What does a very light bike feel like?

[CAAD]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

full m'llenniahl:

lol k how big u? compare resumes?

also bull****. those numbers are uh, stupid, unless you're smll.

Wait what?
Size 54cm. Also running tubulars. I'm hovering around 170-175lbs with no issues.

Originally Posted by jtakeda

Define “a ton of money” because you’re saying that in the same sentence as saying you bought a brand new English frame/fork lol.

I think our rounding errors are probably on different powers of 10

All steel frame, single color paint, Columbus fork. Rob is still cheaper then buying most off the shelf carbon frames. Once you start adding carbon seatmast and fancy paint yes it gets $$$.

[KarlC]

My 14 lb Pinarello F8 rides reallyyyyy nice going up and down hill.

Would it be better with heaver parts on it, I cant see how.

I'm sure there are lighter and heaver bikes out there that are better than my current bikes. Weight is only 1 of the many factors that make for a great bike.

Ride what you have today, ride something else tomorrow if you like.

.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by KarlC

My 14 lb Pinarello F8 rides reallyyyyy nice going up and down hill.



Would it be better with heaver parts on it, I cant see how.



I'm sure there are lighter and heaver bikes out there that are better than my current bikes. Weight is only 1 of the many factors that make for a great bike.



Ride what you have today, ride something else tomorrow if you like.



.

Can't argue with that...



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Robot870]

Had a few 13lb carbon bikes - My current titanium IF sits at 15.5lbs and rides light years better and I can go all day with out major pain! Light bikes are cool but also broke everyone of them......

[DeBike]

The lightest bike I have ever owned or ridden, is my Airborne Zeppelin Ti. When I get it out to ride after riding any of my other bikes, it feels like it is half the weight of any of my other bikes. The way it is set up now, with new Campagnolo Zonda wheels, it weighs in at about 17.5 lbs. That is about 3.5 lbs less than the closest of my others. I cannot even imagine riding a bike that is close to 13 lbs.

[denapista]

My Focus Izalco Max is around 12lb currently. I've had lighter bikes (BH ultralight evo 11.8lb). The advantages of a light bike are the faster acceleration, easier to "Punch" on climbs and you truly notice the fatigue factor over long rides. Some people try to equate faster times to lighter bikes, which can be true/false. Some of my faster descending times were on my steel Speedvagen, but for sure my faster climbing times were on my carbon bikes. I also notice days when I force myself to ride and don't have the mental energy, I can push myself through a ride with ease. There's a local climb to me (Chevy Chase), and when I'm not in the 100% mood to ride, I can get up that climb with ease and turning over the pedals feels easy on my 11-12lb Focus Izaloc Max.

Not saying that a lighter steel bike wouldn't climb faster at all.. If My SV weighed 12lb then I'm sure I would get the same results. Physics is a real thing. By steel, I mean Columbus tubing, etc. Ti bikes are a different subject.

These are the things I think you gain from a lighter bike, regardless of material, but that's also a HUGE factor. I had a 12lb Firefly TI and I could ride that bike all day without feeling fatigued after long 7hr rides.

• Less fatigue over long rides (50-100mi)
• Snappy acceleration (Dependent on frame material mostly), BB and chainstay design
• "Punchy" feel on steeper grades
• Easier to get up/thru rides when your energy is low. Turning over the pedals just feel easier

[colker]

Originally Posted by Robot870

Had a few 13lb carbon bikes - My current titanium IF sits at 15.5lbs and rides light years better and I can go all day with out major pain! Light bikes are cool but also broke everyone of them......

Can´t argue with that either.

[Kirk007]

Just for yucks I went to WrenchScience to price out and see what a modern carbon frame in my size (Colnago 58S and Pinarello 59) would weigh.

Recognizing that Colnagos are not generally considered light by weight weenie standards, they are nevertheless a bike I wouldn't mind owing.

So, C64 rim brake - 15.35 lb and around $12K; C64 disc about same price and same build - 15.85 ib; V3RS - 15.15 lb and a bit over $11K.

Build on all three was Shimano Dura Ace di2, Enve 3.4 tubulars, shimano pedals, carbon handlebars - nothing custom or weight weenie but definitely high end with a manufacturer effort to make light yet durable.

Recognizing that Colnagos might be relatively heavy I decided to try a Dogma:

Pinarello Dogma F12 XLight. same build: 15.32 lbs, $14,728

Then I substituted a less expensive, more everyday wheelset: Hed Ardennes Black: Dogma weight: 15.8 lbs $13,281 This wheelset substitute puts both C64 rim and disc bikes over 16 lbs.

