When does weight become a true factor in ride quality, performance and handling?

Does weight make a difference in your choice of bike?

Weight is important when it comes to keeping up with your mates on faster rides!

I don’t by stuff by weight but I do by good xc kit rather than trail rider kit which tends to be a bit heavier.

I’ve just built a bike for my Sister in law. Its only a GT Avalanche frame, set-up 1 x 9 with old XT kit, Exotic alloy forks, reasonable quality wheels comuter tyres. Weighs about 20lb. Cost about £150 all in.

My god does it fly. 🙂

I wouldnt be taking it off road though, I’d end up breaking it.

Going uphill and going downhill…light for up and heavier for down – seems to make the machine more stable (and more weight gives more momentum so faster and able to stay at speed easier).

Saying that, the speed I go at up and down, I clearly seem to have the ratios the wrong way round!

At 16st I’ve piled on quite a bit of weight since my year off from cycling

I might need to get one of these instead of the Steel framed bike i’m hunting for

lighter the better for me.

I’ve debated this for a long time and recently put my two bikes (04 Enduro, 27lb vs 09 Wolf Ridge 34lb) against one another on a timed local route with a fair bit of technical climbing and some mixed terrain.

The results? There’s bugger all in it. The Enduro is undoubtedly the swiftest feeling bike, but it squats under pedaling and squanders it’s power. The Wolf Ridge is heavy and short, but the suspension tautens under power and the frame geometry encourages you to throw the bike around.

Seriously, the difference is down to no more than a minute over a fifteen mile course, so I can conclude that geometry and suspension have more of a bearing than weight.

^ there both heavy though.

not really an ideal test though, you’d be better with 2 wool fridges one at 34lbs and one at 27lbs to see the difference in weight rather than 5 years of suspension development

EDIT: Janesy +1 they are both seriously lardy bikes

As above.
Weight is massively over-rated. You are the heavy bit…

Weight (I’m told by the purveyors of fine cycles) used to be important for XC stuff and presumably for those fine spandex fellows that bother traffic and inhale carbon monoxide for kicks, but for the coming world of jumps and drops and ski resort riding what’s important is that the bike doesn’t break and so it was I bought one of the few types that don’t do this but are not the lightest around, but i see my future more in gondolas than spandex.

It’s an intruiging question.

Like PJM i’ve got the ’09 Wolf Ridge but mine’s 33lb as its a baby one 🙂 Also got an ’04 Mount Vision as well.
Had the Mount Vision for nearly 8yrs now and i’ve loved that bike, its 26/27lb, long top tube, low front end and climbs like a goat. I never understood people who wanted a heavy bike, light was just better IMO.

THEN, i bought the Wolf Ridge and had a revelation. The short and tight geometry of the bike coupled with the extra travel and the stiffness of the 20mm/12mm bolt through axles made the bike just gobble up the rough stuff that had me backing off on the MV.
Yes, it’s slower on the climbs and on a long, hilly route (like the Ruthin CRC Marathon last yr) it really does make the ride harder. However, like PJM i really don’t think there’s much in it at all really.
One thing though, the MV is a LOT easier to wind up to speed than the WR and if i’d bought the WR several yrs ago and not been as fit as i am now i reckon i may have hated it.

Im 15 stone so a few lbs off the weight of the bike really doesnt make much differnece, saying that, i have lost 15lbs since April and i can really feel that when i am climing, but to get the same on a bike i would have to be riding something that weighed 10 lbs!!!

It feels like it makes much more of a difference than it does.

Most find lighter bikes more fun to ride.

I’m 9.5 stone, so a 33lb bike is a relatively large percentage of my body weight, still love riding it though!

I think the geometry and suspension characteristics are more important than the dead weight of the bike, people told me the Wolf Ridge ‘rode lighter’ than it’s actual weight and i didn’t understand what they were getting at til i’d ridden it for a while.
Tyre choice on a big bike is more important as well i reckon.

surly you just get used to what you ride 😯
heavy bike bigger muscles..

heavy bike

lots of granny gear abuse 😉

A big bike and living in the Pennines means a granny ring is de rigeur!

I don’t feel that a heavy bike holds me back on uphills, that’s just a lack of fitness. My bike incredibly reliable and was a relative bargain so it doesn’t bother me. There are times when i feel a 20lb carbon hardtail would be nice though.

