[Closed] riding a heavy bike all the time'

how heavy?

most of my bikes nowadays weigh,more than how i used to build em..
prefer a more substantial bike 😉

Not as an only bike but my xc bikes are a marin quad 140 35lb and a 456 summer season 32lb, I've only just found out how heavy they are and am interested to try a lighter bike if I can but I have them both for the geometry they're built with and downhill ability. Doesn't seem to slow me down any with my group of friends.

Up until last week I rode a heavy bike for most things. Spesh 06 enduro with a coil. 38lbs. Heavy cos I'm heavy (21 stone) but just replaced with a heckler which feels just as solid but not in the same class of 'heavy'. Also got a summerseason which comes in at 32ish lbs which I wouldn't call light for a HT

I ride my Turner 6 pack a lot. I do have a hardtail which goes out less than half the time and a different commuter but the weight of the bike doesn't affect my choice. I've done lord of the loops on the turner. It's about 34/35 lbs

How heavy is heavy? I weigh 90kg so don't bother about trying to save a few100g on things. I guess my pig weighs about 13kg

i was thinking 35 ish lbs

onzadog...........lord of the loops??

Commencal Ramones 2 (2010)

Long travel 'hardcore' hardtail on Pike 454 Coil U-Turns.

At 31.5 lbs I'm not sure whether it counts as really heavy, but I guess that's quite a lot for a hardtail.

It's certainly no XC whippet rocket, but then I don't like that type of mountain biking at all. It's amazing on the trails and for the downs/light freeride/North Shore I'd pitch it against any other hardtail on the planet.

The frame is just ridiculously strong.

used to do my paper round(circa 50 miles a week) on a near 50lb coyote dh3 with monster Ts and big uns ....

used to tear round the town at nights on it too ... i was 14 ! - might explain a few things !

My trailstar is about 32lbs I think. Used to use it for a bit of everything but I have a road bike now which is lightning fast in comparison. I think riding a heavy bike with slow tyres helped to build up the fitness a bit. Still use the Trailstar for everything off road, something lighter might be nicer for climbing but I don't think I'd have any faith in it for downhill and jumping.

Used to ride around on a 36lb bike - a spesh enduro with a coil and full dh build because that's what I also used it for. It's fine if your relative fit but after a while you really start to notice the drag of the weight over singletrack where the bike just doesn't pick up speed so well. Currrently riding a Nicolai (you know the one) and weight is down to 30lbs. But for DH days it will go up to over 36lbs again with a coil damper and dh wheels/tyres.
I weigh 105kg so I need something strong though so I'd not go lighter than this.

Lol, geetee, your going to be shocked at the weight of my new bike.

I ride a 2005 enduro, it weighs ~33lbs and is my only bike.

I dont find the relatively heavy weight a problem, I'm generally last to the top of a hill, but thats probably more to do with my lack of fitness than the weight of the bike.

Having said that , I'd make it lighter if I thought I could do so without sacrificing the way it goes downhill, but I dont think I can do that, so I'll keep it as it is.

Yep ,rode a couple of patriots for a few years - xc , trail and light down hill. My first one was coil with dual crown forks. Even did the london to brighton ride on it with 2.5" tyres. I weigh 15.5 stone so found it all relative. Got a orange strange 5 now with a coil - I have built it up to 36 lbs and can ride it all day - doing the Afan monster on it in a few weeks!

assume this is a pug your talking about ton 😀

im trying to get my hands on a 2011 white one 😀

Well since my HJ has been fubared and is waiting for me to polish it and varnish it, I have only what is normal weight down here (14 ish kg). I can ride it all day everyday. My swithc use to have 2 sets of wheels, getting the weight from 14.5 to 17.5 kgs. Riding the heavy set for more than a couple of hours was very tiresome. But then I am half ton's weight too.

I'm the same as julians , one bike 08 pitch pro and last weighed in at 33lbs ride it to work everyday and local stuff .
I only notice it being a bit porky compared to friends bikes when on long climbs , but is usually out in front on the fun bits 😉

My bike weighs more but i weigh less than others so not that bothered! Just enjoy riding .

I weigh 9 stone bang on, & recently bought a Marin 140mm Wolf Ridge that comes in at 32.6lbs.
Not my only bike 'cos i have an 04 Mount Vision that weighs 26lb & i've been riding that for 6yrs.

