How much is heavy?

bongofish

Two things....

1. How much would you say is classed as heavy for a bike? I watch alot of biking videos that describe bikes that weigh 8.5kg as heavy. To me a bike that weighs 8.5kg is pretty light. It then gets me thinking .y road bike that weighs 9.5kg must be super heavy to them and I wonder if it makes a massive difference to the ride and feel and handling of the bike?

2. How much does your bikes weigh and did you notice a big difference as your bikes got lighter and lighter?

Bongofish

lincolndave

Once you start riding I don’t think you will notice much difference, I have on bike at 7.5 kilo once you get water bottles and a saddle bag fitted the weight soon goes up, my other bikes are slightly heavier, but I personally cannot tell the difference even going up hills

First.Aspect

A lot of biking videos say that they can tell the difference between the weight of heavy things, like 1.5kg wheels, and light things, like 1.4kg wheels. Very few use double blind methodology.

The also things like "carbon is stiff" and "steel is springy", even though vaulter's poles are made out of carbon fibre and girders out of steel. So there tends to be a lot of simplification.

webboo

My winter bike weighs 9 or 10kgs and best bike under 7kg. It takes a lot more effort to put my winter bike in the work stand never mind trying to ride it up a hill.
P.S. Are you Bungle or related to him.

cgfw201

weight of the bike is pretty much the last thing you need to worry about if worrying about weight generally. most people can lose 2kg round the waist pretty easily. will be a lot cheaper and easier than turning a 9kg bike into a 7kg one. most road bikes will be 7 - 9kg, but nothing to be overly concerned with.

lettingthedaysgoby

Mine is around 8.5kg, then I may be carrying a kilo of water plus whatever 2 tubes, a pump and a multitool weigh added to that.

Light enough for me, if I wanted to go up hills quicker I’d drink less beer, but life’s too short to worry.

shortfall

Webboo wrote:

My winter bike weighs 9 or 10kgs and best bike under 7kg. It takes a lot more effort to put my winter bike in the work stand never mind trying to ride it up a hill.
P.S. Are you Bungle or related to him.

Really? Have you thought about working out?

joe_totale-2

The quality of the frame and the materials used has as much bearing over the feel and the ride quality of the bike as it's weight.
I've got a steel bike which is over 10kg but it feels great on the flats and going downhill. The wheels weigh a ton but they roll wonderfully and carry the speed efficiently so I've got no plans to replace them.

My regular winter bike is a couple of kilos heavier than my summer one but that's why it has a 11-32 cassette and not a 11-28 one like the summer bike. IMO that compensates for the extra weight and I'm not much slower going up the climbs as a result.

webboo

Shortfall wrote:

Webboo wrote:

My winter bike weighs 9 or 10kgs and best bike under 7kg. It takes a lot more effort to put my winter bike in the work stand never mind trying to ride it up a hill.
P.S. Are you Bungle or related to him.

Really? Have you thought about working out?

Working out how to put it in the stand ? Or using it for seated shoulder presses?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Weight is all relative, my Voodoo in stock setup is ~16.5Kg, while my Cube is ~9.3Kg after fitting my chunky but durable 2006 Time ATAC carbon XS pedals.

And since buying the Voodoo almost three years ago, I've gone from ~95Kg to ~73Kg by August 2017, to then creeping up to ~78Kg by January 2018 and now being ~80Kg.

The Voodoo, depending upon what configuration I use, can lose considerable weight compared to the stock weight...
-2.6Kg by using 700x28 Grand Sport Race tyres instead of the 26x4 Mission Command
-1.6Kg by using my FatNotFat 29er wheelset
-0.9Kg by using my One One fatty carbon fork
-0.7Kg by using 700x28 inner tubes
-0.2Kg by using my Specialized (Multi-Sport?) stem with On One Knuckleball "chewy" bars
-0.1Kg by using my Wellgo (B144?) pedals (I did have a pair of Wellgo C162 that were -0.3Kg, but one died ~6 months after a slip on 14/2/17)

While the Cube has had more modest weight loss...
-0.4Kg using Hunt Aero Light Disc wheelset
-0.2Kg using 700x28 latex innertubes
-0.1Kg using 700x28 GP4000S II tyres
-0.1Kg(?) using Selcof carbon seat post

And by the time you take account of the weight of bottle cages; lights; water bottles; up to 2l of water (although typically 1.5l); multi-tool; puncture repair kit; tyre levers; spare tube; mini pump; food; mobile; mudguards; GPS computer; kit you're wearing including a lid etc.

I've not climbed many cat4 hills on the Voodoo, but back in summer 2017 I climbed Old Winchester Hill, with a fat rear wheel and a 29x2.35 front setup (so really rough guess ~13Kg bike and ~75Kg me, so all in ~91Kg)... 10mins38secs with westerly ~4.5mph wind
My best time on the Cube summer 2018, roughly all in ~91Kg, having improved my power output from the year previous... 9mins12secs with west south westerly ~5.6mph wind
https://www.strava.com/segments/935054/ ... EzNjc3NTc=

... Marginal gains.

keef66

Never weighed either of my bikes to be honest. If I had to guess I'd say the winter one is probably 10kg and the summer one 8.5. (The latter is a very light frameset but weighed down by cheaper, heavier components)

But in the overall scheme of things, that 1.5kg difference is out of a total of me plus bike plus bottles and other crap, so probably not worth worrying about

cooldad

About this much <

---

> more than light.

lakesluddite

I rode into work yesterday through the ice and snow with winter ice-spike tyres, on heavy Aksium disc rims, full saddle bag and about 1.5 kilo of winter clothing. My average speed was probably below Mo Farah's running speed - but it was great! All these winter miles on the heavy commuter (Cube Cross Race) will stand me in good stead for summer on the much lighter steel frame/carbon rimmed bike currently adorning the kitchen wall. Do I notice a difference between the two? Hell yeah, but they are horses for courses.

