Was it lighter those days?

[skareb]

I was having a coffee break with few other cyclist after a ride and as usual they'll be some friendly chaps walking up to us for a chat. The story always begins when they'll tell how they use to ride THOSE days which are somewhere 30 years back. Sooner or later they'll ask whats the bike weight and when I tell them 17+ lbs they'll say wow so heavy and I've encounter twice they said they used to ride 10lbs 10speed racers. I mean I've just started on roadbikes and not sure about the statistic, but 2 diferent people telling me the same thing?

So was it much lighter those days? 10lbs roadbikes ...

 

[msrw]

Definitely not. The average Record equipped Colnago 25 years ago weighed around 21-22 lbs.

 

[drewski]

maybe they thought you were talking in Kilos? 10 kg = 22 lbs.

 

[skareb]

naaa..was definately refering to pounds

 

[lokstah]

And you're sure he wasn't talking about 10lbs frames?

Manufacturers have been on a slow march towards lighter and lighter materials for the last half century; I just can't imagine that what your friend is talking about could possibly be true. Unless he was making his own magic bikes.

 

[JohnO]

Nope - 20 pounds was the holy grail in the 70's. Not many bikes made it, the typical 531 frame/Record equipment bike was more like 21-22.

I just picked up another example of my old college days bike, a 531 frame/Record equipped Falcon. 22 pounds with the Brooks Team Pro saddle, and this was considered a top of the line bike for its day. Sure does ride smooth, and that 30 year old Campy gear may as well be brand new.

As I recall, even the track bikes back then didn't get much under 14 pounds.

 

[boudreaux]

Originally posted by skareb
I was having a coffee break with few other cyclist after a ride and as usual they'll be some friendly chaps walking up to us for a chat. The story always begins when they'll tell how they use to ride THOSE days which are somewhere 30 years back. Sooner or later they'll ask whats the bike weight and when I tell them 17+ lbs they'll say wow so heavy and I've encounter twice they said they used to ride 10lbs 10speed racers. I mean I've just started on roadbikes and not sure about the statistic, but 2 diferent people telling me the same thing?

So was it much lighter those days? 10lbs roadbikes ...

It's just BS, or too much alcohol.

 

[dhk]

Originally posted by JohnO
Nope - 20 pounds was the holy grail in the 70's. Not many bikes made it, the typical 531 frame/Record equipment bike was more like 21-22.

I just picked up another example of my old college days bike, a 531 frame/Record equipped Falcon. 22 pounds with the Brooks Team Pro saddle, and this was considered a top of the line bike for its day. Sure does ride smooth, and that 30 year old Campy gear may as well be brand new.

As I recall, even the track bikes back then didn't get much under 14 pounds.

Sounds like the Falcon is a big step ahead of my 30 year old Raleigh Gran Sport. It's 26 lbs of 531 british steel, brazed at the famed Carleton frame works with crude file marks, misaligned seat lug, but nice hand pinstripe work. Stronglight, Brooks, Simplex, Weinmann brakes and rims....I'm sure that stuff all adds to the weight. It's a heavy-wall tubeset, and stiff riding.

The 30 year old Simplex Prestige still works fine also. I'm using it on the trainer now, can't seem to wear it out...or throw it out!

 

[CampyOnly]

I have a 7 years handbuild Reynolds/Campy road bike that hits the scale with 10.5kgs/23lbs.
I would'nt think that older bikes would weigh less.
But this is lightest set of wheels I have come across:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.php?ID=51
Less than 5kgs/11lbs.11
- and it is built with the latest in carbon and titanium parts.
Parts that has only been available the last couple og years...
Ride Safe
CampyOnly

 

[steve]

Originally posted by skareb
I was having a coffee break with few other cyclist after a ride and as usual they'll be some friendly chaps walking up to us for a chat. The story always begins when they'll tell how they use to ride THOSE days which are somewhere 30 years back. Sooner or later they'll ask whats the bike weight and when I tell them 17+ lbs they'll say wow so heavy and I've encounter twice they said they used to ride 10lbs 10speed racers. I mean I've just started on roadbikes and not sure about the statistic, but 2 diferent people telling me the same thing?