“They’re both heavy bikes”

Eh? Sure, the Wolf Ridge is a porker, but since when has 27lb been heavy for a 5.25″ travel full suss bike which hasn’t been built to a bank breaking spec?

There’s eight pounds between them in weight, or to put that in percentage terms, the Marin is more than 30% heavier than the Enduro.

I call that a fair test.

The conclusion is that suspension performance and geometry are more influential factors than poundage alone.

PJM – how do you find the suspension action on the WR though?

My Mount Vision is the original Quad Link design and the WR is obviously the Quad Link II version.

Cynic al, I kind of agree for a certain type of riding. I had a zesty that knocked 8lbs off my previous bike. It was still trail weit at 28lbs but light for me! I sold it recently as I just couldn’t thrash it through the rocks like my heavier bikes. A truly awesome bike for trail riding and all dayers but not confidence inspiring for big jumps, drops, rocks etc. Which is what gets me out on my bike.

Now back on a coil sprung 33lb tracer and happy as larry. Though I may have argued myself in a circle as it’s the lightest big bike I’ve had…

Intriguing.

Currently got my 30lb Intense Tracer in the classifieds, whilst thinking of replacing it with a 27lb 120mm bike. Seeing as I’ll never trouble a podium at events, am I a wrong ‘un?

but since when has 27lb been heavy for a 5.25″ travel full suss bike

that’s 3 lbs heavier than my epiphany that’s not been built to a bank breaking spec

As above.
Weight is massively over-rated. You are the heavy bit…

+1 I`ve found more effect this yera MTB and road riding through my losing 10 lb than any difference in bike weights; lighter may be nicer / feel betetr to ride but it is mostly in teh mind, unless you are race orientated. Now prefer my heavier HT as it feels more stable / secure / planted.

Like my super lighweight carbon road bike v slightly heavier all ppurpose Audax type road bike more as it feels nicer to ride, timing wise on hilly rides very little in it

but since when has 27lb been heavy for a 5.25″ travel full suss bike
that’s 3 lbs heavier than my epiphany that’s not been built to a bank breaking spec

It’s about 5lbs lighter than my HT! 😆

@Muddy Dwarf

I really rate it. It’s taken me a while to get it dialed as it’s much more intolerant of ham fisted setup than my Enduro, but it always feels responsive even if it occasionally spits traction on steep climbs. If I were to be pedantic, it could do with a 1/2″ lopped off the bottom bracket and added to the top tube but it’s reinvigorated my riding.

I still cannot fathom how so many folk here can get a 130mm full susser down to sub 27lb, but the purpose of my comparison was comparing extremes and not willy waving. That’s not meant to sound dismissive, I’m genuinely impressed.

My last bike Gary Fisher full susser weighed almost exactly the same weight as my current Giant Anthem about 26 1/2 lbs.

The GF felt heavy when riding especially when climbing. In comparison the Giant feels very light, chuckable and climbs far better.

Geometry and design has much more of an impact than outright weight

1. Lighter bikes are easier to lift over stiles and gates.

2. It depends on the rider. If you’re someone who climbs hard and enjoys it, you’ll notice a lighter bike. If you’re a trundler or just climb steadily, then it’s less of a plus.

3. I’ve ridden two bikes with identical geometry, but a weight difference of around 5lb, a Blue Pig and a Ragley Ti and the lighter bike feels so much sharper and quicker on anything uphill or undulating or even flat, faster to accelerate, easier to throw around, but without giving anything away on downhills or technical stuff. I ride a lot in the Peak and like climbs and much as descents (see point 2)

4. In that case, light didn’t equate to fragile, the Ti was build kind of light and tough as was the Pig. If the lighter bike descended less well or was significantly less durable, then it’d be a different game, but for the same geometry and performance, I’d have a lighter bike every time.

5. If you live somewhere where all the trails are downhill or just spin up the climbs to get to the downs, then you’re not going to be very bothered by weight really…

So I’d say yeah, it makes a difference, but whether it makes a difference to you is something else entirely.

I would think the Ti Pigs material / would go along way to the feel not just the weight saving over the Std one, so not really a good / ideal comparison?

Light vs Heavy? When does it make a difference?

When there’s no more weight to lose off you- that’s when.

