Originally Posted by
Sy Reene
I'm not claiming the latter, just that aside from racing or following specific training regimens.. iow, just grabbing a bike and going out on a course, dragging the heavier bike thru that course is likely more effort. Take your example of that solo ride you chose to do.. comfort aside, if instead you had grabbed your lighter bike, and (if you're familiar with Strava?), would you expect to have seen a lower, same, or higher resulting "Relative Effort" score versus having chosen your heavier bike?
I've tracked every ride I've done since 2013, in Strava, though I've never compared the Relative Effort of the same ride/route on two differently weighted bikes, at the same output level.
Assuming my power output to the top of a mountain is equal on any bike I ride (and why wouldn't it be?), I would assume that the lighter bike would make the ride up a little bit faster and therefore shorter in duration, making the Relative Effort less on a lighter bike. Which adds to the hypothesis that lighter bikes are for those that want less of a workout, and/or want to ride less? Yes, that's sarcastic trolling.