How light is too light?

[Elefantino]

We have a bike in the shop that we're trying to get rid of: Outfitted in Red 22 and it's 13.1 pounds without pedals. It feels even lighter but the scale doesn't lie.

How many of you have ridden a (UCI) non-legal bike?

Thoughts on weight in general??

PS: You cannot use "weenie" in your responses.

[benc]

I doubt the weight is keeping it from selling. Throw some dura ace on it and it will be gone.

[Tony]

I've never rode a bike under 14lbs. However, I think going down hill FAST is where one finds "how light is too light"

[Louis]

Thoughts on weight in general??

It's actually pretty simple: As light as the buyer's wallet is able to handle is fine with me, as long as you aren't compromising stiffness, strength, and fatigue.

What gets tricky is when you start affecting one of those three. How long until parts start to wear out could be a fourth issue, but as long as they age gracefully and the buyer's willing to replace them as often as required, I suppose it doesn't matter that much.

[adampaiva]

i've always wanted to try one of these ultra light bikes just to see what it feels like.

[fogrider]

put some pedals, waterbottle cages, a full bottle, garmin and a seatbag with co2, tube and patch kit. that should put it into put it into the right weight.

[simonov]

I have a bike that's around 14.5 lbs with pretty run of the mill aluminum parts. I had it well under 14 lbs at one point when it was outfitted in carbon everything. I couldn't tell a difference in how it rides between the two setups and the bike is actually quite nice to ride. That said, I feel a little more stable and planted on my metal bikes, which I think is a combination of the extra weight and to some extent the geo. And, as Tony said, the ultra-light carbon bike is not my best descender. I've also crashed mine and I was beyond impressed with the durability. Carbon is a pretty impressive material.

If you're wondering why it isn't selling, I'd guess the price of a bike that light is above the reach of most shoppers.

[oldpotatoe]

We have a bike in the shop that we're trying to get rid of: Outfitted in Red 22 and it's 13.1 pounds without pedals. It feels even lighter but the scale doesn't lie.

How many of you have ridden a (UCI) non-legal bike?

Thoughts on weight in general??

PS: You cannot use "weenie" in your responses.

Vastly overplayed but in a bike shop, only 2 things you can measure. Weight and price. BUT less weight now =higher price, even if it's not a better bike. How many times have you seen somebody look at a new bike and one of the first things they do if lift it.."wow, light"..then stand over it, "does it fit"..yikes.

But I agree with benc..or Record..and it'll sell.

[El Chaba]

It depends on what the bike *IS*....There are reputable companies that do EVERYTHING well....and then there are plenty of companies who make stuff that riding would probably violate certain provisions of my dental, medical and life insurance policies....

[happycampyer]

I've seen plenty of perfectly rideable ~13 - 14lb bikes make their way through Signature, but they typically cost well over $10K and often over $15K. By "perfectly rideable" I mean no trick/goofy/disposable parts (unless like oldpotatoe you include SRAM in that category). My lightest bike is in the 14lb range (I think it's just under the UCI limit), and it rides, handles and descends extremely well.

So I don't think sub-UCI weight is a problem per se (in terms of safety, performance, etc.), but it all depends on how one gets there (as El Chaba and others have noted).

[sillverchevy]

This weekend, I was talking with the manager at my lbs regarding my Gaulzetti, which tips at 18 and change. He showed me the new trek they just built up with red, a shade over 10. Holy s**t. For a bigger rider (6'2, 190), how are the ride qualities of a bike/ frame that light. I was afraid to pick it up:)

[saab2000]

My Giant is pretty much at the UCI limit and there's nothing at all 'stupid light' on it. And it wouldn't be hard to cut another pound or more off it if I felt like spending more money.

A few years ago people would have called a bike in this weight category unsafe or whippy and flexible, etc. There's nothing whippy about this bike and nothing you can't buy off the shelf at a reasonable price. No one-off bars or one-off carbon saddle. Regular steel axle pedals are installed.

This is my go-to bike at the moment and it's stiff and rides nicely.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3949/15572406627_289bcf6ffd_o.jpg

As to why that bike in the OP's post won't sell? I would think most folks buying a bike have in mind what they want and if that bike doesn't strike the customer it won't move.