I did nothing but road riding for the first six months of this year. Got properly fit and lost 1.5 stone. Strangely when I got back on my 30 lb 5 Spot mountain biking seemed to be a whole lot easier and faster than it had been six months previously.

PJM1974. Ok there’s 30% difference between the weight of your bikes but when you sit on them, assuming you weigh about 70kg there’s only 3% difference in the weights of you and the bike combined. That’s why one’s not really quicker than the other.

womble72 – Member

When does weight become a true factor in ride quality, performance and handling?

At all times. Up, down, sideways. Especially while putting it back on the roofrack.

Buuuuut, when is it important enough to care about? When does it override the other benefits you can get (ie strength, functionality, price…). That’s where it gets complicated.

I think most people would prefer their bike to be lighter as long as it didn’t compromise the ride and/or reliability….and didn’t cost an arm and a leg 🙂
Replacing worn out bits with value for money lighter parts which don’t compromise performance does make sense.
BTW even my hardtail is over 30lbs and god knows what my my big bike weighs but I do like the feel and simplicity of coil forks so I’m not too bothered.

I’m agreed with the comments above. A few pounds feels like it makes a massive differencen but in actual speed terms there’s naff all in it.

My 4.5″ full sus is 44lbs, and my xc hardtail is 36lbs.

The general rule is; strong, light, cheap…. pick any two!

I’m a firm believer that the whole package (rider + bike) has to be lugged around so if you’ve got a 20lb bike but you’re 28lb over weight then you are indeed flogging a dead horse and have probably been reading too many MTB magazines!

My bike weighs 33lbs, I can get a 20lb bike from the same manufacturer but I’d have to lose my front and rear suspension, gears and the fooking mahoosive grin on my face after a bit of downwards singletrack!

I would think the Ti Pigs material / would go along way to the feel not just the weight saving over the Std one, so not really a good / ideal comparison?

Actually in terms of ride feel, there’s not much difference between a steel Pig and a Ti one, both supple in a stiff sort of way. So actually it’s a pretty good comparison as the geometry is the same and while the parts spec is lighter, it’s not remotely fragile or spindly.

It’s a near identical bike in terms of geometry and the suppleness of the frame but around 5lb lighter.

That’s really what the thing turns on isn’t it? If you have two near identical bikes, one of which is a lot lighter, when does the lighter bike feel better. And my take is that it feels better on climbs and anywhere you need to accelerate hard when it’s zippier and sharper. And when lifting it over stiles.

If you don’t lift your bike over stiles, don’t ride somewhere hilly and tend to just trundle up climbs and don’t value ‘zippiness’ in a bike, that won’t matter to you. If you do, it will.

Anyway, who cares?

There is certainly more to it than just the weight of the bike.

My 29lb BlurLT is a lot nicer to ride than the 27lb Stumpjumper FSR I replaced, but i’m sure if I spunked a grand on XTR and carbon everything and knocked 3lbs off it it would be nicer still.

Then again it might be a lot cheaper to take all the shite out of my Camlebak instead!

My Pitch knocks arround the 32-35lb range depending on tyre and pedal choice.

It climbs as well as anything else though, you can feel it, but at the same time it doesn’t seem to make any difference. And once it’s off road it’s like a tank, point it up the hill and winch!

My weight/fitness was a much bigger factor, infact I’m still the same weight, I’m just a bit fitter so climbing is easier.

The hardtail seems to suffer more from excess weight though, put a proper set of gears rather than SS on the hardtail and its completely different. And a friend loves his Ti 456, but hates the steel one for feeling sluggish.

PJM1974. Ok there’s 30% difference between the weight of your bikes but when you sit on them, assuming you weigh about 70kg there’s only 3% difference in the weights of you and the bike combined. That’s why one’s not really quicker than the other.

Exactly. Actually I’m more like 80kg as I’m a smidge under six foot, but the point is that in the overall scheme of things a heavier bike isn’t as much of an issue as people think.

Living in a 1st floor flat, the lighter bike is easier to get up the stairs. Surprisingy, that’s the dekerf with reba teams, not the road bike. I knew the peregrine wasn’t going to be light, but I wasn’t expecting it to be heavier than the mtb! Much quicker on the road though, and probably on easy paths too.

All about the tyres, then!