I'm fitter & stronger than i was a few yrs ago & i honestly believe that had i bought the WR 3 yrs ago i would have hated it. However, as my fitness progressed so did my ability so now - whilst i'm still cr@p - i can now cope with the weight of the bike on the uphills. OK, its never going to win races but i can keep up with my mates or even beat some of them on the climbs & i find it very ridable on techy single track etc.

Used to ride my Nicolai FR which was about 35/36 out all the time,Including 20+ mile xc rides

Got a Nicolai ION which is 40+lbs and i ride it to and from my local spot its about 3 miles each way,Its ok on the flat and going down,you can feel the weight on the climbs.

Cotic bfe with fox 140 van 32lbs
bullit with pace forks carbon cranks carbon bars, xc wheels avid elixirs with 160mm discs 32 lbs
bullit with van 36 and beefy wheels brakes etc 37 lbs
battery with totems 41 lbs

I'm 90kg..

Used to have a Kona Stinky Six from 2001 that I rode with single crown Marzocchi 150mm forks. Damn I miss that bike.

I used to use a 42lbs Banshee Chaparral with Boxxers on it for everything as I could only afford one bike and it had to do everything up to and including DH.
It did climb very well for it's weight so wasn't too much of a bind on longer rides. It was so much better than my mate's G Spot that weighed about 7lbs less but bobbed like **** when sat down pedalling and had a slack seat tube that put you over the back wheel when the seat was up.

As I've put on weight since I broke the Banshee, my all up weight now is more on my 26lbs Prince Albert than it was back then, so I don't think bike weight is really that much of an issue!

My mmmbop comes in at over 27lbs, but I'd not want to be riding something as heavy as that all of the time.

reason i am asking is.......today i had a go on a 18lb hartail.
on a offroad footpath in a park over tree roots and down a couple of steps.
how do people ride bikes that are so light, it felt terrible, it felt like if i stood up to pedal that the frame would snap.
surley the power a good racer puts thru the pedals causes a shed load of flex on a frame so light.
and god knows what the thing would have felt like riding down anything rocky.
my ventana weighs 36lb and seems pretty light and nippy to me.

Ton

Feeling terrible is probably due more to the geometry than the weight.

reason i am asking is.......today i had a go on a 18lb hartail.

Grabs megaphone and in a clear loud voice hails

THIS THREAD IS (NOW) USELESS WITHOUT PICS

Ton, the man mountain, on an 18lb hardtail. Man I would sell my child to see a picture of that!

geometry was good it was a specialized

geetee1972..............bastid....... 😉

For the last couple of winters I've done most of my road riding on a Thorn Sherpa touring bike. I've no idea how much it weighs but I suspect some fully sussers are lighter. I ride it because it is dependable and handles well in bad weather but I think it does make riding my lighter bikes a more pleasant experience when the weather improves.

I'd like to say it improves my fitness (big hills + heavy bike = greater strength) but I think I cancel out any benefits with beer...

Have just been outside with the weighing machine.

Orange P7 / Rohloff / Hope Tech M4 / Fox Vanilla / Thudbuster = 34.5lbs 😮

Orange G2 / Singlespeed / Hope Mono Mini / Rockshox J2 = 29lbs (y)

5.5lb / 2.5kg of way too much weight somewhere.

The difference in the two is night and day when lifting and riding. It it so surprising that 2.5kg (a Camelbak of liquid and a bag of goodies etc.) can make such a difference. That the weight on the P7 is all on the rear axle doesn't help much as the bike is so unbalanced.

Still, as mentioned above - it all helps with the fitness training 🙂

ss inbred with fox 32 130mms = dead on 30 pounds. Thats also running a 2.4/2.25 nobby nic tubeless on hope pro/ztr crest rims.

With exotic carbon rigids it drops to about 27 pounds iirc.

Im only 10'4 but probably get closer to 11 with a full rucksack bottle etc. These two builds do all my XC and any trail centres ive been too.

I dont really notice the weight so much and actually tihnk the fox's are more fun to ride with however on the uphills they shed so much power because of no lock out and my slight inability to climb with bouncy forks. To used to leaning on the bars and grinding as fast as possible.

I rode my 06 S-Works Enudro up Whites level (S Wales) when it was in full "Alps" kit. Coil shock, Fox 36 Van R's and DH wheels and 2.5 High Rollers 😀

It was about 38Lbs? and I kept up with 12 mates pretty well. mix of whippet racing snakes, skinny southerners, hardcore northern types

Thankfully I had an uplift sorted for the following day at Cwmcarn cos I was ****'d

I used to ride a 23 lb hardtail and I'd have to agree with Ton, it just didn't feel planted enough.

