Do You Care About Weight?

[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

[limewave]

If you've ever worn a weighted vest, you know how much a few pounds difference can make. When I get to the point where I can afford to upgrade, weight will definitely be a concern. Until then, I'm working at getting down to my idea weight

[Aggie_Ama]

Shefly- I do get the advantage of having a tiny frame! I am kind of thinking when we are talking grams on other parts I am going to focus on dropping weight from me. I am still probably 20-25 pounds from where I would feel in top shape. I dropped 10 pounds but still feel it is mostly me slowing the bike down. This bike feels really fast even not being any lighter than my Fisher (yet).

[tulip]

That's a nice bike, Aggie, and I love your new(ish) avatar! I have to chuckle, though, when people get so concerned about the weight of their bikes. True, lighter bikes make some difference sometimes, but as you and others have said, lighter people make more of a difference. I notice it--if I were to ride a featherweight carbon bike at my current weight, it wouldn't make as much of a difference as if I were to lose the 10 lbs that I've let pile on over the past year and ride my steel bike.

Once I lose those 10 lbs, then maybe I'll consider a lighter bike or components...but probably not since I'm not racing anymore.

Just sayin'.

[bellissima]

aggie, more power to you on getting a lighter bike. If you are racing your bike weight is important, also if you are a petite or light rider is even more important. Remember that weight to power ratio is the key for better climbing and most races are won on the hills. I do see the loose the weight argument, but I’ve also had a heavy bike before and when moved to a lighter bike, the improvement was immediate! Also the feeling of riding a light bike is awesome.

[Cataboo]

I try to balance weight with money with how much extra fat I have on myself.

My road bike is about 16 lbs and I then probably put about 4-5 lbs of accessories on it (water bottle cages, rear bag with tools & spare, pump, bento bag, lights). I could make that bike lighter by going to tubular wheels or dura ace components, and maybe I can shed a pound or two from the bike.. That's an outlay of probably a thousand or two or more to make a bike 2 lbs lighter... a bike that I put 5 lbs of accessories on and ride with way too much cellulite on me. So spending the money to get the bike lighter makes no sense. If I happen to see something lighter at a cheap/great price, I do buy it to swap on (a shorter seatpost, a carbon stem, what not).

I recently upgraded the fork on my mountain bike. My old fork was from like 1998. My new fork has lock out, disc brake whatevers, and is 6 ounces heavier than my old fork. I did while I was at it swap out to a lighter cassette (sram red's had been cheap on chainlove or something), put lighter tires on it (a friend that went 29er had given me all their old 26 tires), and took off the suspension seatpost and put a straight seatpost that I already had on it (it was hard getting the height right on the suspension)... So overall i did end up going lighter, but I did it at minimal expense. I'd love new wheels for the bike or a new crankset (that's what I'd need to really lighten it further) - but budget wise, it's not in the cards. If I see something pop up that will lighten it at a great price, i will probably grab it.

If I need something for comfort riding, I don't care how much it weighs, it's going on the bike. My ergo grips are probably heavy on my mountain bike - but hey, they let me ride with less hand issues.