Help with making a bike lighter

specialized_nick

I only started Road Cycling in the new year after buying my 1st road bike (Specialized Allez 2013)
I'm doing the Dartmoor demon Sportive in May and i'd like to make it a bit lighter with the ammount of climbing to be done.
I'm a complete newb and know next to nothing about the mechanics of a bike so was hoping there would be a few hints a tips to shed a bit of weight here and there.
Would swapping stem/seatpost etc make any difference or would it be a bigger job?

Any help for this out of his depth newb would be much appreciated folks

keef66

I'd just spend the whole of April climbing hills if I were you. Cheaper and a lot more effective. If you also watch your diet you'll probably lose a few grams of rider weight too.

danlikesbikes

Stem & seat post might save you a few grammes but at a cost.

If your looking for a possibly cheaper option would look at tyres/inner tubes as can make a bike roll faster IMHO.

chrisvanderkaap

wheels, tires, tubes. that's the ticket.

increasing the quality or decreasing the weight of the ride isn't done with a stem or seatpost but with things you learn to love, pedals, seat, handlebars.

Al that kind of stuff will help but only justify it, if it inspires you to train and ride more.

antfly

Wheels and tyres wil be the biggest difference on the bike, but unless you are already your optimal weight try losing some fat, it makes you lighter and improves your VO2 max, it's basically free speed, every pound you lose you go abut 0.1 mph faster. I know it is working for me.

CiB

Specialized_Nick wrote:

...was hoping there would be a few hints a tips to shed a bit of weight here and there.

Any help for this out of his depth newb would be much appreciated folks

Eat less cake. Or fewer cakes. That works for me.

Unless you are Robert Millar the likeliest way to reducing weight on the bike is to reduce the weight of the rider.

Marginal mechanical weight gains are almost irrelevant in performance terms, but if you're determined go for the lighter wheels option. Prob a good idea not lug a 20lb lock around too.

HTH.

Barteos

Please turn off the computer and spend as much time as possible riding. None of the upgrades including (vastly overrated) wheels will make any noticeable difference to your av. speed/time.
You could upgrade the tyres though if you haven't done it already. A pair of GP4000 25mm s should be better than anything your bike originally came with.

antfly

Don't listen to him, good, lighter wheels will make your cycling much more enjoyable, especially in the hills.

iPete

Change things that improve the ride and comfort, otherwise not worth it IMO. Once you get above mid range it is about £1 per gramme saved!

Do consider a carbon seatpost, I found a deda drittissimo improved comfort on my Allez, as a bonus weight was saved along with a comfier saddle.

Wheels and tyres are a great place to start on weight saving and can improve ride comfort and feel, on paper you may not be any faster but it may improve the enjoyment.

MrSweary

CiB wrote:

Eat less cake. Or fewer cakes. That works for me.

This or cycle harder. Interesting piece in the latest Roleur about weight weenie-ism and how little difference slimlining your bike makes compared to the amount of attention it gets and the amount of money people spend on it.

But yeah, otherwise : wheels first.

Barteos

antfly wrote:

Don't listen to him, good, lighter wheels will make your cycling much more enjoyable, especially in the hills.

Enjoyable maybe if the weight difference is significant but not noticeably faster.
Besides after a while you get use to it and you don't notice it so much.

hipshot

Barteos wrote:

Please turn off the computer and spend as much time as possible riding. None of the upgrades including (vastly overrated) wheels will make any noticeable difference to your av. speed/time.
You could upgrade the tyres though if you haven't done it already. A pair of GP4000 25mm s should be better than anything your bike originally came with.

This. The only thing that will make you climb better is riding up hills. Cycling is about legs, not wheels.

antfly

Barteos wrote:

antfly wrote:

Don't listen to him, good, lighter wheels will make your cycling much more enjoyable, especially in the hills.

Enjoyable maybe if the weight difference is significant but not noticeably faster.
Besides after a while you get use to it and you don't notice it so much.

You notice it if you go from light, stiff wheels to heavy, flexy ones if you ride in hills, it ruins the enjoyment of the ride and slows you down a little.

dennisn

If you've got some deep pockets then http://www.fairwheelbikes.com is for you. Sort of a weight weenie heaven bike shop.

Although your best bet is to quit eating and lose the pounds that way. Saves ya money too.

marcusjb

I'm no weight weenie. The audax bike weighs about 12kg before I put bottles and saddle bag on - but comfort is more important than outright speed.

