Heavy Bikes are better !
#51
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#52
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#53
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Unless you are a professional or amateur racer..... Ride as heavy a bike as you can ! You will get a better workout, You will save money as they are cheaper and more rugged requiring less repair, and your crashes will occur at slower speeds. You go out and ride for two hours and come home. Do you really care if you went 30 instead of 40 miles ? The idea was to burn 2500 calories either way.. In addition, everyone who passes you will respect you more than they would if you could blast past them on a whim. All the bike manufacturers spend millions of dollars to brainwash you into thinking you aint cool if you dont have the latest lightest bleeding edge technology. Are you going to let yourself fall victim to that ? Me personally- I like to ride my sixty pound tandem solo. It rides much like a limousine and has many other benefits. Twice I have been able to given broken down motorists a ride back to town.
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#54
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I still have my heavy comfort hybrid that I got back into shape with a few years ago. I don't ride it much anymore, other than occasional local errands because it's very stiff and good for hauling heavy loads. Massive stiff aluminum frame with fat tubes, really more of a cargo bike than comfort cruiser.
If I was ever asked to lead a casual group ride I'd probably take that bike. It would force me to stick with an 8-12 mph pace that pretty much anyone could maintain. I know on some casual group rides we've lost prospective members because they were dropped by a ride leader pushing a 16 mph pace when the ride was advertised as a no-drop casual pace. So a heavy cargo bike or city rental bike would be better for the leader of a real casual pace no-drop ride for newbies.
If I was ever asked to lead a casual group ride I'd probably take that bike. It would force me to stick with an 8-12 mph pace that pretty much anyone could maintain. I know on some casual group rides we've lost prospective members because they were dropped by a ride leader pushing a 16 mph pace when the ride was advertised as a no-drop casual pace. So a heavy cargo bike or city rental bike would be better for the leader of a real casual pace no-drop ride for newbies.
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#57
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some folks loves those handles, bar none.
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#59
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>> Heavy bikes give a better workout, keep the speeds down[..]
Reminds me of my first bike tour with a couple of friends, one of them a triathlete and really strong.
Turns out he wasn't so fast after his clamped-on rack slid down to where it pushed a leetle bit on his rear caliper and applied a certain amount of breaking.
Fixing that was more involved than it sounds, and he didn't complain when we asked him to ride another ten miles like that, and we'd fix it in camp.
The next day he was pulling strong, faster than I liked for sure, and he got REALLY mad when I suggested we move the rack onto the brake again...
As far as the 'better workout' goes, that's obviously nonsense. The best workout is the one where you're enjoying yourself and moving right along. Bikes don't have to be super light, but heavy doesn't make anything better. Mine weigh between 22 and 35 lbs, and while I ride the 35-pounder the most, I wish it were lighter.
cheers -mathias
Reminds me of my first bike tour with a couple of friends, one of them a triathlete and really strong.
Turns out he wasn't so fast after his clamped-on rack slid down to where it pushed a leetle bit on his rear caliper and applied a certain amount of breaking.
Fixing that was more involved than it sounds, and he didn't complain when we asked him to ride another ten miles like that, and we'd fix it in camp.
The next day he was pulling strong, faster than I liked for sure, and he got REALLY mad when I suggested we move the rack onto the brake again...
As far as the 'better workout' goes, that's obviously nonsense. The best workout is the one where you're enjoying yourself and moving right along. Bikes don't have to be super light, but heavy doesn't make anything better. Mine weigh between 22 and 35 lbs, and while I ride the 35-pounder the most, I wish it were lighter.
cheers -mathias
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Unless you are a professional or amateur racer..... Ride as heavy a bike as you can ! You will get a better workout, You will save money as they are cheaper and more rugged requiring less repair, and your crashes will occur at slower speeds. You go out and ride for two hours and come home. Do you really care if you went 30 instead of 40 miles ? The idea was to burn 2500 calories either way.. In addition, everyone who passes you will respect you more than they would if you could blast past them on a whim. All the bike manufacturers spend millions of dollars to brainwash you into thinking you aint cool if you dont have the latest lightest bleeding edge technology. Are you going to let yourself fall victim to that ? Me personally- I like to ride my sixty pound tandem solo. It rides much like a limousine and has many other benefits. Twice I have been able to given broken down motorists a ride back to town.