Lord of the Loops is a 100km enduro around the peaks. Took me 11 hours first time.

I am just about to purchase a ibis tranny, and even in a heavy build it should come in at 23lbs.

lol haha the abuse it's gonna get.

ianpinder............seriously?

ianpinder - Member
I am just about to purchase a ibis tranny, and even in a heavy build it should come in at 23lbs.

lol haha the abuse [b]my arse is [/b]gonna get.

T.FIFY

Lovely, fast and flickable but the stiffest rear end I've ever ridden!

my FR ht weighs about 36 lbs. Ride it most days at the moment. It's so stable on DH's. 😆

My commute bike is a brick. Heavy and reliable stuff. I call it 'training'.

It does make my MTB feel incredibly nimble and quick though, so probably not the answer you're after.

Normally ride evil sov - heavy. But nice.

Pluck out Ti hardtail for races/ events - much lighter, much much faster.

Yup it's going to be immense.

Fox 32 831 forks,
1 x 10spd xtr
thompson stem/seatpost
rf atlas bars
crank bros wheels
nobbly nic tyres.

solid kit in a light bike.

An Alpine 160. Don't know how much it weighs. Don't care. It weighs more than my last bike by a couple of bags of sugar. If you can't cope with that you're a big gayer.

Ian - what colour are you opting for? I hope the CB wheels will be suitably clashing!

My Giant Reign weighs about 35 pounds, I'm about 14.5 stone.

I have lighter bikes.

Where I ride currently, I really don't want to take lighter bikes.

It's all relative............

the cb wheels will be orange, as will the atlas handlebars, the frame is either going to be green or carbon

My all day full suss is 34.5lb. It never feels that heavy and is pretty pleasant to ride uphill compared to my lighter HT.

My HT is currently 28.5lb - it's gonna be a lot heavier when I finally get round to upgrading to bolt through coil forks (I've had quite enough of air) and more substantial wheels and tyres.

Does it bother me? Not really, I can keep up with the guys I ride with easily enough on the up's, and the weight penalty is well worth it to have a bike that descends well.

AndrewBF
Orange P7 / Rohloff / Hope Tech M4 / Fox Vanilla / Thudbuster = 34.5lbs

hmm. curious. P7/ alfine/ hayes 9s/ pike coil = 33lbs.
what's a thudbuster weigh?

yeti asx with totems and close ratio cassette, i once did 50 miles of xc on it once before nearly being physically sick 😀

the frame is either going to be green or carbon

Ian, are you getting this from HFTH? There is a green one in their shop at the moment and it looks lovely.

I used to run heavy bikes… the novelty wore off.

The Nicolai Nucleon I’ve been riding for the last 6 years was 44 lbs – and I rode that thing everywhere. My hardcore Balfa Minuteman hardtail was 35 lbs and again I rode this everywhere. I also run a 1995 Kona Explosif Singlespeed which is 20lbs.

For this year I changed to a Whyte 19 steel at 26 lbs and a Nicolai Helius AM at 33 lbs (I still have the Kona)

What do I notice from this… the Nicolai Helius AM is astonishing, everything the 45lbs Nukey could do the Helius does as good if not better. I’ve dropped huge time off some of my big loops and I am much happier to take this bike to where I used to take the Balfa (ie. places not worth taking the 45lbs monster). Instead of being at the back of the group I am back up the front where I belong 😈

The Whyte is not a patch on the Balfa and is not really a hardcore hardtail at all… but it was never meant to be... the Helius was to replace the Balfa and the WHyte was for XC and exploring.

The 20lbs Kona is still a hoot but I would not take it where I take the other bikes (well… sometimes I do when I feel suicidal :evil:).

I love the Helius AM but may not run it for everything over the winter, so I will either rebuild the Balfa or replace with another hardcore hardtail… unsure if the Whyte is a keeper at the moment. Me and the Kona will never be parted unless I break it again and can’t repair it this time.

Heavy bikes are a hinderance... but they have a purpose... the real question is how long the Helius and the Whyte will last with me... no frames have lasted as long under me as the Nucleon and the Balfa but they are seriously over built bas&*ds.

