Do You Care About Weight?

[Aggie_Ama]

When ordering my new Epic I was concerned about the weight. I never cared much until I noticed how much a lighter bike has helped some of the women I race against. So when I bought the Epic my husband told me to splurge and build some lighter wheels. A lot of the reason I wanted new wheels was the negative reviews on the stock wheels and I wanted to customize the bike. They look like they may shed close to two pounds on the bike. Today they weighed my bike completely stock and it came in just over 28 pounds. That would bring her down to 26 with the new wheels which seems pretty good for a 29er full suspension. My Fisher was about 27-28 with 26" wheels.

My wrench started telling me I could save weight changing handlebars, stem, seat post, etc... I have already planned to put a lighter cassette on the new wheels when they arrive. I like my pedals so I don't care to change those. How much does weight matter to you?

[KnottedYet]

If weight was the ONLY concern, consider that a full bladder weighs about that... pee before you ride, and you get the same benefit.

However, the *quality* difference between good wheels and average wheels is miles beyond simple weight differences.

My steel fast-bike weighs 21 1/2 lbs. I'm 60 lbs overweight right now, and I honestly don't think anything I do to the bike would have any effect compared to losing some of my personal butt and belly lard. But if someone were to offer me some hand-built wheels, I'd jump for them!

Fine wheels are a joy forever...

Caveat Emptor: I'm comparing a road bike to a mtb, but I still swear that fine wheels are like fine wine whether 26" or 700c.

[crazycanuck]

I'm not sure how much my Titus weighs but it's not heavy and doesn't feel like an elephant going uphill!!! It's as light as it needs to be & the only things I need to change and improve are MY weight and my skills.

How light is light enough? HOw weight weenie conscious do we need to be???

I'm no pro but I do the XC races/enduro events with the bike I have. Am I a lesser mortal because of my components?

[Pedal Wench]

Just washed the grease off my hands from changing wheels to save 1.5 lbs. on my new build.

[7rider]

For a race bike? Weight would matter a great deal for me.
For a commuter bike? Not so much.

I put new wheels on my old road bike and dropped a pound off it. Sure. It's cheaper and better for my health to drop those last 10 pounds off me, first, but that bike rides like a different animal right now. So smooth. Precise. I love the new wheels and don't regret it for a minute (I do regret that my first race on them was in driving rain, however!).

Wheels are a great way to drop weight from a worthy frame. Bars, stem, etc, are icing on the cake. My $0.02.

[SheFly]

26lbs for a FS 29er is actually pretty good. We have a friend who just bought a 29er SS that weighed in at 24 lbs (stock).

Weight matters if you are going uphill a lot. The biggest bang is going to come from those wheels. Yes, you can change the seatpost, the bars, the stem, etc. but you're not going to realize as much of an advantage.

My FS 26-inch race bike weighs in around 24-25 lbs with I9 wheels and pretty light components (carbon bars and seatpost, for example). I could lose some changing out the grouppo, but that's basically it. I find it is lighter than some other bikes I have ridden/raced (I think my Epic was about the same, FWIW).

Ultimately, an ounce here or an ounce there isn't going to matter if the engine isn't in top condition . I always kind of chuckle at the weight weenies who carry a spare tire around the middle.

SheFly