Grasschopper

Get the lighter bike for sure....then ride it more and also lose the pound of fat and now you're down 2lbs.

Masque

Absolutely untrue! If that pound comes off of your rim weight, it makes more of a difference than a pound of frame weight or pelvis padding.

Abe_Froman

Yes, humans have won. By and large though...it looks pretty competitive. But it does not seem entirely fair...vet stops, different distances for horse/human.

Abe_Froman

Care to elaborate, or are we just being snarky here?

Abe_Froman

Not at a steady speed it doesnt.

Doge

No. Easiest weight to carry is on the body.

Some concerned riders carry spares in their jersey pockets rather than have them on the bike.

Convert that 1lb of fat to 1lb of muscle - maybe. Depends where that muscle is, depends on the and how long the climb is.

A light bike is not the end all, but take it off the wheels first, then the other parts next.

Doge

There is no such thing on the road.
The bike is moving side to side, hitting bumps and correcting constantly.

redlude97

you do not efficiently recover work done by the weight lifted in transmission to potential energy in the pedals. Which is why heavier riders perform better seated than lighter climbers who can climb efficiently standing.

RPK79

I lost 20 lbs in the last year or so and I'm not significantly faster than last year. Contrary to expected I'm a bit faster on the flats and slower going up the hills. Anecdotal at least, I haven't actually put this to the test, but am instead gauging this off what I am seeing for PRs on Strava.

Grasschopper

If only there was such a thing in the real world. But since there's wind resistance, rolling resistance etc...it doesn't exist. So now...is the additional 1lb rim mass actually beneficial because of the inertia or a detriment because you have to constantly accelerate a rotating mass to maintain a given speed?

RPK79

Just buy the bike. You know you want to.

wphamilton

Fairly direct conversion, pound of body vs pound of bike. With some minor details differing. I figure in the last couple of months I've dropped about $1000 worth of bike off my middle.

Grasschopper

I'm sorry but there is just 0% chance that you're slower going up hills when 20 lbs lighter unless the 20lbs you lost was a leg or massively muscle from something like chemotherapy and general atrophy. If you're putting out anything resembling the same power and your 20 lbs lighter you should FLY up hills.

I'm looking at the exact opposite on Strava for myself currently and just killing myself for 2 years off the bike. I'm currently at least 30 lbs heavier than I was for any other effort on this segment.

PepeM

By 'some concerned riders' you mean you and/or your son, don't you?

Frankly, I think it is complete nonsense. Sure, the bike moves around. But so does the body. Rather have a lower center of gravity, if anything.

Jack Tone 

Here's a test: Losing weight from your bike or your body ? which makes you faster? - BikeRadar USA

RPK79

I've also been running regularly which may have effected my climbing. I don't know. Here are the stats for a climb I've hit multiple times for the last several years:

Date Speed Time
28-Jul-13 9.7mi/h 6:32
7-Sep-13 10.2mi/h 6:15
9-May-14 9.4mi/h 6:45
24-May-14 9.2mi/h 6:55
28-Jun-14 9.0mi/h 7:02
26-Jul-14 8.4mi/h 7:35
1-Sep-14 10.6mi/h 5:59
1-Sep-14 10.5mi/h 6:01
1-Sep-14 10.4mi/h 6:05
1-Sep-14 10.3mi/h 6:10
1-Sep-14 10.0mi/h 6:21
1-Sep-14 9.6mi/h 6:37
9-May-15 8.8mi/h 7:15
21-Jun-15 8.1mi/h 7:48
19-Jul-15 9.4mi/h 6:43
11-Oct-15 8.3mi/h 7:36
5-Jun-16 9.5mi/h 6:42
9-Jul-16 10.1mi/h 6:17
9-Jul-16 9.6mi/h 6:35
9-Jul-16 9.6mi/h 6:38
9-Jul-16 9.4mi/h 6:45
9-Jul-16 7.3mi/h 8:44
17-Jul-16 8.6mi/h 7:25
18-Feb-17 7.4mi/h 8:31
3-Jul-17 8.3mi/h 7:41
3-Jul-17 7.5mi/h 8:30
3-Jul-17 7.3mi/h 8:44

Doge

Also. Me being one, no quite common around here to put spares in jersey. That was typical TdF carry spot over bike. Most commuters know 20lbs in a back pack (other than heat) feels better than 20 on the bike.
Weight on the body is used by the body to move the mass on the bike. The mass on the bike is mass that needs to be moved especially when bounced off / out of position by a wind gust, to pebble to pot hole.

PepeM

I commute and I much rather carry my stuff in a pannier than on a backpack (although I use the backpack the vast majority of times.) My back most certainly prefers it.

Some of it does. Fat in your arms? I don't know.

Abe_Froman

Agreed. Lugging stuff in a backpack is the worst...

Grasschopper

Just doesn't compute unless you're putting out less effort/power when you climb it now. Is the bike identical? Is the brake rubbing?

Doge

Well we were talking re the OP - 1lb on body vs 1 on bike.
I hate most lab tests, even if they agree with me, I don't always like them.
But when they agree - I at least quote them.

After my last post I saw the link above.
"What is noticeable is that in both cases the climb with the weight on the body was faster than with it on the bike, in my case by a statistically insignificant two seconds, but in Paul’s case by 16 seconds — having extra weight on the bike apparently costs him around a second every hundred yards of climbing.

For a lot of cyclists that last point would represent the only part of the data that mattered, and yet it throws into sharp relief the contrast the tests revealed: “It was much harder and less enjoyable with the vest on,” says Paul. “I definitely noticed the weight more when it was on me, even though I was technically faster. I noticed the weight on the bike, but when the weight was on me the bike felt light and I felt much worse.”

The placement of the weight has comparatively little effect on the physiological numbers, seems to have a small effect on the speed, but has a huge effect on the perception of the effort."

Grasschopper

Um...what was the last decade that any rider in the TdF carried spares in their jersey?

Doge

40s/50s?

RPK79

I dunno man. I don't live in a vacuum though so the only change is not just weight. I am faster overall this year, but have lost some power up hills. In the past I've focused more on hills. I've been doing duathlons and focusing more on those the last year though. Shorter flatter sprint distances and, as I said, running. Not hill hunting like previous years.

merlinextraligh

and there's the dilemma. It's very hard to lose a significant amount of weight, and eat enough to train hard training efforts and races in season.

So if you need to lose weight, it's best done off season. But that's typically mid to late fall, a time people tend to put on weight and after following a rigorous training program all season the last thing you want to do is diet.

Thus the best answer appears to not get fat in the first place.