Is white paint heavier?

Anonymous

Someone just told me that White paint is heavier as the material they use to make it is denser, so does this mean my bike is going to weight more and slow me down?


Thanks
Will.

redddraggon

White paint is heavier but it won't slow you down by that much, very very very very little reduction in speed - unnoticeable on your speedo or average speed.

Hell below zero !

Depends how many coats have been applied.

chronyx

Polar bears can't half shift though

a_n_t

depends how many tins you're carrying? I'm sure b+q will deliver for a small fee though?

tarquin_foxglove

White paint is heavier

Doesn't that come from the old Mercedes myth, that in 1934 they were 5kg over the weight limit before a race and their race manager decided to have the cars stripped of the German Racing White paint, which was heavily leaded, and have the cars as bare metal instead? They made the weight, won the race and gave birth to the legend of the Silver Arrows.

whyamihere

White paint is the slowest, red is the fastest, black is second fastest. The reason is:

White paint reflects all light energy, so you have to put in all the energy for propulsion.
Red paint absorbs all light except red light. Red light is the least energetic (longest wavelength) and only slows you down.
Black paint is almost the same as red, except it absorbs the red light too, making it slow down slightly.

Weight's not as important as the energy absorption of your paint. A red Halfords Special will ALWAYS be faster than a white Pinarello when ridden by the same rider for example.

Note: I'm joking.

fatblokefromwarwick

Complete nollocks my friend, TURQUOISE is by far the quickest !

whyamihere

No no no, turquoise is quite slow, as it reflects a lovely mixture of blue and green, which are relatively energetic.

Not as slow as violet though...

rhext

I'm convinced that black is the slowest. I'd be much faster if I had a white bike. Honest!

Aggieboy

You're all wrong. Striped paint not only looks faster but is faster!

steve-t

What about tartan paint?

Aggieboy

Surely coloured paint is all white paint with colour added and is therefore actually heavier!

Crapaud

fatblokefromwarwick wrote:

Complete nollocks my friend, TURQUOISE is by far the quickest !

You are David Icke ...


... and ICM £5.

Wikipeadia wrote:

When Icke told the Green Party leadership what he had experienced, he was banned from speaking at public meetings on their behalf.[15] In 1991, after a trip to Peru, he wrote Truth Vibrations, an autobiographical work which summarised his life experiences up to that point, with an emphasis on his recent spiritual encounters. He began to wear only turquoise and on 27 March 1991, held a press conference to announce: "I am a channel for the Christ spirit. The title was given to me very recently by the Godhead

P.S. Cool avatar, Fatbloke.

nwallace

whyamihere wrote:

Not as slow as violet though...

That may be, but yi widdnae mess wie it wid yi.

sicrow

I can guarantee to you all that see through paint is the quickest

GarethPJ

It's a bit of an "urban" myth in motorsport, at one time there was something of a superstition around it. It is believed to have begun because of the lead used in white paint.

However if you consider how much the paint on your bike actually weighs, even if one colour weighs, say, 25% more than another how many grammes is that? it is worth remembering the 25% of sod all is sod all.

Conversely of course the carbon black found in black tyres is heavier than the rubber itself, so surely natural tan coloured tyres are faster?

Slow1972

Go and have a good dump - that's worth about 2 coats of white paint I reckon

Stewie Griffin

tarquin_foxglove wrote:

White paint is heavier

Doesn't that come from the old Mercedes myth, that in 1934 they were 5kg over the weight limit before a race and their race manager decided to have the cars stripped of the German Racing White paint, which was heavily leaded, and have the cars as bare metal instead? They made the weight, won the race and gave birth to the legend of the Silver Arrows.

Ferrari mechanic asked a Scrutineer to push the brake pedal as he was aware that the cheating Germans had emptied the fluids to keep the car under weight. Scrutineer told them to put fluid in and of course the car was over weight. So they sanded the paint and of course the filler down to bare metal and the car was under weight and won the race. lovely story, probably not true though.

redddraggon

Slow1972 wrote:

Go and have a good dump - that's worth about 2 coats of white paint I reckon

Nick, don't you think Will already takes such measures to maximise his average speed? Anything that lowers his average speed, even slightly, is a no-no......

Ashley_R

chronyx wrote:

Polar bears can't half shift though

You mean polar bears are painted?!? :? :!:

Slow1972

Bare Ti frame it is then, there's nothing else for it if he's already been and unloaded any excess weight. That or waxing and/or removal of various body parts he could live without on his bike - toes, appendix, all body hair, ear lobes... etc

I take it he never bothers with a recovery ride - couldn't swallow doing a low average speed and being overtaken by people on mountain bikes

Average speed will be pretty meaningless if he's riding on a course with junctions, traffic lights etc and that's without considering weather conditions. As he lives in manchester he obviously is. I've only averaged over 20 mph on my commute home a couple of times, but I know I've worked harder on rides where I averaged only 19mph and not as hard as rides in the Cheshire lanes where I've averaged 22 mph.

There is also a risk that if you are concentrating too hard on beating an average speed you will take more risks in traffic than is sensible (I can make that amber light for instance....)

Average speed as some sort of training method is completely nonsensical. When you look back in your training diary, without other data, it gives little indication of how well you were going or how hard you trained.

Johnny G

The colour in white paint comes only from titanium dioxide, which is denser than other pigments. Coloured paint will still contain titanium dioxide to give it opacity, but slightly less than white paint.

The difference will be marginal though - I think Slow1972's dump suggestion may be the best advice

rhext

Johnny G wrote:

The colour in white paint comes only from titanium dioxide, which is denser than other pigments. Coloured paint will still contain titanium dioxide to give it opacity, but slightly less than white paint.

The difference will be marginal though - I think Slow1972's dump suggestion may be the best advice

Surely if it's titanium dioxide it'll be lighter. Everyone knows that titanium stuff is lighter. It should offer a more comfortable and compliant ride too!

neil²

No - you are all wrong.

Barbie Pink is about 15% faster, especially if you also paint rims and tyres.

I suggest that you apply paint urgently and post photo ASAP.

touchy

fatblokefromwarwick wrote:

Complete nollocks my friend, TURQUOISE is by far the quickest !

Its not turquoise, its CELESTE!!!!!!!

Mike Healey

fatblokefromwarwick wrote:

Complete nollocks my friend, TURQUOISE is by far the quickest !

Of course, it always beats the hare.

This news is brought to you by Dylsexia Centrla

GarethPJ

I just put a kilo of white paint on the scales and it weighed exactly the same as a kilo of black paint. You're all talking rubbish!

IGMC

DavidBelcher

Ashley_R wrote:

chronyx wrote:

Polar bears can't half shift though

You mean polar bears are painted?!? :? :!:

Ah, but polar bears aren't white - the fur's actually transparent and hollow (helps it dry quicker that way compared to our own solid hairs), and just appears white from a distance, much like the stuff used in fibre optics.
Apologies if all of the above sounds a bit 'QI'

David