Shedding weight on a budget

wilbo83

Purchased a Giant Defy 4 last year as my first road bike and now I am getting more into it, I would like to upgrade some parts and would like to shed some weight, however I don't have pockets of cash. Anyone got any recommendations of things to change? Was searching for a useful 'first upgrades on a budget' article but couldn't find one.

bisoner

If you eat less, wont you be saving money anyway? Win win.

chrisaonabike

You could remove the saddle. That would make the bike weigh less.

Obviously you'd then need to attach the saddle to your bum, otherwise 'bike fit' would take on a hole (sorry) new meaning.

But the bike would be lighter

getprg

.......ride naked......... :oops:

mitchgixer6

Welcome to the world of cycling! Unfortunately the more weight you want to save on bike bits, the more the price of saving said weight goes up exponentially!

As mentioned the cheapest and easiest way to save weight on your bike is buy losing body weight.

chadders81

Lose some weight. However thin you think you are, its always going to be the easiest/cheapest way.

Wiggo is 6ft 3ins and weighs 10st 9lbs.

But wheels will probably make the most noticeable difference. You could get some nice handbuilt tubs that would come in at about 1,200g a pair.

Mikey23

I have a defy 4. I don't think that there is much of an upgrade path for it that doesn't involve parting with shed loads of cash for minimal gain. I suppose the obvious improvement would be better wheels. All In all its a cracking value bike but a little on the heavy side and not cutting edge. Very much entry level. My solution is that if I'm still a committed cyclist next spring and my level of proficiency justifies it then I will invest in a better spec bike ...

mjbennett

get some better wheels (ksyrium elite) and folding tyres.

Pigeons in flight

Yeah....shedding junk in the trunk is the cheapest way. Maybe not the easiest though..

markos1963

I can ride my 14kg tourer at 18mph for 100miles, I still wouldn't upgrade it weight wise as I'm still about 10kg overweight. As others have said lose weight from yourself first before worrying about the bike. The only thing I would recommend is buy the best tyres you can afford as this can transform an ok ride into a good one.

rrsodl

mjbennett wrote:

get some better wheels (ksyrium elite) and folding tyres.

Today I read somewhere that lighter wheels will help with acceleration but very little in other areas. So what is the point of investing £400 on a new set of wheels if you are not racing or don't really care much about accelerating fast while riding? I would happily paid the money if the wheels made it easier to climb hills but from what I found out the help from lighter wheels is very little indeed.

Loosing body weight makes a great deal of difference as you could probably be talking kilos instead of grams - Some years ago I lost a couple of stones and that made a very noticeable difference to the way I can climb hills and also to the speed I travel so I'm sure that is the best way to go quicker

On the other hand, it can be a bit depressing to ride a heavy bike when other people are riding super light bikes my mate rides an 8 kilos bike and mine being only 3 k heavier feels a lot more when we ride together. Having said that, I have a saddle bag with lots of goodies in case of an emergency and my mate only has a bottle of water if he gets a puncture then he calls his wife to pick him up or I can help him to fix the puncture.

Briggo

If it makes little difference shedding weight why do the professionals use bikes that are as light as possible.

I upgraded the wheels on y mtb to much lighter but stronger rims than the standard cheap ones and it made a hell of a difference in how the bike felt and performed, by reducing rotational weight it has the biggest impact to the feel of the bike as opposed to reducing weight of the bike I.e. lighter seat post etc and additionally better hub engagement is also quite noticeable vs crap ones.

I also find it funny how people say shed weight, it's not all about weighing as light as you can, it's also about power to weight ratio remember muscle weighs more, not everyone is focused purely on cycling and aiming to have the leanest physique. I weigh 11st and if I lost anymore weight I'd be a scrawny shite.

DavidJB

wilbo83 wrote:

Purchased a Giant Defy 4 last year as my first road bike and now I am getting more into it, I would like to upgrade some parts and would like to shed some weight, however I don't have pockets of cash. Anyone got any recommendations of things to change? Was searching for a useful 'first upgrades on a budget' article but couldn't find one.

