I do not try and move my bike back and forth(!) as this would be a waste of energy
well, if you do move the bike side to side you'll find you can use your arms as well as your legs - if you keep your body still it can be quite effective - watch roadies on a steep bit and you'll normally see good use of this technique.
"the bike weight is nearer to 7 kgs"
Crikey, crikey, that's pretty light.
Aye, tis a Scott Addict...
..with pedals.. 
For handling surely you're better off keeping the weight on the bike (low) and removing it from the rider (high)?
I'd be interested to see though how handling changes when the rider/bike weight ratio is changed. A little guy on a DH bike vs donkey kong on a 20lb XC bike.
donkey kong on a 20lb XC bike.
offtopic but I saw a >>100kg dude (he had height AND width!) racing a carbon Scott Scale at the Spa 24 hr in'08. I was sure he was going to stand on the pedals and rip the frame in 2 but it seemed to survive
Bloody hell lads,
I only wanted to do a bit of retail therapy.
This is getting a bit daft now, (but makes a good lunch time read). 
and more importantly, who the hell has less than 10% body fat FFS.
who the hell has less than 10% body fat FFS.
roadies, that's who
*shiver*
"who the hell has less than 10% body fat FFS"
I do. I eat what I like, when I like, and never seem to put on an ounce.
It drives my wife to distraction as she seems to be able to absorb calories just by looking at the wrong sort of food.
Ahhh STW...
From bicycle lightening bling to wwaswas' wifes {I'm sure absolutely delightful} bum in 80 posts.
Quality.
I love these threads. The weight weenie bashers just can't keep away!
Every time I walk past my bike at home I lift it up, think blimey that's a nice bike, and can't wait to get out and ride it.
If it was 2 or 3 lbs heavier I'd not ride it half as often as I do. FACT!
So... what you're saying is that the difference is all in the mind then? 
Look at it this way; if your job was carrying gold bars up hills, and one day you were asked to carry 100 kilos of gold bars up Snowdon, you wouldn't really be that excited if someone else carried 5 kilos worth up for you, leaving you to take the other 95 kilos, right?
It's small adjustments to a big weight.
So for you and me crikey probably about 3% difference, assuming we both carry the same amount of crap.
And I'll disagree about total weight, as both you and the bike act differently. You've only got to see a big buy vs a small guy on similar machinery, e.g. Peaty on mtb's or Rossi on m/c's.
And I said w/o pedals, as normally I weigh my bike with pedals, mudguards, brackets and whatever else is on it.
It drives my wife to distraction as she seems to be able to absorb calories just by looking at the wrong sort of food
i know how she feels I put on 1/2 stone walking past the front of Greggs 
You a chubby chaser waswas? 
My light bike is a single speed. All those 'thrutchy' and sudden moves that are required by climbing on an SS are markedly easier with a lighter rig.
When I'm on the geary I do much less of that sort of thing, and the weight matters less to me too.
BTW. Light to me is 23lbs. As a 200lb rider, thats light enough without feeling like I'm riding a noodle, so, by the standards of some on here, not very light really!
I would have thought that if you ride regularly then it's very difficult not have have a body fat percentage around 10%-14%.
This is going to turn into a who's a fatty thread. I can see it now.
Whether it's body weight, pack weight or bike weight, it makes a difference when climbing. And if it's your money and buying lightweight bike bits make you happy then go for it.
I would imagine 90% of this forum are over 14% body fat. What you meant to say was if you ride regularly 'with effort'...
Out of interest, how heavy is your bike and how heavy are you?
11.3kg bike, 60kg rider. sorry Juan, but you're taller than me
Keva I am only 1.70m
Rider with camelbak and all 12stone (christmas pud still there, I'm afraid)
Bike now 28.3lbs
sorry guys, went into Merlin and bought the Revs Teams.
agree about the fitness thing, just had the dosh burning a hole in my pocket. 
now for ti bolts
those end caps look like they weigh about four stone. 
now for ti bolts
just remember that Ti is for bling/longevity not weight saving as it's about 60% more heavy than aluminium.
Of course crickey makes a good point about the camelback and the kit folk carry - hence I have one 750ml bottle - refilled en route, multitool, tiny pump, tube, a puncture kit 3 sram links and one ordinary link, m5 and m6 nut and bolt.
