Frame weight question

[johnny1221]

I'm sure this topic has been debated several times in the Serotta forum but I can't find any of the threads. My question is.....If you have 2 bikes where all of the components, wheelset, etc. are identical, how much difference will 1 pound in frame weight make?

[atmo]

this is the age-old water bottle question...
a water bottle is 1 pound of stationary weight
on your bicycle. would you be sensitive to
your bicycle's behaviour* if you were unaware
if 2 bottles were half full or half empty atmo?





* spelled the british way to convey a sense of proper academic rearing.

[Birddog]

how much difference will 1 pound in frame weight make?

16 oz. avoirdupois. not to be confused with this http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/14/foie.gras.ap/index.html also from Fracne

Birddog

PS can also be stated as 28.35 grams

[yeehawfactor]

ask fat robert about his scott.

[J.Greene]

I'm sure this topic has been debated several times in the Serotta forum but I can't find any of the threads. My question is.....If you have 2 bikes where all of the components, wheelset, etc. are identical, how much difference will 1 pound in frame weight make?

on a piece of paper it could make some difference. You can calculate for instance how fast you could climb Mt Washington with either bike. In the real world it makes no difference. Coughing up that lung will be a bigger factor in your performance.

JG

[dauwhe]

Try Analytic Cycling:

http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesLessWeight_Page.html

I ran a crude calculation over a distance of 12.4 k, on a slope of .12 (12% grade), with one pound less weight (.454kg). The lighter bike would be ahead by 26 seconds.

Note this is a simulation of Mt. Washington, probably the most extreme climb in the U.S. If a pound there costs only thirty seconds over the whole climb, I'm thinking it's not very significant to most of us.

Dave Cramer
Brattleboro, Vermont
who has done the local time trial on a bike that weighed 36 pounds...

[1centaur]

"difference" could be theoretical seconds in a TT or perceived effort on a hill. Focusing on the latter, some can perceive a pound's difference and some cannot, just as some can't tell the difference between the feel of steel and carbon fiber frames. How heavy a bike feels to a given rider depends a lot of leg strength (Mr. 150 watts might resent that pound in a way Mr. 350 watts can't imagine) and fitness on any given day. For a given rider, riding a familiar course many times with the identical bikes except for the 1 pound difference would be necessary to establish a pattern across varying states of freshness. Finally, frame stiffness will make a difference, with (perceived) more efficient frames feeling easier to get up hills in a way that may overcome weight differences.

Bottom line - hard to say. My experience - I can generally feel about a pound, especially late on a long ride coming up the last hill (when my water bottles are, of course, empty), but it's pretty minor in the scheme of performance and enjoyment.

[RPS]

The simplest way for me to look at an extra pound is to imagine the worse case scenario where all my power goes to fight gravity and rolling resistance (OK, I can think of one exception where weight is more critical, but it's so rare that it's not worth considering). So if my total weight rolling down the road goes from 180 to 181 pounds (including bike, shoes, water, tools, etc.), it would take 181 minutes to climb what would otherwise take 180 minutes. Hence the most I'd expect to save is one minute in three hours of climbing, or 20 seconds an hour. Another way to look at it is to ask myself if I can perceive the difference between pedaling at 180 watts and 181 watts. Without a doubt I think an efficient bike makes a bigger difference.

[ergott]

1lb

[Frustration]

.

Toss out the effect that carrying the weight can have...


And focus on what you could do with that pound of material in helping with the performance and stiffness.

Depending on the riders weight and power (and the material used), the extra material could make quite a bit of difference in overall performance.