Instead of installing another groupset I'd probably try to move the frameset by itself. That gives folks more options as to the build they want.

[jdp211]

I rode a SuperSix that I built out to just north of 13lbs. I thought it was a great bike, did fine in crappy conditions over rough roads. It was a mix of light and stupid light components, with a heavy bias towards durability. Definitely wasn't cheap to put together, but I only had one bit break "due to lightness." A Fiberlyte rear derailleur plate that didn't register on the shop scale and snapped in half while working on the bike in the stand. Oh, and I cracked an early Firecrest rim, but that was a combo of bunny hopping a pothole and running my tubular at what was probably too low a pressure.

http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/bladesofsteel25/DSC_1517.jpg

[thegunner]

such a thing doesn't exist in my opinion, i had a sub 13 addict for a while, and i freakin' loved that thing. it rode fine with pretty generic parts on it.

[mktng]

I love how crazy it can get when budget isnt an issue. Pushing the limits.

But would 8.8lbs be pushing it? My weight would crush the bike :(

Bikes off WW of course

[93legendti]

We have a bike in the shop that we're trying to get rid of: Outfitted in Red 22 and it's 13.1 pounds without pedals. It feels even lighter but the scale doesn't lie.

How many of you have ridden a (UCI) non-legal bike?

Thoughts on weight in general??

PS: You cannot use "weenie" in your responses.

What's the size, color and price?

[joco]

My SuperSix Evo was 13.5# race ready with tubs. It was awesome, fast wheels made a huge difference.

[Mr_Gimby]

Not having ridden a superlight bike, I would be interested in trying. My Waterford is about 17.5 lbs with nothing "super" light on it. Only carbon on it is the bars, and thats for a 60cm steel frame, thats 10 years old now.

No doubt of interest to you is the new Emonda from Trek (http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/gallery-treks-new-10-25-pound-emonde_333950)--And thats a production bike!

[ik2280]

No doubt of interest to you is the new Emonda from Trek (http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/gallery-treks-new-10-25-pound-emonde_333950)--And thats a production bike!

I'm not really interested in hyperlight bikes (my CAAD10 is 18 or so with training wheels, 16 or so with race wheels), but I have to admit that the Emonda is actually a pretty nice looking bike.

[batman1425]

My newest road bike is just at UCI with mid level off the shelf parts. Could dip way below with some fancy carbon tubies and a few component upgrades and have ridden sub UCI legal bikes before.

I have never felt like (bike) weight was holding me back even when racing. Wheels of the aero and light variety - different story. Sure its nice to have a light bike that feels nimble under you, but real world gains are small to immeasurable for all but the fittest racers out there. Doesn't stop people from spewing about PRs up climbs and how much better the power transfer is now that they dropped 8g from their front skewer. But hey, if it makes them happy, the get in more miles and enjoy riding more because of it, I say spend away.

With todays tech, I'd have no problem riding a 13lbs bike. Easy to hit that with the variety of sub 900g frames from all the big players and some smart OTS component choices. I think its far more likely that the reason the bike is sitting around is because of the price tag rather than fear of being too light. While it may be safe and easy to get to 13lbs it isn't cheap.

[54ny77]

pal of mine trains and races all year long on a 13-ish lb. carbon bike (parlee), and i mean serious training & racing. it's no sunday cafe bike. has sram red and some other fancy carbon parts. with race wheels (rzr's) i think he gets it to just a tad under 13. crazy light. he weighs in the 130's, so "light" is somewhat relative. i can't even sit on the damned thing (the seat is just a carbon fiber shell), since besides being agonizingly painful, i blow a mile wide path through the recommended weight limit! :bike: :D

[EDS]

We have a bike in the shop that we're trying to get rid of: Outfitted in Red 22 and it's 13.1 pounds without pedals. It feels even lighter but the scale doesn't lie.

How many of you have ridden a (UCI) non-legal bike?

Thoughts on weight in general??

PS: You cannot use "weenie" in your responses.

What size is the bike?

[kevinvc]

My guess for the reason it's not selling is not the weight of the bike but the lightness of one's wallet after purchasing it. :)

[Elefantino]

It's a Fuji Altamira SL in size M/L (roughly a 56) with Oval 932 tubulars. A full-on race rig. Right now it's $5499 but will probably head lower the closer we get to shutting the doors.

