Bike weight important or not

[g19]

I have read several articles on paper and the internet about the weight of a bike and the practical noticeable differences (none according to the cycling magazines and webarticles) when riding on flat roads.

I realize that there is some debate on the moving and non moving parts of the bike, but in this aspect it's just the total weight of the bike that my q'n is for.

What puzzles me is the following:
Example 1: Imagine that you put a backpack on and put several waterbottles in it and start walking, cycling whatever.
When you put it of you back you will notice a difference when doing the same thing when you had it on your back.
Example 2: Imagine 2 identical cars and one is lighter than the other. The lightest car runs more fuel efficient than the heavier one.

According to the articles they say that a light bike and a bike (or the parts on the bike) that is heavier (about 1 to 3 kg's) there is no practical gain or anything that you will notice when riding either bikes.
I find that hard to believe and there for i would like to know if any of you gals can help me with this q'n.

My personal info is that i ride a specialized allez alu bike, i'm light build, i ride always allone and on flat roads (there are no hills where i live) with the wind (head/tail/side) as my companion. I don't do competition and my usual ride is anything between 50 and 80 miles a day.

To sum it: will i notice any diffirence on the road or my performance when i would theoretically would switch to a light(er) bike than i now have.

Can anybody throw in some light regarding this issue based on articles or on practical experience.

Lets hear it.

[limewave]

Whenever I ask DH about this he tells me that I'd be better to skip my bowl of icecream than to buy a lighter bike

[pooks]

I would think it depends on how heavy the bicycle is to begin with, and how much weight is actually being taken off.

The bottles on your back are heavy with water and when you take them off you feel a big difference. But if you were only carrying a vial of water in your back jersey pocket, how much difference would you notice? Enough to pay an extra $1000 to lose it?

Some people might notice that vial and be willing to upgrade to get it off their back. Others wouldn't know it was there even if somebody removed it so they could compare the before and after.

(This is all purely conjecture. I don't do numbers and I'm not even a good rider. Yet!)

[han-grrl]

Bike weight can be a very sensitive issue for some. Some people spend A LOT of money to reduce their bike weight by GRAMS. Personally, i agree, it is much cheaper to deal with our own body weight before the bike weight (and better for youe health too! a bonus!) But that can be difficult for some people to ehmm, swallow

Some cheap ways to reduce bike weight - around the wheel, the tires and tubes (ie outer circumference) will affect the rolling resistance and angular momentum more than the hub, which is actually more expensive to "lighten up" So spending a little more of a lighter tube and tire will help.

You can spend a little more on seat post and handlebars to save a bit of weight.

I find anything else after that, and you are starting to spend big $$ on little weight savings.

I lost 13 pounds last year and found a HUGE difference on the bike. and my bike was actually HEAVIER than it was because my husband "pimped it up" and put on heavier wheels (as it turned out) than were on it originally. But i was riding faster because of my lighter body.

Smile
Han

[Thorn]

I chuckle at some of the weight "savings"...For example, when I'm buying a saddle, the last thing I consider is the weight of the saddle. Trust me, with my tush, a savings of 150g is just not going to be noticed

That said, I can see a difference between riding my 30lb hybrid and my 22lb road bike. However, it isn't the weight, it is the hybrid tires are heavier and have more rolling resistance.

The weight tends to only be a penalty climbing and starting up. Once you're moving well, it is the wind resistance you are fighting. The bicycle's greatest adversary is slicing through the air and, well, it isn't so much the bike that gets in the way as the rider.

Even with respect to climbing I read a statistic that said that a 5 lb weight penalty adds only 30 seconds to a 5km climb at 7%. If you're a racer, then playing weight games make sense. If you ride for enjoyment, find the bike that fits and you like to ride and, when all things are equal, then choose the lighter component (e.g., han-grrl's suggestions).

[Python]

I'm not an experienced cyclist by any means, so can only comment on a comparison of two bikes, one being my son's mountain bike and my own racer. Son's mountain bike. Once round the block and yours truly has rubber legs. In a nutshell, it kills me. On my racer I can cycle for quite a few miles (getting better all the time ). The racer is a much lighter bike than my son's mountain bike - and it is very noticeable. In my case, it is not due to body weight as I weigh 6 1/2 stone (about 91 lbs - you could say I'm a flea weight). I had one of those luggage racks on the back of my bike and took it off last week as I didn't like or use it anyway. Even taking that off I found made a difference to my bike. I actually wonder what it would be like to ride a bike even lighter than the one I've got. Also just discovered there is a fairly new dedicated bike shop in town. Guess where I'm going tomorrow

[DebW]

As Thorn said, the weight difference will be noticeable mostly in climbing and acceleration. Since you live in the flats, your difference will be in how quckly you can accelerate your bike. A racer would refer to that as "jump", how quickly you can accelerate into a sprint. Or how soon you can reach full speed from a stop. How responsive the bike feels to your immediate input. And most of what you feel in acceleration is from the bike's "turning weight", the weight on the rims and tires.

Backpackers rightfully place alot of emphasis on pack weight, but that weight is carried on the person's body, straining shoulders and backs and stressing knees when hiking downhill. Plus, every step results in a bit of up and down movement, so the weight is lifted a couple inches with each step, even on the level. With a bike, the weight is carried on the wheels, and the weight gets lifted only on an uphill.

[CR400]

I think your body weight in relation to those you are riding with counts for more then the weight of the bike. However, if you are already as thin as you can get then the bike is the one that must lose weight. Or you could just work on getting stronger, as a woman your muscle weight gain should be minimal compared to the benefits you reap from those few pounds. Also remember that gearing is very important to speed on flats and climbs. Pick the wrong gear and a 14 pound bike is going to feel heavier then a 20 pound bike geared right. So much of the cycling we do is based on our individual bodies not the 1000 different bikes and weights.