i lost 5 lbs, is that the same as, better than, or different

[eddief]

than owning a bike that is 5 lbs lighter. less expensive than paying for light bike parts but not as easy as opening up your wallet.

regardless climbing and going fast faster does feel good. kinda like my 20 lb bike is now 15 lbs.

[saab2000]

Better than.

[MagicHour]

Fitter body > better bike

[Blue Jays]

Better than, for sure.

[gbcoupe]

Kudos! That's better... but to a point. As long as you're healthy and comfortable, I wouldn't fixate too much.

I'll never be at my race weight again, and that's OK. I'm in my 50's and still healthy and flexible. That said, I could stand to lose 10-15 lbs. More than that, friends and family should worry.

For what it's worth, I enjoy my 16-19 lb bikes as much or more than my 14 lb bike.

Keep your engine tuned. Ride whatever you've got.

[Dead Man]

costs a HELL of a lot less to drop 5lbs off the tumtum than the bike.

in fact, if you're anything like me, it saves you money.... all i gotta do is stop overindulging in the expensive alcohol i most enjoy for a bit, and the thickness migrates from the gut to the wallet like magic.

[wc1934]

Better for your health - now go for 5 more!!!

[Dave]

I agree with the others - 5 lbs off your body is better. Even carrying a few extra pounds, it makes little sense to spend big money for a lighter bike. Don't try to make this argument over on weight weenies.

The same thing applies to an expensive aero bike, with the bars set up to saddle height. It's not going to provide much advantage. The whole package requires low bars for a significant aerodynamic improvement.

[mt2u77]

Ok, I’ll be the devil’s advocate here, mostly for the sake of discussion, but also because I think there’s some truth to what I’m going to say— assuming you are fit at the heavier weight, losing the weight off the bike is “better.”

Why? Because the total system weight will be the same either way, but losing 5 lbs of fit body weight will leave you weaker. Your maximal power and FTP will go down, but you will still be powering the same load.

Don’t get me wrong, what I’m arguing is a technicality. 99.99% of us could lose 5 lbs with hardly an ounce of performance degradation, and for most it would be healthier too or even performance enhancing.

The point stands though, if I have to choose between a kg of useful physiological mass, or a kg of dead weight— I’m taking the physiological mass every time (as long as I’m not paying for the bike parts)

[oldpotatoe]

than owning a bike that is 5 lbs lighter. less expensive than paying for light bike parts but not as easy as opening up your wallet.

regardless climbing and going fast faster does feel good. kinda like my 20 lb bike is now 15 lbs.

"Energy to 'accelerate' a bike is the mass of the bike and rider"..all else being equal, which it never is so...

175 pound rider and 20 pound bike=180 pound rider and 15 pound bike.
175 pound rider losing 5 pounds=going from a 20 pound bike to 15 pound bike.

[marciero]

Ok, I’ll be the devil’s advocate here, mostly for the sake of discussion, but also because I think there’s some truth to what I’m going to say— assuming you are fit at the heavier weight, losing the weight off the bike is “better.”

Why? Because the total system weight will be the same either way, but losing 5 lbs of fit body weight will leave you weaker. Your maximal power and FTP will go down, but you will still be powering the same load.

Don’t get me wrong, what I’m arguing is a technicality. 99.99% of us could lose 5 lbs with hardly an ounce of performance degradation, and for most it would be healthier too or even performance enhancing.

The point stands though, if I have to choose between a kg of useful physiological mass, or a kg of dead weight— I’m taking the physiological mass every time (as long as I’m not paying for the bike parts)

For the sake of argument let's assume your power-to-weight ratio stays the same. Then I think you have a point. weight off bike vs off your body may make no difference in the first approximation. But there may be things like how quickly you tire, etc., that make weight off one or the other better. It also might make a difference what the goal is-track riding, road racing, endurance events, ... Accordingly, how one measures power-to-weight will also matter. Is that max power, ave power over 40k? ave over 300k?

[marciero]

than owning a bike that is 5 lbs lighter. less expensive than paying for light bike parts but not as easy as opening up your wallet.

regardless climbing and going fast faster does feel good. kinda like my 20 lb bike is now 15 lbs.

When accelerating out of the saddle, the bike accelerates forward quickly in bursts ahead of your body with each power stroke, then there is a moment of dead spot where your body catches up. That's mostly why very light bikes feel faster. They squirt out from under you but then the reality of the rest of the system mass negates that.

[unterhausen]

I agree about the bike-only acceleration, and that means that people that ride heavy bikes shouldn't sprint out of the saddle