[54ny77]

someone just sold one of those on here for something insane like $1500 or so. sram red equipped, full tilt.

was a nice bike.

[lhuerta]

My regular ride, Cervelo R5, weighs in @ 13.5 w/carbon tubulars and 14 w/carbon clinchers, achieved simply with nothing special off the shelf parts (Campagnolo SR). The ride is solid, yet cloud-like due to the pencil thin seat stays. The only flaw is the rather shallow BB drop of only 68mm, but still the best bike I have ever ridden....and I have ridden MANY.

[Rnaymik]

I feel like a lot of how super light builds ride depend on the size of the rider. tall? big frame? super slim person? might be great for them. same frame, heavier person might have an awful time with it.

Take the trek emonda for example. I imagine trek has put some work into this, but a person fit to 50cm version vs a person fit to a 60cm version might have completely different opinions on ride. Surely there's only so much trek can can do to equalize the ride qualities between drastic size differences.

My current build is hovering around 16lbs without gps, or bottles. wheels/tires make the difference between 15.8-16.1-2. It's a storck visioner (aluminum) with campy chorus. frame/bars/stem are alloy. fork is carbon. have a set of carbon wheels to use come spring. It's the lightest bike I've ridden so far, but it's also not built to be super light, or super aero. pretty stiff, and pretty stable. I'm 6'3" and 180lbs, and can't afford to replace carbon frames, so metal is my preferred choice.

I wouldn't mind taking a super light bike out to demo though.

[8aaron8]

I don't race, but I don't like the feel of a super light bike. 17lbs is about my limit, I seem to have to use more energy to maintain speed on a lighter bike which of course makes sense from a physics stand point. I weigh 130lbs on a good day so I'm not full of power but have good endurance.

[beeatnik]

There's a group of local guys who are members of an exclusive business club (open to individuals of a certain ethnicity which represents 1/5 of humanity). For these guys, anything over 11.5 pounds is "too heavy." So they ride RCas, Black Inc Evos, AX Lightness Vials and they ride them as everyday bikes. Group rides, Sunday rides, training rides, coffee shop rides, etc. All these dudes are grown men who weigh over 150 pounds and a few are close to 2 bucks. Anyway, there have been no catastrophic failures and when I ride with these cats on my sensible 16 pound bikes, it's all good. If you can afford light, there are good options out there.

Oh, forgot to answer the question...under 9.5 pounds is too light.

[alioup]

14.75lbs with my tubulars. No real weight weenie parts and doesn't feel fragile at all:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8599/16649249751_617e4ed607_b.jpg

[fogrider]

It's a Fuji Altamira SL in size M/L (roughly a 56) with Oval 932 tubulars. A full-on race rig. Right now it's $5499 but will probably head lower the closer we get to shutting the doors.

how many Fuji's do you sell? I think there are some brands that just don't have a lot of street cred and no matter how good the bike is, they just don't sell as well as treks or specialized.

[Gummee]

someone just sold one of those on here for something insane like $1500 or so. sram red equipped, full tilt.

was a nice bike.

I work on a lot of Fujis. They're very underrated bikes.

They don't have the 'snob appeal' of some of the other brands, but they're solid, well-built bikes.

If I hadn't started my own 'bike brand' I'd ride either an Altamira or (when they finally come out!) a Transonic.

M

[CAAD]

Sub 13lbs some of the parts seem to get a little too exotic. My CAAD9 sits at 14 and feels great.

[Elefantino]

The Altamira is one of my favorite monocoque bikes. Stable, comfortable, stiff in all the right places. However, I measure all plastic bikes against my Look, so even the best of them ride like comparative poop.

[Ti Designs]

All of the bikes pictured have a power to weight ratio of 0.0, so in a race mine wins.

[eippo1]

Completely anecdotal, but I had a Fuji Superlite aluminum back a while ago. With Ksyriums and 7700 parts, it was just under 14 lbs. Funny thing is that on any bad roads, the bike would vibrate so much that it was way harder to control than the Bianchi Alloro (also aluminum) that I had at the time.

It was just all over the place on any crap surface, so it was pretty much relegated to crits did just fine for that including some good crashes. So nothing really to add to this conversation besides the fact that the bike was probably too light for it's own good, but that was before carbon was even really a thing.