terrymorse 

The Guardian weighs in on whether or not bike weight matters when climbing:

"[T]here is a closely reasoned argument reiterating the important fact that ability to climb hills depends far more on the gear of a machine than on its weight. This is perfectly true. The difference between a 25 lb machine and a 35 lb machine is after all but a small fraction of the total weight of the machine and rider combined, which total weight is a measure of the work to be done against gravity in hill-climbing, and the high-geared featherweight will be a far inferior hill climber to the full-roadster cycle geared several inches lower."

The Guardian published this on May 1st, 1899. Settling this argument once and for all.

urbanknight

I stopped stressing over the weight of my bike when I realized that I was carrying a whole extra bike around my waistline anyway.

Maelochs

Define "matter."

Koyote

I once rode a big hill climbing event in Pittsburgh called The Dirty Dozen. The steepest climb, on Canton Avenue, maxes out at a 37% grade -- the steepest street in the US. As I was flailing my skinny self up the hill on a cf-framed race bike with a 34-32 low gear, I looked to my left and saw a guy pass me on some kind of steel Surly touring bike, complete with a rear rack and fenders, spinning up on the smallest ring of his triple crankset and with his chain over a pretty large cog on the cassette. In addition to being on a heavy bike, the rider himself was rather heavy.

So yeah, gearing matters.

seypat

I would say the quoted statement is true. As for myself, I'll still be a slow climber, even with a featherweight bike and MTB gearing.

RChung

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north...n-america.html

RChung

Koyote

I paraphrased from the Wikipedia page which, which says (in full): steepest officially recorded public street in the United States.

I suspect the “officially recorded”” and “public street“ language is the source of some dispute…

Jrasero

Yes and no. I own an Aethos and with pedals, cages, mounts, and sensors it weighs 14.62lbs. People see the bike and ask to pick it up and always their first impression is wow that's light, granted this isn't a SWORKS or even a RED/Dura Ace build. My point is while I agree appropriate gearing and climbing skills matter more, I think the Aethos or really any bike that is really specialized for one end of the spectrum provides confidence and a feeling of lightness that helps your conquer climbs. I think the issue now a days is that climbing where you need a dedicated climbing bike is pretty niche nowadays especially when we have all around aero disc bikes in the 15lb range. This is all to say extra weigh doesn't help but again like you said from the beginning having the right gearing is more important

RChung

An eighth of a millenium.

79pmooney

Yeah, gears matter. But ... I rode the Mt Washington hill climb years ago. Geared the bike with a 28 1X and 13-21 FW, 12% lower than anyone with the then nearly "standard" 42-28 and Campy NR rear derailleur. I also left my WB and cage behind because that pound represented jacking up all four of a 2 ton car's wheels 12". On top of me riding myself and bike up that mountain.

cyclezen

LOL! You set this fire in the chicken coop just to watch all the hens run around ! Silly !
'Give a lever long enough, and one can move the earth' all well and good, except there is real world stuff.
The more mass you have to move, the more work you have to do... fundamental to it all.
Gearing is just your lever
In today's real world, we have to assume (ensure) we have a lever for all the situations, mass and work needed.
Be it me or Alberto Contador, we can move less mass easier, than more mass. Gearing is not in a world of it's own, it's all relative to the rider and what they are challenged to do. Alberto's gearing choices will certainly differ from mine. As will the result... Would I try to climb a 1 mile 9% slope with a 90 inch gear? Dont; think I would get very far - 30 yards? LOL!
So be it a 25 lb roadie or 35 lb Opa Fiets, the optimum gear depends on the rider's abilities. Assuming we know our optimum gearing for any situation, our own mass being the same with either bike,
a LIGHTER bike (given other equal bike characteristics, like power transfer, 'fit', etc) will always be easier and faster to complete. If we don't use a gear within the best capabilities of our human machine, that's on us for misjudgment.
Proper gearing? Of course Great/highest power transfer? Sure Lightest Weight? Always !
Funny ! 1899, but not April 1...
Ride On
Yuri

PeteHski

Gearing is definitely more important than weight for climbing steep slopes. My mountain bike weighs around 12.5 kg, but I can climb steeper slopes on it than I can on my 7.8 kg road bike. Simply because it has a much lower gear range.

Roglic vs Thomas on last year’s Giro mountain TT was also a good demonstration of how lower gearing can be a major advantage on the steeps - even when dropping a chain 😂

More weight obviously requires more power to climb at the same speed. I typically climb at 3-4 W/kg, so for every kg of mass I add to my bike I need 3-4W more power to maintain my power/weight ratio. My bike is around 7.8 kg, so at the UCI minimum weight I would be saving 4W at the most. It’s not a big deal really.

RChung

Lower gearing allows for lower maximum crank torque and lower minimum speed (before falling over), and thus lower power. Lower gearing isn't so much to make you climb faster, it's to allow you to climb slower. Like PeteHski, I can climb steeper hills on my 12kg MTB than my 8kg road bike.

datlas 

Bike weight matters much less than most people think.

Polaris OBark

Particles with non-zero mass.

Sierra_rider

Weight isn't everything to me, but it definitely is a consideration. The bulk of my riding time is spent climbing (I average 112' elevation per mile,) so my main road bike is a fairly lightweight disc-brake climbing bike with some "aero optimizations." It has a 1:1 low gear, so I have the gearing covered as well.

My mountain bikes all have low gearing, climbing limitations are set on grip or balance, rather than gearing.

PeteHski

Yeah, weight would matter a lot more if you had to carry your bike up hills rather than ride it. A 10% gradient is an approx 6 deg slope angle, so only about 10% of your bike weight (sin 6 deg = 0.1) is actually being resisted by gravity against that slope. The other 90% of bike weight only contributes to rolling resistance. If we are talking about 1 or even 2 kg it’s not a huge difference. Bike weight is also only about 10% of the total rider + bike weight.

LesterOfPuppets

Well yeah, gearing is pretty much everything when you've only got one gear

LesterOfPuppets

Climbing smooth trails on my 23lb hardtail is faster but climbing chunky stuff on my 30lb full suspension is faster.

Kai Winters

To a degree yes but not as much as fitness, gearing and preparation

2muchroad

Interesting point about the surface your're riding on. I find it easier to climb uneven or irregular concrete on a MTB, but as soon as it gets smooth there is nothing better than sitting on a road bike. Literally feels like you're rolling on a cloud.

bruce19

From all the GCN and other "scientific" studies I've seen, my conclusion is that it matters in terms of time up a given climb. But, much depends on who you are. And, for most of us, not much at all. FWIW, my GURU Photon weighs 16 lbs as ridden. My lightest bike. My Canyon Aeroad CF SL weighs 18 lbs as ridden. When I go for a ride it's always the Canyon I grab.. My times are pretty much no different.

PeteHski

No “scientific” study is required to calculate the effect of a change in bike weight on a slope for a given power output. Just plug your numbers into Bike Calculator or one of the more comprehensive apps like Best Bike Splits.

Iride01 

Less weight just like more aero shows it's benefits better over the time of a long ride and not just comparing the results of one climb, or a short ride with several climbs.