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I bought a secondhand Giant Anthem recently.Since buying it I`ve shaved about 3 pounds off the weight,but by far the biggest gains came from losing 350g off the wheels.
It was nice to ride before,but a little less weight particularly off the wheels just makes the whole bike that much sharper and satisfying.
I`d not save weight if it compromised strength,but definitely prefer lightweight where possible.
mboy - don't know how to quote but your point on how much more time is lost on the ups if very important.
I don't know how much work in terms of research has been done on the mountain biking side but there is plenty going on for timetrialling that has resulted in a complete change of tactic in terms of power output on hills/drags.
It used to be accepted that an even power output producing the highest power over the course of a race would produce the fastest time and although this is the case for completely flat time trials even the smallest drag can change this.
By putting out a bit more power up the hill and a bit less on the decent you will produce a faster time.
You loose more time slowing down on the hill to produce an even power and when you try and maintain this power on the decent you have to put out so much power to overcome wind resistance at that speed that considerable extra power is going in to produce very little extra speed.
So any variable that reduces your time spent on the up is going to have a considerable effect on your race performance even if the course isn't that hilly.
I logged in to comment, but it's so depressing to see people in such thrall to the marketeers and ad-men that I am struggling to cope.
Think about the weight of you, your bike, your Camelbak, your helmet, your shoes, your socks, your baggy pantaloons, your multi-tool, your phone, your gels, your energy bars, your sandwiches.
Reducing the weight of your bike by a kilo, two kilos, whatever, is a noble thing, but in a real world context it means little in terms of performance.
You can feel it, just like you can see a change in colour, but it really dsoesn't make you fly.
Think you missed the irony in my comment about £1 per gram al... Never mind.
Yes, if you've got to spend £1 to save a gram on your bike, it's silly money I'll agree. If you're the kind of person that rides his bike, once a week, with a few mates, stopping for cake half way round the ride and a pint of beer afterwards, then worrying about the weight of the bike is almost pointless. As long as it's not so heavy to be limiting to your fun (such as a 50lb BSO from a Supermarket etc.). You'd always (if you're sensible) err on the side of strong and cheap in the "strong/cheap/light, pick 2" debate. But similarly there's no point in adding unecessary weight, as this isn't going to benefit in any way.
I've always bought bike components that are as strong and light as they can be, at a price that I can afford, which is what I'm guessing a lot of other people do as well. Which is probably why on here, if you were to do a cross section of bikes that people own, you'd see something like a Cotic Soul with a long(ish) travel fork, at 28(ish)lb in weight, with 2.35" tyres is actually very suitable for most of us. It suits our wallets and our riding styles, and our guts pretty well. If we were all the weight of XC whippets, with their finesse, and their sponsorship deals, we'd probably all be riding much lighter bikes if we had the choice!