But if I head out on lighter wheels (typically only on summer shorter rides) it does make a massive difference to how things feel, especially when climbing.

Your cheapest possible weight saving is a set of decent tyres and tubes for sure - and you'll actually feel the difference there. In terms of bang for your buck - that's where to spend it. A fancy stem or whatever - you'll not feel the difference at all.

But other than that - ride, ride and ride more. Make sure you're at you optimum weight.

slowbike

antfly wrote:

Barteos wrote:

antfly wrote:

Don't listen to him, good, lighter wheels will make your cycling much more enjoyable, especially in the hills.

Enjoyable maybe if the weight difference is significant but not noticeably faster.
Besides after a while you get use to it and you don't notice it so much.

You notice it if you go from light, stiff wheels to heavy, flexy ones if you ride in hills, it ruins the enjoyment of the ride and slows you down a little.

Although that may be true - if you're inexperienced and not at full fitness I don't think you'd notice a lot of difference.

The OP has some good advice - get on the bike and ride it ... best place for the majority of us to reduce the weight is from around our own middles...

MichaelW

The Allez is a reasonable weight for a road bike of the price range and it is probably not cost effective to replace bits and pieces. Work out the cost per gram of any weight saving. If the problem is steep hills, you are probably better off fitting lower gears and doing some hill-climb training.

ineedalager

I have a Allez it was my first road bike in Oct 2011. I have since built 2 ligther carbon frame bikes one is a full 2kgs lighter the the Allez. There is a 1 kilometor hill near me it's a good test of my climbing ability, I ride it often and my quickest time up that hill is still on the Allez only 1 second over of the mid weight carbon frame bike and by 3 seconds quicker than the lightest carbon frame bike. It's over 6 minutes of climbing for me and it down to how good I fell on the day as to how quick I go. Yes it's nice to have a lighter bike for the hills and carbon like everyone else has but it's really down to your fitness and weight that matters.

Now if I can just shift that extra stone in weight I'm carrying since last summer I'll be going up those hills as quick as I was last year.

simon_masterson

Some good responses above.

With all due respect, you have not been cycling nearly long enough for your fitness to be such that the bike will limit you. If you're a professional racing in the mountains, it matters. Even then, Coppi and Gaul climbed Alpe d'Huez on bikes almost certainly (having not weighed them) heavier than yours.

Weight in cycling is ridiculously overhyped, probably because it's an easy fix that one can throw money at; hard training is not.

pride4ever

Specialized_Nick wrote:

I only started Road Cycling in the new year after buying my 1st road bike (Specialized Allez 2013)
I'm doing the Dartmoor demon Sportive in May and i'd like to make it a bit lighter with the ammount of climbing to be done.
I'm a complete newb and know next to nothing about the mechanics of a bike so was hoping there would be a few hints a tips to shed a bit of weight here and there.
Would swapping stem/seatpost etc make any difference or would it be a bigger job?

Any help for this out of his depth newb would be much appreciated folks

1. Spend about £500 on lighter parts ie, stem/saddle/seat post/pedals/wheels. You could maybe shave off 2-3kgs.
Or
2. Go on a bloody diet and save more weight than any part will give you for £0.00. You could maybe shave off 13 kgs.
You see what I did there ?

charlie_potatoes

pride4ever wrote:

1. Spend about £500 on lighter parts ie, stem/saddle/seat post/pedals/wheels. You could maybe shave off 2-3kgs.
Or
2. Go on a bloody diet and save more weight than any part will give you for £0.00. You could maybe shave off 13 kgs.
Or
3.Do both 1. and 2.
You see what I did there ?

Did you see what I did there ?

specialized_nick

Simon Masterson wrote:

Some good responses above.

With all due respect, you have not been cycling nearly long enough for your fitness to be such that the bike will limit you. If you're a professional racing in the mountains, it matters. Even then, Coppi and Gaul climbed Alpe d'Huez on bikes almost certainly (having not weighed them) heavier than yours.

Weight in cycling is ridiculously overhyped, probably because it's an easy fix that one can throw money at; hard training is not.

Good point well made sir!

specialized_nick

Body weight wise i havn't really got hardly any weight to lose, i'm 6ft and built like Mo Farah!
Thanks for the responses i do genuinely appreciate it, i better keep riding my nads off and hopefully by May the bike will just happen to feel lighter!

