The lightest superbikes now are around 14 lbs with water bottle and flat kit. My Pinarello or Basso are about 24 lbs and the Eddy Merckx about a lb heavier.
What are the effects of that added 10 lbs? The bikes obviously climb more slowly. But how much of that is due to the extra weight and how much of it has to do with me being 73 I couldn't say.
What I can say is that the ride is so much better on rotten California roads that I wouldn't go back for anything. Besides, after having three carbon forks fail including a Colnago Star Fork and having my brains bashed out by the ride of my Time Edge and various Colnagos I'd just as soon save my butt for sitting upon and not for holding in both hands all the time.
For those unaware, one of my forks failed and I fell face first into the pavement and was knocked out for more than five minutes. This concussion was so severe that I lost all short term memory and was even forgetting to eat. I lost 42% of my body weight and was on the verge of dying from that. The brain damage also caused me to have diabetes-like seizures and no memory of these seizures ever happening. None of the local neurologists had any idea of how to treat this condition so I have no memory at all of the crash on Dec 18, 2009 until my cop friend and his nurse wife took me to the Palo Alto Medical Center where one of the Stanford professors keeps a small practice. His treatments, though requiring a great deal of adaptation to the medication brought me to, about mid 2011. In the previous year and a half I had seizures while driving and totaled four cars draining my savings account. Luckily only one included another car and the injuries were relatively minor.
I say this to warn people of the possible cost of using a material that is not particularly reliable if built for lightness and not strength.
In any case, there are several good climbs in the area. The highest peaks are Mt. Tamalpias on the Marin peninsula, Mt. Diablo in the northern end of the Livermore valley and Mt. Hamilton directly adjacent to Milpitas/San Jose in the eastern south bay.
I have no problems with these climbs since the roads were initially built with horse or oxen drawn wagons and as such the grades are pretty much a regular 7%, draft animals being incapable of pulling steeper grades. The only problems I have with these climbs is their interminable length.
There are other relatively shorter and steeper grades around that give even good climbers problems. I can make them usually to the top without stopping. But as slow as a snail. Is this the weight of the bike or the weight of age? Because of the concussion I can't remember.
What I do know is that I can climb with the heavier, safer and better riding bike.
What are the effects of that added 10 lbs? The bikes obviously climb more slowly. But how much of that is due to the extra weight and how much of it has to do with me being 73 I couldn't say.
What I can say is that the ride is so much better on rotten California roads that I wouldn't go back for anything. Besides, after having three carbon forks fail including a Colnago Star Fork and having my brains bashed out by the ride of my Time Edge and various Colnagos I'd just as soon save my butt for sitting upon and not for holding in both hands all the time.
For those unaware, one of my forks failed and I fell face first into the pavement and was knocked out for more than five minutes. This concussion was so severe that I lost all short term memory and was even forgetting to eat. I lost 42% of my body weight and was on the verge of dying from that. The brain damage also caused me to have diabetes-like seizures and no memory of these seizures ever happening. None of the local neurologists had any idea of how to treat this condition so I have no memory at all of the crash on Dec 18, 2009 until my cop friend and his nurse wife took me to the Palo Alto Medical Center where one of the Stanford professors keeps a small practice. His treatments, though requiring a great deal of adaptation to the medication brought me to, about mid 2011. In the previous year and a half I had seizures while driving and totaled four cars draining my savings account. Luckily only one included another car and the injuries were relatively minor.
I say this to warn people of the possible cost of using a material that is not particularly reliable if built for lightness and not strength.
In any case, there are several good climbs in the area. The highest peaks are Mt. Tamalpias on the Marin peninsula, Mt. Diablo in the northern end of the Livermore valley and Mt. Hamilton directly adjacent to Milpitas/San Jose in the eastern south bay.
I have no problems with these climbs since the roads were initially built with horse or oxen drawn wagons and as such the grades are pretty much a regular 7%, draft animals being incapable of pulling steeper grades. The only problems I have with these climbs is their interminable length.
There are other relatively shorter and steeper grades around that give even good climbers problems. I can make them usually to the top without stopping. But as slow as a snail. Is this the weight of the bike or the weight of age? Because of the concussion I can't remember.
What I do know is that I can climb with the heavier, safer and better riding bike.