The steel bike is Reynolds 853, so quite a lightweight steel, but it doesn't compare to the lighter carbon frames. But to me it feels light, after what I've been riding in winter/wet weather. Weight is all relative. I weigh around 60kg, so I'm probably hoofing less weight up the climbs than many on here with light carbon frames.

cougie

I've never weighed a bike. What does it matter ?

Obviously people whose job is to review bikes will go on about it. Probably because its something to talk about and they can probably use any bike they want to. In the real world - weight is not that important.

ridgeway_swiss

Weighed mine recently, with me on it. Came in at about 90kgs, i was only 8kgs and the bike is about 82kgs, chuffing carbon, don't believe it !

Pair of Meilensteins will sort it all out, or loosing that promised 10kgs off my lardy arse

paulbnix

There is about 1.5 kg difference between my summer and winter bikes. The summer bike is about 8.2 kg.

I can certainly tell the difference lifting each bike. I think I can tell the difference riding them but looking at the stats from my rides there is no difference and I cycle up a lot of a Peak District hills.

I’m sure there would be a difference if I was racing and needed to maximise my performance but for casual riding the bike weight, within limits, doesn’t seem to matter as much as I thought it would.

Wayne Plunger

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

orraloon

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

Are you this month's Brexsh!t Secretary?

MiddleRinger

1. It's all relative, but for me over 9kg would be heavy I guess.

2. Yes. Climbing, I can certainly notice the difference between my 7.5kg bike and my 9.5kg bike! On the flat and/or at lower speeds no so much. There's more to it that just weight though - more efficient drivetrain, stiffer wheels, more responsive frame, etc.

All said and done, I've never been out-climbed or out-sprinted or out-TT'd by somebody on a 6kg bike who couldn't still have beaten me on a 9kg bike.

:-)

Wayne Plunger

orraloon wrote:

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

Are you this month's Brexsh!t Secretary?

No, just a bloke who works in Imperial.

First.Aspect

Wayne Plunger wrote:

orraloon wrote:

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

Are you this month's Brexsh!t Secretary?

No, just a bloke who works in Imperial.

5 Gerbil penisis = 1 inch.....

https://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science

bonzo_banana

When you are comparing bike weight you need to add your own weight to the comparison, i.e. 70kg+10kg vs 70kg+8kg to give you a fair realistic comparison of what to expect in performance difference and that heavier bike might make you lose weight a little quicker. Then factor in the gearing, a better drivetrain and gear range on a heavier bike can mean that bike is easier up hills and faster on the flats and downhill. Poor brakes can mean a more careful and slower rider too. There is also the bike fit and aerodynamics of a bike. Quite a few variables to calculate. Ultimately you may be just a casual cyclist anyway just commuting to work where speed isn't so important but reliability and not getting the attention of thieves is the most important. While I was at Bristol walking through the park and ride car park at around 6pm a bloke on a tatty low end Apollo bike passed me, probably 15kg weight, freewheel drivetrain, looked absolute crap and pretty sure he stopped and put it in the back of a rather nice red Honda CRV costing serious money I would of thought. I just feel bike weight can be a distraction sometimes what is important is bike purpose how and where you are going to use it. A 99p ebay bike could be a better bike for your purpose than a 6kg £8000 bike even if you have the £8000 to spend.

imposter2.0

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

I'm guessing you must be either:

a) stuck in the 70s
or
b) American

keef66

Imposter wrote:

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

I'm guessing you must be either:

a) stuck in the 70s
or
b) American

Those ain't mutually exclusive; he could be both...

imposter2.0

Agreed

thegreatdivide

Imposter wrote:

Wayne Plunger wrote:

As someone who works in Imperial I haven't understood one word of this thread !

I'm guessing you must be either:

a) stuck in the 70s
or
b) American

c) In the soap or mints business.

stueys

I disagree with people saying weight isn't important, I don't think it makes a massive difference to speed and time (unless you live in the alps...) but it does make a difference to how a bike feels. Try riding a set of 2kg wheels and then swapping them out for something at 1.4kg. A lighter bike is more fun to throw around and ride.

Back to the original question, to me a light road bike is anything less than 7kg, normal bike is 7-8kg and anything over 8kg is edging into heavy land. All of these weights include pedals and cages, not much point weighing without

whyamihere

Anything over 6.8kg may as well be put straight in the bin.

tootsie323

whyamihere wrote:

Anything over 6.8kg may as well be put straight in the bin.

That's me trashed then...

crescent

I would say, from owning a few bikes over the last few years, that 7.5 to 9kgs is pretty typical unless you're into pro spec territory (the UCI min is 6.9kg I think). I think GCN did an article during last year's tour where they weighed several bikes and I was quite surprised that they were not right on the limit, some were well over 7kg. My BMC is about 7.5kg and it would definitely be easier for me to lose 0.6kg than whittle the bike down to 6.9, if I had the inclination.

dastott

Unless you are doing long (at least 3kms) or steep climbs it won't make a huge difference. Tyres and tubes are the best bang for buck upgrades, along with clip on TT bars.