The big bike is 35lb in xc mode - regularly gets dragged on 30+ mile rides round the Peaks. Climbs OK - I use the lightest wheels and tyres I can get away with, and 7" of travel makes for good traction. I'd like something lighter to make the climbs more of a pleasure, but this bike has to do the DH & FR stuff to.

Lightest bike is 24lb. I could easily drop a pound or more in the wheels and tyres, but it would severely compromise my ability to ride it hard offroad. It's light enough to feel fast, but in no way fragile for normal trail riding.

The Nicolai Nucleon I’ve been riding for the last 6 years was 44 lbs; For this year I changed to a Whyte 19 steel at 26 lbs and a Nicolai Helius AM at 33 lbs

The Pimp Messiah can now be found winning cross country races all over Scotland 😆

Can you imagine being one of his riding buddies; how much do you think they're suffering now? I mean for the last 6 years his trail bike has weighed (consdierably) more than the average World Cup DH bike and now he's gone and bought himself a whippet like 33lb machine.

SX trail, and it must be around/over 38lbs.
But, as you might have gathered from my Username.... it's all necessary.

I ride it on nearly every ride, other than mid-winter-mud. I have a Alfine HT for that. as the travel is not necessary slithering round at 5mph

My 456 will probably be 32lb if I get some Domains up front.
35lb with its big tyres 🙂

my 'XC' specced patriot weighed about 34lbs. Then my 5spot weighed 33.5lbs with all the kit transferred from the patriot. Figured I needed a strong bike for my weight (14st)

Never having been a DH/Jumpy type I figured this was a bit heavy, so tricked out the spot, applied a bit of common sense and wound up dropping to about 28lbs.

It was more fun all round and still heavy enough to planted on descents.

My SS 456Ti is 23lbs. Any lighter and it would start to suffer in the rough stuff IMO.

My mtb (cotic bfe) is fairly heavy, most of the parts are light and it is a SS, but it has dh wheels and the marzocchi forks weigh 6lbs on there own. I use it for xc mainly, but also dh and dirt jumps so its nice to have heavy bits the dont break.

My road bike probably weighs 24lbs, its built with cheap bits but its fine for riding on the road. Looking to get a new one with fancy bits that should weigh less than 20lbs.

Rode various bikes over a long time and decided a long time ago that longevity and strength were more of a priority for me.

I've no idea what my bike weighs but it rides ok.

The heaviest bikes (ht) I owned were about 30lbs. I've never busted anything riding trail centres or the North Downs. So these days I'm aiming for a 25lb hardtail. Light and fast.

After undertaking a weight loss programme with my Marin Quad 140 and the subsequent ressurection of my 2004 Enduro I've reached a startling conclusion -

A bike that pedals well will hide its weight. My Marin is by far and away the better high mileage bet despite weighing some two pounds heavier than the svelte Enduro.

if you class a pitch with 454 coils, big wheels and tyres as heavy, then I use a heavy bike for all real biking. A lighter (ish) hardtail for the commutes and baby seat duties.
It pedals well enough for my usual rides which are 3 hours ish with 1000m climbing. Good for long days too, but not yet done anything multi day on it.

geetee1972 - Member
the frame is either going to be green or carbon
Ian, are you getting this from HFTH? There is a green one in their shop at the moment and it looks lovely.

No, I'm getting it at a bike shop which is more local to me.

Not going to get it finished straight away because I've just ordered an Ion too.

Ian you are a slag but I like your style! 8)

How is the new years resolution coming along btw?

It's stalled briefly because I started a new job, which is 6am-7pm mon-fri, rather then just work 45 hours when you want, but now back on it, and down to total 2 1/2 stn loss. Just got in the routine, and hopefully by jan i'll be down to 24. thats my plan anyway.

ianpinder - Member

Not going to get it finished straight away because I've just ordered an Ion too.

Ion....Tell me more 😀

A large with an extra 1/2 inch in the tt, medium seatpost, conehead steerer, maxle, ano orange, White decals ti ano levers. Wc boxxers, saint drivetrain, hope pro 2 on 823. You know the usual

ianpinder - Member

A large with an extra 1/2 inch in the tt, medium seatpost, conehead steerer, maxle, ano orange, White decals ti ano levers. Wc boxxers, saint drivetrain, hope pro 2 on 823. You know the usual

Very nice.Noticed on the Anodized orange that the colour varies,depending if its anodized tube or machined billet.
Are you having a CCDB or Vivid?

