nathand

Not quite answering what you asked, but if you're looking for a way to spend some money to get faster, have you done a professional bike fit? It's possible some simple tweaks to your position on the bike might get you more gains than a lighter bike. If you do decide to get a carbon bike later, you'll know what size and geometry you should look at, and you can match the fit on the new bike to the old one as a good starting point.

downhillmaster

This.
Finally some common sense in this ridiculous thread.

asgelle

A change in weight has the same effect on rolling resistance as it does on the gravity term.

Koyote

Umm, what? Am I misunderstanding you?

You can train with a power meter, with a HR monitor, with RPE...And the bike's weight has no impact.

To be clear: a heavier bike is not a training advantage.

HerrKaLeun

Going up a hill with a lighter bike should be the exact same effort as with a heavier bike. Only difference, the lighter bike will be a bit faster at given effort. Sot he training effect (growing muscles, lung training, heart etc.) should be the same. Power meter also should read the same.

My point: making a TRAINING bike lighter isn't helping with he training effort. it will make a difference for a race day bike, obviously, because there speed matters.

Koyote

Agreed, and thanks for the clarification. We are in agreement.

Coincidentally, I do much of my winter and spring training on a rather heavy bike, but that is because I choose the bike with a very comfy Brooks saddle, fenders, and sturdy steel frame and fork. But anyone who is worried about speed when training is not doing it correctly.

HerrKaLeun

I ride my fatbike in deep snow. But this spring using my hybrid bike I could use the tallest gear a few times, which I never used last year. It was nice to ride on the path with all the people that apparently had their first ride of the year.

If it wasn't for the slightly different seating position, all racers should ride a fatbike for training. Use cheap tires and you even pedal when most people coast = added training!

if you want to train, use some strap and attach to a pulled brake lever :-)

ofajen

Ah yes, that’s true for the rolling resistance term. However, 3% of, say, 30W would only be 1W, so it is a smaller effect on your workload than 3% of the climbing term, which for me would often be around 7-8W. Good catch though. I was thinking more about the air drag term.

Otto

Flip Flop Rider

lighter stiffer you would help as well

70sSanO

I was never a real weight weenie, but many decades ago I tried to get my bike lighter and actually cut an inch off an aluminum seat post. I really have to look back and laugh at that one.

For me the rationale was not having the lightest bike that I could get, it was to make my bike as light as I could so when I was struggling up a hill I knew it was not the bike. It was just psychological.

Speed is relative, personal speed is one thing and if it important to you then go lighter and stiffer. Competitive speed is something else. Until you are smoking everyone else on a climb, it isn’t important.

John

2old

I've never read anything definitive about this topic (and wish someone would tackle it), but intuitively think (from my experience) that weight off the bike is more important for climbing. In any event, Mother Nature doesn't acquiesce; less weight means better efficiency. Lose a couple of pounds off the bike and your power/weight ratio will increase and you'll ascend faster everything else being equal. I doubt the difference in stiffness will have influence unless one or the other isn't adequate.

wolfchild

A carbon bike isn't going to improve your fitness or make you a better rider....Continue training on your aluminum bike.

utoner34

Screw the bike, I will just run up the hill from now on.

Eric F 

Carbon fiber material can be manipulated in ways that metals cannot, including fine-tuning of how the structure reacts to pedaling forces. In my own experience, I've owned bikes built from steel, titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber. Both of the CF frames I've owned have been stiffer than the three aluminum frames I've owned. My current CF frame is noticeably stiffer in the BB than my previous CF frame. I'm not saying that all CF frames are stiffer than all alum frames, but it would be inaccurate to say that all alum frames are stiffer than all CF frames.

Eric F 

I had an alum Colnago in the early 2000s that was quite soft compared with the CF frame I also had at the time. The alum Felt that followed the Colnago closed the gap, but the CF was still stiffer.

Bill in VA

Back before carbon bikes, when I was doing club rides and some track riding, the ride leaders and coaches always stressed that the best way to lighten the bike was to push away from the dinner table. Their rationale was the discipline for that tactic would give more benefit that chasing bike weight loss grams.

downhillmaster

Before doing that, you should post on the runner’s forums as to which sneakers are best for hills.
I hear that carbon fiber laces are now all the rage

noimagination

True, but riding a lighter and stiffer bike can make a big difference in how fast it feels when climbing.

I test rode a Serotta Ottrot about 15 years ago, and I was riding (still ride) a 1995 Cannodale T700 (aluminum frame touring bike). The weight difference between the two bikes was probably in the neighborhood of 10 lb, my touring rig had 35mm tires while the Ottrot had 23 mm tires, the bars on the Ottrot were significantly wider, etc. Was I faster while climbing? Definitely. Was the difference "significant"? Well, I was no threat to the Tour de France riding either bike so, no, not really. However, the difference in feel was like night and day. I felt like I was flying up the climbs. One climb that I normally had to take out of the saddle on my Cannondale in a 32 x 25 gear I was spinning in the saddle on the Ottrot in a 39 x 25 gear.

I guess I'd answer the OP's question by saying that, objectively there may be a small but measurable increase in speed and that subjectively there could be a "significant" difference. The magnitude of the objective and subjective differences depend on many factors, including not only the differences in weight and "stiffness", but in tires/tire pressure, relative weight of the wheels, width of bars, etc. - even differences in stand-over height can have an effect on how fast a bike feels.

utoner34

Interesting, just watched this, He says "I was loosing 20 seconds per lap" when he had to change bikes after is tire blow

itmw

Put 3 lbs of ball bearings in your water bottle and time yourself a few times with and without, take an average and you'll know

50PlusCycling

Yes. When racing in the Alps and Pyrenees back in the day, we had (some of us) special bikes. These bikes were lighter than the bikes we used on the flats. They had lighter frames, wheels, and tires, and were geared better. However, there was more risk of punctures (like the '98 Tour in which Jan Ulrich punctured, and Pantani went on to with the stage and the Tour).

bblair

Thoughtful answer: as stated here many times, weight is your enemy going uphill. A lighter bike will climb faster and save you precious seconds in your grand tour or local Wednesday Worlds.

Wiseguy answer: You can get the same savings by losing 5lbs, taking only one water bottle and removing unnecessary keys from your pocket. Cost: zero.

The real answer: Let's understand the real question: should you buy that new bike? Hell yes, buy the bike! Just having a new bike will make you not only faster, but the envy of your mates. You will love riding it, taking pictures of it, talking about it and just looking at it. In your mind, Phil Liggett will narrate all of your epic climbs as you "dance on your pedals" on the way to a mountaintop world championship.