Thats about a 3 kg saving on most of you for less money
I understand the point that a 3% difference in bike weight is not much - but it really seems to make much more difference than that in practice
poppa - Member
...The only thing getting you up that hill is the force acting on the cranks. Not trying to sound rude, but I am not sure what you mean by the rider 'moving forward and then the bike gets pulled up'...
First let me make it clear I am talking about steep hills, not those that are easily spun up.
As it happens I was out training on hills today. (Riding up the descent of the StrathPuffer track if that means anything to you - it is reasonably steep and has a few features which can stall a bike).
I'm always interested in improving my riding so I tried a number of things.
1. I stayed seated and maintained a fixed position - no body movements in any direction - and rode until I was physically unable to go further and stalled. I then went back to the start point.
2. I stayed seated until it felt hard to pedal and then got out of the saddle and used my weight as usual until I stalled.
3. I got out of the saddle at my normal point and used my weight as normal.
No 1 was hopeless, 2 was better, and 3 got me much further - up to the ice where I couldn't pedal any further.
I don't think this will surprise anyone who rides a singlespeed bike.
OK the physics. Yup, to take a given mass up a certain height in a certain time will take the same amount of work regardless of gearing. But there are some places where the gearing is not low enough and body weight has to be thrown around or you will stall.
Of course it all depends what you call steep. It's unavoidable up here in the Highlands.
However I thought of an experiment that anyone can do.
Next time I go out I will take 2x1000ml water bottles with me, and also a Camelbak with the same amount of fluid and try the climb with each alternately. The combined mass will be the same with both.
The bike with water bottles on will be the same weight as the bike I used in my earlier experiment, so this method removes the variability between the bikes (although they were more or less identically specced). I'll report back next time I head out that way.
just remember that Ti is for bling/longevity not weight saving as it's about 60% more heavy than aluminium.
Since the majority of bolts on an MTB are either load bearing or need strength, then they are steel and can be replaced with Ti - saving half the weight.
In fact the only bolt I can think is alloy on mine, is the one pre-tensioning the headcap/stem.
if weight had nothing to with it then why doesn't everyone ride DH race bike up the hill. Just pump the air up so the suspension is efcective locked out then at the top let the air out fly down.
O ya becuase no one wants to pedal a 40lb monster up a hill, do they?
Crikey you point is valid, however your point is that you have proved there actually is a perfomance gain, small but a gain none the less.
I am 84kg, 7% bodyfat I own the lightest tools I can find and only carry what I need on all day rides. therefore the only place I can save weight is my bike. I know that the perfomance gain will be small but its still a gain.
Or as those claiming weight makes no difference "That may work in practice but it doesn't work in my theory".
"just remember that Ti is for bling/longevity not weight saving as it's about 60% more heavy than aluminium."
What total nonsense, aluminium bolts are useless in most locations on a bike which are designed for steel, they simply lack the strength.
if weight had nothing to with it then why doesn't everyone ride DH race bike up the hill.
Cos the geometry is shit for riding up hills, pretty obvious i would have thought.
Of course weight makes a difference just not a massive one, epsecially for the average rider.
BR - just to clarify you will find that all the bolts on every bike on the planet are alloy.
Steel is an alloy to began with, its not an element. Titanium when used for engineering purposes is always an alloy and so is aluminium other than pure coatings (even then both are usually merged with other elements to get the best performance). Infact you will be very hard pressed to find a pure metal used anywhere in load bearing engineering. Sorry to point that out.
59 time the pain - so if they brought out adjustable travel dual crowns (they arleady exist, there just rubbish) then the geo would be much better for riding up hills, the head angle would reduce by ~3 degrees to 67 or 68, and the wheelbase would reduce. You fit a schmidt and a standard block and bingo your riding up the hills but the bike would weight 40+lbs and everyone would be banging on about how much it weighed would they not?
Yet according to people on here the is no real benefit between a 20-25lb bike and a 40-45lb bike hell its only worth a few seconds. Odd then that only a few ride there DH bikes up the hills, and get people on these forums having a go at them for doing it. Plus none of the big suspension manufacturers have 8" adjustable forks.
if your rides involve any of this you'll be glad of a light bike, regardless of how much your camelbak weighs.
but on the way down...
Thanks Dirtynap - you get the Pedantic's Prize for the evening...
This topic has been closed to new replies.
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