I recognize that WrenchScience isn't the lowest cost you could get and other manufacturers may be shaving even more ounces off of their carbon frames, but the Dogma frame is listed at 1.59 lbs.

My conclusion: if you need a large frame and want a bike that weighs less than 16 lbs it's gonna cost some $$$$.

[thegunner]

di2 is not the groupset i would choose if i'm chasing weight...

[vincenz]

That sounds about right. I think using all modern, high-end, non-weight-weenie parts will result in, for a medium size bike, a 14-15 lb carbon bike, add at least 1 lb for ti, and add at least 2 lb for steel.

For me, I don't like the overall ride quality of a light carbon bike as much as I do a light ti or steel bike with the same components. Maybe with the new very wide rims and tires, a carbon bike can close that ride quality gap a bit, but there will still be a weight penalty for wide rims/tires and discs, and I believe the frame material will still account for differences.

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by thegunner

di2 is not the groupset i would choose if i'm chasing weight...

According to Wrenchscience Super record 12 would be .8 pounds heavier and RED AXS would be .2 pounds lighter.

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by CAAD

Wait what?
Size 54cm. Also running tubulars. I'm hovering around 170-175lbs with no issues.




All steel frame, single color paint, Columbus fork. Rob is still cheaper then buying most off the shelf carbon frames. Once you start adding carbon seatmast and fancy paint yes it gets $$$.

getting a 56cm SS EVO HM to under 13 was a nightmare, even with some hardcore weenie-ing involving saws and dremels. full red etap, ee brakes, full k-force, yadda yadda. then again i like weighing bikes in rideable state (pedals+cages) if going down that route.

the only bikes i've seen that one can consistently build stupid-light (sub 14) are emondas with lightweight tubulars. my baum corretto was a hair under 15lbs with nice tubies (bora 35 ultra), ee's, enve cockpit, fizik 00 saddle, srm. bare frame weight was around 1200g. hence my suspicion at these silly-low numbers, and a lot of the brands lie like rugs about their frame weights. (looking at you, factor!)

building a really ****in' light bike with "normal" parts is not easy. i've done it a lot. regardless, i like the whole pursuit (because i'm driven by numbers)

need to ride an english - have raced with rob in years past.

[KarlC]

Some WW info on electro groups....

Originally Posted by gurk700 post_id=1483929 time=1556745178 user_id=69340

I'm sure a lot of people realize this and / or don't care out of preference but as someone who noticed this wayyyy later, I thought I'd share my findings.

A lot of weight weenies (not all) use a non sram or shimano crankset, 3rd party bottom bracket and eebrakes or similar.

I recently built my SL6 with eTap but after sourcing the only missing part of my 9150 group (shifters for rim brake) I decided to swap back to shimano. I didn't care about the weight difference as I thought it would add just a few grams but I actually ended up losing 20 grams on the setup.

For those of us who utilize only the below parts of a groupset, here's how it worked out:


I was pleasantly surprised. It really shouldn't change your mind if you love eTap (i love both groups for different reasons) but thought I'd throw it out there for people too lazy for the math like I was

Originally Posted by saverin post_id=1484148 time=1556812699 user_id=61641

Here are the weights of some of my EPS V3 setup and some claimed weights* for SR with your chain and cassette weight.

Rear Derailleur (SR11 EPS) - 198g*
Front Derailleur (SR11 EPS) - 127g*
Battery (EPS v3) - 136g
Brifters (SR11 EPS) - 263g*
cassette (yours) - 209g
chain (yours) - 249g
Interface (EPS V3) - 32g

total - 1213g

Note: Claimed weight for V3 battery is higher than my actual weight....so you could take 33g off this final number if you want to go with claimed weight.

[thegunner]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

According to Wrenchscience Super record 12 would be .8 pounds heavier and RED AXS would be .2 pounds lighter.

mechanical red is generally the go-to for weight (and if we're *really* chasing weight, i probably wouldn't go stock brakes)

and you could go even cheaper if you go red 10s, which was lighter by about 80 grams than mechanical red 22.

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by thegunner

mechanical red is generally the go-to for weight (and if we're *really* chasing weight, i probably wouldn't go stock brakes)

and you could go even cheaper if you go red 10s, which was lighter by about 80 grams than mechanical red 22.

interesting. But the only weight I'm chasing is what's around my belly button, trying to lighten that up.