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#63
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Different strokes. As they used to say in the 60s, “Its your trip, so be my guest”.
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#64
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Adds to safety
I had heavy mtb, was going down hill hit part of road where asphalt looked like it had been carved up with a giant bottle opener, the bike just safely bounced its own way through it with me litely holding onto the handle bars. If I had narrow tires and a lite bike I am sure I would have had a nasty crash.
#65
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Adds to safety
I had heavy mtb, was going down hill hit part of road where asphalt looked like it had been carved up with a giant bottle opener, the bike just safely bounced its own way through it with me litely holding onto the handle bars. If I had narrow tires and a lite bike I am sure I would have had a nasty crash.
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I had heavy mtb, was going down hill hit part of road where asphalt looked like it had been carved up with a giant bottle opener, the bike just safely bounced its own way through it with me litely holding onto the handle bars. If I had narrow tires and a lite bike I am sure I would have had a nasty crash.
My MTB is one of the lightest bikes I own. If a light bike was more prone to crash, MTB'ers would crash a lot more than they do.
Cheap MTBs are heavy. Fast MTBs are light.
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#67
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Well that's kind of offensive. I ride a 30lb Trek Ex5 on the roads. It's sort of heavy but it wasn't "a cheap ass bike." It is a bit of a workout and on hill climbs I wish it was lighter but still, no need to be offensive.
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Gresp15C you will know you're brainwashed when a stranger on the internet tells you that you are. That's how it works.
I bought a Specialized Roll this summer and it's heavier than hell; I figure it can absorb an IED attack and still get me down the road. It's fun to ride sometimes. I also have a 2018 Emonda SL6 that was modded for a pro rider. It's very light. It's fun to ride sometimes.
I bought a Specialized Roll this summer and it's heavier than hell; I figure it can absorb an IED attack and still get me down the road. It's fun to ride sometimes. I also have a 2018 Emonda SL6 that was modded for a pro rider. It's very light. It's fun to ride sometimes.
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Whew.. understand some of the rationale. Yet a light bike puts on the workout primarily ON the cardiovascular system.
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You can shift to a heavier gear on a lighter bike which means that with the same force applied you go faster than with a heavier bike in a smaller/lower gear. A light bke doesn't mean you can't get a proper workout. It just means you can go faster for the same effort. Hence why carrying all your touring gear means you go slower than if you weren't carrying it.
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#75
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Just as a matter of math, I don't think this is true. There's nothing that prevents you from putting the same level of effort into riding a lighter bike, the performance curves will just be different. For example, city riding conditions might limit you to 15 mph, but the same effort on different weight bikes will just accelerate the lighter bike to the cruising speed faster, not reducing the intensity of the workout to any significant degree. And this might not be true for everyone, but I find a lighter bike is easier to maneuver through high traffic situations (I'm just generally a bit more agile on a light bike than a heavy one, easier to steer, easier to stop quickly, easier to accelerate out of trouble, etc.), so I actually do maintain a higher speed in a city situation on a lighter bike than a heavier one. I understand riders and cities are not necessarily created equal, so I wouldn't generalize that to other people riding in other cities. If I rode regularly in a city like Fitchburg, MA where the roads are approximately equal parts pavement and pothole, I don't think I'd find the light bike advantageous.
In a gravel situation, if less effort is expended accelerating or going up hills, any difference in the overall effort can easily be made up for by going a slightly longer distance. I don't do a lot of off-road riding, but my impression from the bit I do is that the width and quality of the tires is a lot more determinative of your overall effort than the weight of the vehicle. Someone who does a lot more of this kind of riding, please correct me if I'm wrong.
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