Observations have shown that lighter does not mean very much improvement in speed. But there is also a limit where heavier is not better. A 30 lb+ bike is not better than 20+ lb bike.
Lighter drive train does mean a big difference: chain, crank, shoes, and WS.
In the interest of safety, age, and convenience, this post has gradually shifted his attention from RB to MTB. There are more interesting technology in MTB.
The MTB is generally seen as no place for weight reduction. But champion MTB riders have carbon and generally ligher bikes. As in RB, and motorracing, light is always might.
There are generally 3 high priority areas that are subject to weight reduction
1. Fork
2. Wheelset and tires
3. Drive train.
FORK - you can shift to rigid forks which tip the scales at 700 gm max for alum and 500 g for carbon fiber. That would save you about 2.5 kg from 3 kg fork. Or you can halve the weight to 1.7 kg by shifting to much lighter albeit more expensive fork
WHEELSET and tires. Maybe you can lose 500 gm on lighter tires, and kg on carbon fiber wheelset. But that is expensive.
DRIVE TRAIN
1. Converting to one by - saves you about 300 - 600 grams
2. Hollow chains - about 20 to 30 grams.
If you follow all the three weight reduction can be 2.5 kg from fork, 2. tires 500 gm and 3. one by 0.5 kg. Thats a total of 3.5 kg. If you have a 15 kg bike, you will end up with 11.5 kg bike. That'light. If you have a 11.7 kg carbon fiber bike (as what I have ordered) the final weight will be less than 10 kg. or 8.2 kg. x 2.2 18.04 lbs. Just almost the weight of an rb.
The video that you are about to watch explains why we need to: 1. lighten our bike (buy a bike whose parts: wheel sets, frame, tires, BB, fork, headset must be light. 2. why we should exercise some more, diet etc. to lose weight. We spend about $2/gram that we say (about $2,000 for every kg. That is lot. It should be easier and cheaper to lose weight of the engine (the biker)
VM Jun Vic mentions this findings very often. This justifies why he opts for lighter bikes and wheel sets/tires always
There was an experiment conducted. One bike was used and rode up 8% gradient, for a minute and the power was measured. Two rides were made: the basic bike (about 16 lbs) and for the second ride, 2.6 kg water bottle was added. Two rides were made: one at 8 kph, and second at 16 kph The second rider who was bulkier repeated the ride.
What were the findings?
1. For the first rider, riding at 8 kph and 16 kph, doubling the speed added output of about 40 watts. The heavier bike (or the water bottles) increased the power output by 9 watts. That is huge
2. For the second rider who was heavier results were the same for the heavier and lighter bike. However, his heavier mass caused an increase of 40 watts. Hence, if you are overweight, or not lean, you tend to tire out faster because you have to have higher output.
3. We should rid our bikes of unnecessary weight and excess baggage. You now know why TDF riders dispose of most of their water bottles prior to a climb. For TT riders, the advice is not to bring tools or spares or even a water bottle. That is to conserve energy
Advice
1. Work on the engine, reduce body weight by eating healthy foods, going to the gym, cross exercise, push ups, crunches or doing cross exercises: swimming, jogging etc
2. Lighten your bike. But lighter interior, wheelsets, chain, pedals, shoes. On a slow staggered basis. Unti unti. EVERYDAY WE MUST IMPROVE
As we biked last Sunday VM told me about a You Tube video that adding merely a water bottle in a bike added 20 watts to a bike without adding speed or incline. Conclusion: light is might. A heavy bike requires more power.
What are the ways to reduce weight:
1. Buy lighter, albeit lighter frames like carbon fiber.
2. Buy lighter chain ring set, and pedals
3. Buy lighter wheel and wheel set tires These will set you back by 30 to 50t and will save you about 2 lbs. Your 19 lbs bike now becomes l7 lbs. That is a lot of weight loss
4. Remove all unneccessary accessories that add weight
