How light is your bike? Poll!
- Thread starter DVNDSN
- Start date
You make an great point. Now if you're in competition, it may be worth it, but otherwise it is an expensive 10 seconds.
i believe i read that my old schwinn when it was new steel wheels chrome fenders and all was about 35lbs. im not entirely sure. its lighter now though. i replaced the chrome fenders with black polycarbonite and i will be replaceing the steel wheels with an alloy eventually.
Throw a few steep grades in there and I bet the time starts adding up to be a little more significant. Did the article compare weight to aero? As in x lbs is equivelent to -x drag ratio?
The article was esentially a debate on weight vs. aero and what it makes more sense to spend $$ on speed-wise. As far as the road steepening, it was suggested weight reduction only became a major factor over 8% grade. And even then I believe there is some online tool that allows ojective measures to be made plugging in some variables that indicate the advantage is not as significant as one might think (maybe someone has the link?). In addition I've heard loosing the same weight from ones body adds significant advantage over similar weight loss from the bike with regards to ascending speed. It makes sense to me but I cannot confirm or deny with any authority.
Edit: 2 seasons ago I raced all three of the bikes I had at the time in my local park races. Steel, Alu, and CF. The biggest advantage I felt in the ligher weight of my CF bike (16lbs vs. 20lbs on the steel) was carrying my bike up my 4th floor walkup after the race, then again the circut only has a single "speedbump" of about 8% that runs about a quarter mile... essentially a flat course.
Canondale Synapse aluminum, 20.7 lbs.
Two full water bottles, pump, spare tube, and full bike bag, 6 lbs.
Deciding to lose weight, priceless.
Two full water bottles, pump, spare tube, and full bike bag, 6 lbs.
Deciding to lose weight, priceless.
I'd like to know how to go about weighing my bike, stand on the scale while holding my bike off the ground and then put the bike down and subtract my weight without it?
I have a Davidson. All steel. Even the fork. Mostly Ultegra and Ritchey WCS. I weighed it when I first got it and I recall it being around 21 pounds. May not sound very light, but it is a big frame. Back in the mid seventies, a mid size, pro level bike would weigh about this same amount. I'd say the weight of a steel bike has come down, but not a lot. I'd like to see how light you could make a steel bike, using the lightest tubing and lightest components. Certainly under 18. And with a carbon fork?
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