Mikey23

Oh it will... I've been grinding out strava challenges all year at relatively slow rate but now am starting to see the benefits and am feeling speedier, stronger and a more confident and competent rider

markos1963

Specialized_Nick wrote:

Body weight wise i havn't really got hardly any weight to lose, i'm 6ft and built like Mo Farah!
Thanks for the responses i do genuinely appreciate it, i better keep riding my nads off and hopefully by May the bike will just happen to feel lighter!

If this is the case then it's definitely down to riding more hills. Just learnt to accept them for what they are and your need to get over them. A lot of the problem for some riders is attitude and confidence, hence all the advise about spending money on wheels etc People look for quick fixes but nothing beats training and more training.

Strith

As said training trumps all and will always get you up hils quicker, but it's an ongoing process and if you have little excess fat to lose, then some new shiny bits are always nice if you have the cash.

Gram saving/£ it's usually tubes/tyres/wheel in that order, all of which can contribute to making riding moslty more enjoyable. Lowering the rotating weight of these parts can make you physically a little quicker up hills, but the psychological boost can affect peoples climbing too.

TheSmithers

Specialized_Nick wrote:

I only started Road Cycling in the new year after buying my 1st road bike (Specialized Allez 2013)
I'm doing the Dartmoor demon Sportive in May and i'd like to make it a bit lighter with the ammount of climbing to be done.
I'm a complete newb and know next to nothing about the mechanics of a bike so was hoping there would be a few hints a tips to shed a bit of weight here and there.
Would swapping stem/seatpost etc make any difference or would it be a bigger job?

Any help for this out of his depth newb would be much appreciated folks

Sorry if I'm repeating what others may have said. I only read the OP and this is my immediate reaction.

The best upgrade you could ever make is to yourself and your fitness. You could have the lightest, most expensive bike money could buy and it wouldn't make one iota of a difference! I've not been cycling long either, and when I first got my road bike, all I could think of was things to buy to make it lighter and faster. The fact is, six months on, I'm breezing up hills that previously nearly kill me, my average speed has increased from around 14-15mph to 17-18mph. Upgrades?....none whatsoever. The bike is still completely standard, and as carbon bikes go, is probably at the heavy end of the scale.

Don't get me wrong, I still fully intend to upgrade the components of my bike, more for looks than anything else. But I think people who obsess over the weight of their bikes are missing the point.

flasher

pride4ever wrote:

1. Spend about £500 on lighter parts ie, stem/saddle/seat post/pedals/wheels. You could maybe shave off 2-3kgs.
Or
2. Go on a bloody diet and save more weight than any part will give you for £0.00. You could maybe shave off 13 kgs.
You see what I did there ?

Why not both?

The OP asked about bike weight loss and not personal weight loss, as already mentioned wheels and tyres first, look at some PX AL30's and some Conti GP4000s, £200 and will save you a good amount of weight.

simon_masterson

Flasher wrote:

The OP asked about bike weight loss and not personal weight loss, as already mentioned wheels and tyres first, look at some PX AL30's and some Conti GP4000s, £200 and will save you a good amount of weight.

The OP asked about bike weight and the forum quite rightly told him that saving bike weight is a misguided concern. I for one would hate for anyone to think that spending lots of money making your bike light is a priority for people who aren't very fit and already have reasonably light bikes, because that's really stupid, isn't it?

pride4ever

Groan this place is full of lazy cyclists who wont diet.

flasher

Simon Masterson wrote:

Flasher wrote:

The OP asked about bike weight loss and not personal weight loss, as already mentioned wheels and tyres first, look at some PX AL30's and some Conti GP4000s, £200 and will save you a good amount of weight.

The OP asked about bike weight and the forum quite rightly told him that saving bike weight is a misguided concern. I for one would hate for anyone to think that spending lots of money making your bike light is a priority for people who aren't very fit and already have reasonably light bikes, because that's really stupid, isn't it?

The OP may well be a newb at cycling but a sub 3 hour marathon runner who weighs 9 stone, so surely it's best to answer the question asked rather than answering a question that hasn't been asked!

All this lose weight stuff is so dull, we all know that exercise, a healthy diet and moderation is good for us. I could probably do with losing half a stone, but where's the enjoyment in that, I'm not ever going to be a pro cyclist, so why do I have to eat (or not eat) like one?