So was it much lighter those days? 10lbs roadbikes ...

Road bikes with steel frames don't even come close to that now, let alone 30 years ago.

cheers

 

[lokstah]

Originally posted by CampyOnly
But this is lightest set of wheels I have come across:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.php?ID=51
Less than 5kgs/11lbs.11
- and it is built with the latest in carbon and titanium parts.
Parts that has only been available the last couple og years...
Ride Safe
CampyOnly

The ridiculous bike in that link is the best argument yet for the case against the phantom 10lbs bikes of the 1960s. That machine is exotic to the extreme, is certain to cost a fortune, and probably won't support anyone over 160lbs for more than 20 miles.

There's simply no way that thing could exist on the same planet as a 10lbs steel bike from 1967.

 

[drewski]

that's not even the lightest bike on the site!

9.2lbs: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.php?ID=21

 

[lokstah]

Originally posted by drewski
that's not even the lightest bike on the site!

9.2lbs: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.php?ID=21

Wow. I crave a little lightness myself, but that waif-ish monstrosity is absurd. That bike needs an intervention and forced-feeding.

 

[skareb]

OK now I know its total BS, I'm wishing I'll meet those clowns again, this time I'll put up a bet if he can prove his imaginary sub 10 pounders

 

[dhk]

The 10 sp I remember best from the 60's is the Schwinn Varsity, which weighed about 33 lbs if I remember correctly.

The typical mid-priced ($150) 10 sp, like my wife's Jeunet from 1974, came in at about 30 lbs. Steel rims, steel crank, Mafac Racer brakes, and the ubiquitous Simplex plastic derailleurs.

 

[alanbikehouston]

The 10 sp I remember best from the 60's is the Schwinn Varsity, which weighed about 33 lbs if I remember correctly.

The typical mid-priced ($150) 10 sp, like my wife's Jeunet from 1974, came in at about 30 lbs. Steel rims, steel crank, Mafac Racer brakes, and the ubiquitous Simplex plastic derailleurs.

Actually, a medium size Varsity, with lights and racks, and all its equipment, a Varsity could weigh closer to 40 pounds. Reliable, and safe on paved roads, and reasonably smooth dirt and gravel roads.

A high top touring bike of the 70's, with fat tires, bigger rims, and racks, came in at around 30 pounds. These were bikes built to carry heavy loads, and travel on the worst of roads.

Today, there seems to be a contest to see who can make the lightest bike and the lightest tires. Of course, unless the team car is behind you with a spare wheel and a spare bike, these 15 pound "miracle" bikes might have trouble getting you through the day.

Last year, when Lance Armstrong crashed during a climb going about ten miles an hour, he snapped the chain stay on his OCLV frame. Luckily, it held together well enough for another fifteen minutes so that he could finish the stage. That sort of crash would barely have scratched a Schwinn Varsity.

Back when millions of folks were happy just to ride a bike, and very few people actually raced bikes, strong and heavy bikes with big, fat tires were the work horses of cycling.

 

[rule62]

I remember back in about '71 my dad got me a Gitane road bike. I remember figuring that I must be one of the only guys in my part of Oklahoma to be riding one because I can still remember how many people stopped me to give it a look and ask if I would be interested in selling it. It was a feather compared to the typical Schwinn of its day. It still would be a brick compared to the typical road bike that I ride and see around on the roads today.

 

[tcklyde]

Wow. I crave a little lightness myself, but that waif-ish monstrosity is absurd. That bike needs an intervention and forced-feeding.

The latest and lightest? 8lbs and 10oz of absolutely silliness at Interbike. Almost certainly unreliable and unridable, but definitely lighter than the amassed quanity of beer and cheese fries you* ate over the weekend: Scott's demo.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/tech/shows/?id=interbike/day3/04ibikeD3_095

* Not you personally Lokstah, of cousre. I mean, the non-specific "you" that we all are and inevitably must remember when we chug our own local L'Alp d'Huez.