I think you need to take a look at your scales…, based upon my circa 30lb Cotic.

Well my Top Fuel weighs more than 4lbs less, and I’m confident of the weight.

But you’d sand off the decals if you thought that’d save you a couple of grams… 😉

Christ I’d save about 200g I suspect if I did take all the decals off!

You get my point though, you haven’t a clue what his is built with, so why’s it so implausible that it’s lighter than yours, which isn’t all that light?

Lighter bikes hurt less when they land on top of you. FACT 🙄

Lighter bikes hurt less when they land on top of you. FACT

Not necessarily true. If I dropped a 20lb bike from 10ft such that the handlebar landed in your groin I’ll wager it’ll hurt more than a 21lb bike blowing over and falling gently on your leg. 😉

I think you need to take a look at your scales…, based upon my 24lb 456Ti.

^^^ My bike is the lightest. Urs cant be because mine is made out of noob-tanium ^^^

LMFAO!!!

Ive never really owned a proper light mountain bike. The one I’ve got now is probably of an average weight, it rides well but I guess it would be faster up hills if it was lighter. I could dplash a load of cash on it and make it lighter but I’m not that interested in doing that. I guess some people are though.

So +1 for the rider weight / power issue – you have to carry it all about.

Yesterday I used a smaller back pack (C/bak rogue) than my usual Dakine Nomad just to see what it was like. NOT having the space means you carry less.

I also rode the same speed as a rider with bike 3-4lbs lighter than me – OK he’s taller but we are approx the same weight / fitness level.

I guess my point is that for general Sunday league riding, if I’d have spent £££’s on lightening my bike not a lot of difference will have occurred and so the type of bike becomes an issue for comfort, capability and “what we like to ride”.

Its more important when your important in competitive situations IMO.

Nah, that would be rather difficult, based upon what mine is built with.

Mine’s got no gears. I suspect your 456Ti is carrying more than 2 cogs around plus some shifters and cables and a longer chain etc?

People like spending money on pointless stuff though. Afterall, mtbing is the new golf.

I think if these culprits just lost some fat off their belly’s like you suggested, they’d be much healthier and financially better off aswell.

I think if these culprits just lost some fat off their belly’s like you suggested, they’d be much healthier and financially better off aswell.

Let the hunt begin! We should cull them from the sport its the kindest thing to do? 😀

To me lightweight equals more fun….

More fun in taking the piss outta your mates who’s bikes are heavier than yours an making them feel really cheap and poor.

On a serious note. My bikes are as light as I can afford. Why the hell would you want to buy something heavier? Maybe for some weird form of resistance training. Light bikes are easily manoeuvred especially in tight single track and when whooning through the air over gaps. Even in proper mountains I’d want a super light dh/enduro rig. As long it can cope with a beating.

And another +1 for rider weight. Although more weight can be good if its due to an increase in muscle mass/power and not beer tubbyness.

Yeah i agree, no point in speanding loads on weight saving unless you are actually racing, i really can’t belive people are having more fun with a lighter bike (and lighter wallet) than me on my heavy trail bike and besides wieght + gravity = loads of speed – combine that with big brakes and hey presto, lots of controlable fun, and besides riding that heavy bastid up the hills is only going to make me fitter, so when i do get my fat ass around to racing and rich enough for full carbon, i might actually be good. but for now i’ll keep my heavy bike and spend the extra cash on post ride pints

i can see the appeal on a road bike though