Wheels or save up your pennys and buy a better bike.

SaintMark

RRSODL wrote:

I read somewhere that lighter wheels will help with acceleration but very little in other areas. So what is the point .

You don't just accelerate from a standing start, you're constantly changing speed on a bike so every time you speed up after a corner or whatever you'll feel the benefit of lighter wheels. The main weight of a spinning wheel is the rotating mass of the rim/tyre/tube. If heavy it will make the bike sluggish to turn and roll so reductions in rotating weight improve handling overall as well as the all-out weight.

Therefore the best upgrade for the least cash would be to get the best tyres and tubes you can afford. Next best for noticeable improvement would be lighter wheels, although as others have noted that is not a cheap option. Both these things will improve bike handling as well as weight.

rowman

I tend to think of myself and my bike as a single system, Losing weight from either will be a gain. I changed my diet slightly and dropped 4 kg and consequently knock 15 minutes of my Exmoor Beast time? No matter how much money I had I was never going to get 4 kg of weight savings out of my bike?

meesterbond

It's absolutely true that body weight makes the biggest difference to performance (improving your power/weight ratio is easier by decreasing weight than increasing power). In his book Tyler Hamilton claims it has more of an impact than any amount of EPO or blood transfusions.

However, if we assume that you're doing that anyway, then the only really cost effective improvements for a £500 bike are tyres and tubes. You could probably pick up a pair of wheels for £200 which would be a decent improvement, but you're now spending close to what the bike is worth secondhand... you'd be better off keeping the cash and putting it towards the next bike upgrade.
Personally, I'd make sure the contact points are as you like them (pedals and saddle in particular). I would always tend to move these across to any new bike so I don't think it's a false economy to spend as much as you need to on them.

rrsodl

SaintMark wrote:

RRSODL wrote:

I read somewhere that lighter wheels will help with acceleration but very little in other areas. So what is the point .

You don't just accelerate from a standing start, you're constantly changing speed on a bike so every time you speed up after a corner or whatever you'll feel the benefit of lighter wheels. The main weight of a spinning wheel is the rotating mass of the rim/tyre/tube. If heavy it will make the bike sluggish to turn and roll so reductions in rotating weight improve handling overall as well as the all-out weight.

Therefore the best upgrade for the least cash would be to get the best tyres and tubes you can afford. Next best for noticeable improvement would be lighter wheels, although as others have noted that is not a cheap option. Both these things will improve bike handling as well as weight.

I like this post. It makes a lot of sense to me.

mjbennett

Which is what i said.....wheels and tyres......

Matt_as

Just sell it and buy a new bike. By the time you have changed enough parts to shed significant weight you will have spent loads anyway.

GGBiker

Prolite bracciano wheels - excellent and weigh 1500g, you would probably save 600g + on these. £300, less if you look out for a deal or eBay.

Selle SLR saddle, weighs 130-180g, can be had for £50 if you look around. Very comfortable to ride although doesn't look it. Although all saddles are personal so need to find what suits you. Would save 150-200g

Lightweight tubes and tyres could probably save you a couple of hundred grams, vittoria rubino pros for £17 each and vittoria tubes are light at 80g and £3-4 if you shop around.

Titanium bottle cages £17.50 on eBay, 22g. Could save you 100g for £35

Carbon seat post, I got a ritchey 180g post for £50 on eBay, saved over 100g

That's 1.2kg of weight off the bike, most of it rotational where it matters, for £475.

If budget doesn't stretch just do the wheels and sell your old ones to recoup a few quid.

These changes would bring your bike from a heavy 10.7kg to a reasonable 9.5kg. There are plenty of £1500 carbon bikes that weigh in around the 9kg mark (Giant tcr composite 3 and 2 that I had the bike shop put on scales for me)