I'm not busting any specific persons chops on this thread .......
I AM busting on the people who go out and buy a 16 lb. Huffydale when they can barely maintain 8 mph up a hill to begin with.
I have raced steel and aluminum (and ridden many carbon and titanium bikes), the aluminum beat the sh-t out of me on crits, and was terrible for longer road races. Carbon and ti were way to whippy and were horrible for sprinting and climbing. I definitely prefer steel.
I'm 6'-1, and when I was racing weighed 170 lbs (much more now that I haven't been riding for 5 years .... I'll be back down again by next year ..
....). I had my custom built GT Edge Excell tubing steel framed bike down to 19.7 lbs in 1995. And that was a 60 cm frame .......... I had the Edge alumnium that was my sponsor frame, which had the same geometry, but was just dead feeling ..... I was my teams best sprinter AND climber, and was always faster on the chromo bike.
I even raced my Colnago a few times, and that was a 21 pound beast compared to the Edge. Other than geometry being more long road race design, it still rode great.
As a mechanic and salesmen, I'd always down sell people because they wanted the latest/greatest/lightest bike. I'd have them take a spin on the different frame materials and tell them to let me know which rode the most comfortable or fastest ..... Then I'd tell them if they wanted to be faster, just to ride and lose weight on themselves first.
Only when you are at the peak race weight will shaving pounds off the bike make difference.
I definitely don't criticize people for their frame choices ..... as long as they aren't hypocrits. If someone weighs 200+ lbs and buys an aluminum/ti/carbon frame to get the lightest bike to climb with, they are only fooling themselves, and wasting money ......
I AM busting on the people who go out and buy a 16 lb. Huffydale when they can barely maintain 8 mph up a hill to begin with.
I have raced steel and aluminum (and ridden many carbon and titanium bikes), the aluminum beat the sh-t out of me on crits, and was terrible for longer road races. Carbon and ti were way to whippy and were horrible for sprinting and climbing. I definitely prefer steel.
I'm 6'-1, and when I was racing weighed 170 lbs (much more now that I haven't been riding for 5 years .... I'll be back down again by next year ..
....). I had my custom built GT Edge Excell tubing steel framed bike down to 19.7 lbs in 1995. And that was a 60 cm frame .......... I had the Edge alumnium that was my sponsor frame, which had the same geometry, but was just dead feeling ..... I was my teams best sprinter AND climber, and was always faster on the chromo bike.I even raced my Colnago a few times, and that was a 21 pound beast compared to the Edge. Other than geometry being more long road race design, it still rode great.
As a mechanic and salesmen, I'd always down sell people because they wanted the latest/greatest/lightest bike. I'd have them take a spin on the different frame materials and tell them to let me know which rode the most comfortable or fastest ..... Then I'd tell them if they wanted to be faster, just to ride and lose weight on themselves first.
Only when you are at the peak race weight will shaving pounds off the bike make difference.
I definitely don't criticize people for their frame choices ..... as long as they aren't hypocrits. If someone weighs 200+ lbs and buys an aluminum/ti/carbon frame to get the lightest bike to climb with, they are only fooling themselves, and wasting money ......