What size frames are these 'heavy' bikes?

My Wanga when built up was 31.4lbs, it cost less than 500 quid to build up and was a 21" frame.

I'm sure that if it an ickle 18" frame it would have easily lost another half a pound.

My one and only bike is heavy. I dont know how heavy but it is heavy compared to others when I'm lofting them over gates. I dont really care either as I love riding it.

Dhc rc4. The same as I had on the st. I love it.

Used to ride Kona Coiler everywhere - 34 pounds. Now ride Orange Subzero 32 and Cove Handjob at 28. Whenever I ride a really light bike it just feels flimsy. Of course it all depends where you wanna ride.

Rode a Kona Stab with close ratio cassette for the Passportes du Soleil this year. 50lbs or thereabouts, and 1300m of climbing (excluding the chairlifts).

I was a bit tired at the end.

Kona Stab - Passportes du Soleil - jeeze!

Went from a 30lb Explosif and took it done to 27lb, dropped that via a ScandAL to 26lb and then 25 before going carbon at 22lb. Then went back up to 30lb with a Marin Wolf Ridge. The Marin, like the explosive, is just a good bike to ride and will do anything I'd ask my hard tail to do, and feels great too. Nothing wrong with a 'standard' weight bike.

Trouble is, when the Marin was out of action for a bit, I built the ScandAL back up from being a hack to it's 24lb best, took it over the hills and...it was utterly fantastic. And when you hit the Tarmac at the end of the ride: wow.

Light is good too.

Used to ride a 38-44lb bike when there was no such thing as light weight long travel,but when circumstances meant I couldn't maintain my fitness it became a bind! I now ride a 28lb bike and have around 80% of the line choice I had.It's a choice I'm usually happy with.

Ton, without being rude, but having seen pics of you on here, you're a big feller and are never going to do the sort of speeds an XC whippet half your weight will do. And in fairness, they're going to be far more agile and ride with a lot more finesse than you can. Hence, they don't need a burly bike. An 18lb hardtail is their weapon of choice, yet they could probably our ride most folk on here regardless of bike or type of course. The best XC riders could smoke most folk down a DH course, whatever the bike. Because they have better bike handling skills than most, which makes them good at racing.

I wouldn't imagine an 18lb HT would last too long in your hands, as it would be too fragile for your weight, I'd imagine. It's not made for someone like yourself. By the same token, I'm tiny and weigh 9 1/2 stone, so I don't need big chunky overbuilt stuff. Having said that, my SS HT weighs over 27lbs, and about 29 with all me tools and water bottle etc on it, yet I can outclimb most folk I've ridden with, even if they're on lighter bikes. All about individual strengths.

I'm over biked, over forked and happy with it, weighs in at about 33lbs and it makes me smile so it works for me 🙂

another over-built Coiler rider (up until this year anyway). Built it up for alps trips (dual ply minions, 7lb Bombers etc) and it came in at about 38lbs. Left it in that build and as my only bike it got ridden everywhere. the trail guides in morocco who had to lift it onto the top of a 4x4 every day hated me!

[IMG] [/IMG]

2008 Patriot with coil lyriks

I'm only about 11.5 stone too

Although I must admit I've never done more than 4 hours on it

Just weighed my Inbred with a highly accurate set of Aldi fishing scales. Approx 30-31 lbs. Which surprised me to be honest. None of the bits have really been selected for lightness, but there's no heavy cheap tat on it either. And I'm running a double.

I have a nice light scot pro flight ht its about 11 years old and currently weighs in around 25lbs but most of the time i end up with a trailer and 18 month chunky daughter in a trailer which is about another 45lbs. So a 70lb rig definately makes the hills a challenge.

Del

AndrewBF
Orange P7 / Rohloff / Hope Tech M4 / Fox Vanilla / Thudbuster = 34.5lbs
hmm. curious. P7/ alfine/ hayes 9s/ pike coil = 33lbs.
what's a thudbuster weigh?

A few hundred grams more than my Thomson. You notice the difference in the hand, but not when it is on the bike.

i can probably win this one.

cannondale gemini. 45 lbs. Done everything on it, from the SDW in a day, to the whistler, to climbing alpe du huez road climb 2 days before doing the mega

why? it's strong as hell, and I can turn off a long xc ride to play on the jumps.

just complimented it with a 35lb hardtail, which feels like it needs beefing up a bit 😀

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