How to weigh a bike?
05-26-20, 04:49 PM
#26
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05-26-20, 06:05 PM
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Are you concerned about the load capacity of the vehicle that you need to use to carry it up the hill?
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05-26-20, 06:24 PM
#28
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For more precision, use Phughes technique, but put a 1Qt zip lock freezer bag in your pocket. Weigh yourself and bike, step off, add one ounce of water to the bag, step on. Repeat until the scale reads the next pound up. You and the bike weighed the first figure plus (16-X) ounces, where X is the number of ounces of water you added. A pint's a pound, the world around. Now whether the scale is accurate is another challenge. My Park scale doesn't always give the same number for subsequent weighings of the same object.
Good luck
Good luck
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05-26-20, 08:53 PM
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Within a pound?
I forget what the warrantied accuracy of My bathroom scale was, but i measures in tenths of a pound. If I weigh myself (158.2) stepping on and off 3 times, and then pick up my bike on the last time and do that twice (177.2) both times I would say that the bike weighs pretty close to 19 lbs. not 20 or 18. Not even 19.5 or 18.5, probably between 18.8 and 19.2 lbs and very possibly even closer . While there may be an overall error of a few lbs. in my weight, (and in my weight plus the bike's weight),, the magnitude of the error in the weight of the bike should be roughly 1/8 the size of the overall error, (19/167.7)x(Gross Error)
Something like that anyway....
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05-27-20, 02:16 AM
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I forget what the warrantied accuracy of My bathroom scale was, but i measures in tenths of a pound. If I weigh myself (158.2) stepping on and off 3 times, and then pick up my bike on the last time and do that twice (177.2) both times I would say that the bike weighs pretty close to 19 lbs. not 20 or 18. Not even 19.5 or 18.5, probably between 18.8 and 19.2 lbs and very possibly even closer . While there may be an overall error of a few lbs. in my weight, (and in my weight plus the bike's weight),, the magnitude of the error in the weight of the bike should be roughly 1/8 the size of the overall error, (19/167.7)x(Gross Error)
Something like that anyway....
Something like that anyway....
Plenty of bathroom scales read out to the first decimal place, but do not measure with accuracy of that level.
Also, if there is an error of 1lb in your weight and an error of 1lb in the you+bike weight, then the error of the.bike weight could be anywhere from 0 to two lbs.
Try this sometime; weigh yourself with an empty water bottle, then do so again with varying amounts of water in the water bottle and see how accurately the scale shows fhe difference.
I’m sure some scales are good enough to do this. But most typical affordable home digital scales are not. At least the few that I have used.
Last edited by Kapusta; 05-27-20 at 02:49 AM.
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05-27-20, 08:49 AM
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You are confusing precision with accuracy. No, I wasn't. Repeating the weight test, and getting the same value, shows it measures x weight accurately to weigh x. I'm not saying anything about how much I actually weigh, just that the scale reads my weight unchanged, and the total combined weight also the same. Therefore, subtracting one from the other should be relatively accurate, in actual pounds,(As I know I'm around 160, and the bike is sub-20.) More likely to be accurate than weighing either separately.
Plenty of bathroom scales read out to the first decimal place, but do not measure with accuracy of that level.
Also, if there is an error of 1lb in your weight and an error of 1lb in the you+bike weight, then the error of the.bike weight could be anywhere from 0 to two lbs. . You are making an assumption that any inaccuracies in measurement fluctuate randomly, rather than a particular type of error (either absolute, or on a percentage basis). I took multiple readings, that did not vary thus, if there is an error in absolute terms,it is a consistent error.
I have no way of knowing whether a reading of 158.2 is accurate or 177.2 is accurate in absolute terms. However, they are likely to be closely correlated. knowing that in absolute terms, the scale is within a few pounds.
Try this sometime; weigh yourself with an empty water bottle, then do so again with varying amounts of water in the water bottle and see how accurately the scale shows fhe difference. Here you may have a point, though again, I am less concerned with individual gradations of 0.1 lbs. I will weigh myself and myself with 2 gallons of water, Results tonight if batteries are still working
I’m sure some scales are good enough to do this. But most typical affordable home digital scales are not. At least the few that I have used.
Plenty of bathroom scales read out to the first decimal place, but do not measure with accuracy of that level.
Also, if there is an error of 1lb in your weight and an error of 1lb in the you+bike weight, then the error of the.bike weight could be anywhere from 0 to two lbs. . You are making an assumption that any inaccuracies in measurement fluctuate randomly, rather than a particular type of error (either absolute, or on a percentage basis). I took multiple readings, that did not vary thus, if there is an error in absolute terms,it is a consistent error.
I have no way of knowing whether a reading of 158.2 is accurate or 177.2 is accurate in absolute terms. However, they are likely to be closely correlated. knowing that in absolute terms, the scale is within a few pounds.
Try this sometime; weigh yourself with an empty water bottle, then do so again with varying amounts of water in the water bottle and see how accurately the scale shows fhe difference. Here you may have a point, though again, I am less concerned with individual gradations of 0.1 lbs. I will weigh myself and myself with 2 gallons of water, Results tonight if batteries are still working
I’m sure some scales are good enough to do this. But most typical affordable home digital scales are not. At least the few that I have used.
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05-27-20, 08:57 AM
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05-27-20, 12:13 PM
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Of course, the bathroom scale method depends on whether you are strong enough to lift that Supercycle off the ground. I would seriously struggle to do that
Last edited by alcjphil; 05-27-20 at 09:31 PM.
05-27-20, 12:19 PM
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How about bringing it to a LBS and asking them to weigh it?
05-27-20, 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Kapusta View Post
You are confusing precision with accuracy. No, I wasn't. Repeating the weight test, and getting the same value, shows it measures x weight accurately to weigh x. I'm not saying anything about how much I actually weigh, just that the scale reads my weight unchanged, and the total combined weight also the same. Therefore, subtracting one from the other should be relatively accurate, in actual pounds,(As I know I'm around 160, and the bike is sub-20.) More likely to be accurate than weighing either separately.
Plenty of bathroom scales read out to the first decimal place, but do not measure with accuracy of that level.
Also, if there is an error of 1lb in your weight and an error of 1lb in the you+bike weight, then the error of the.bike weight could be anywhere from 0 to two lbs. . You are making an assumption that any inaccuracies in measurement fluctuate randomly, rather than a particular type of error (either absolute, or on a percentage basis). I took multiple readings, that did not vary thus, if there is an error in absolute terms,it is a consistent error.
I have no way of knowing whether a reading of 158.2 is accurate or 177.2 is accurate in absolute terms. However, they are likely to be closely correlated. knowing that in absolute terms, the scale is within a few pounds.
Try this sometime; weigh yourself with an empty water bottle, then do so again with varying amounts of water in the water bottle and see how accurately the scale shows fhe difference. Here you may have a point, though again, I am less concerned with individual gradations of 0.1 lbs. I will weigh myself and myself with 2 gallons of water, Results tonight if batteries are still working
I’m sure some scales are good enough to do this. But most typical affordable home digital scales are not. At least the few that I have used.
You are confusing precision with accuracy. No, I wasn't. Repeating the weight test, and getting the same value, shows it measures x weight accurately to weigh x. I'm not saying anything about how much I actually weigh, just that the scale reads my weight unchanged, and the total combined weight also the same. Therefore, subtracting one from the other should be relatively accurate, in actual pounds,(As I know I'm around 160, and the bike is sub-20.) More likely to be accurate than weighing either separately.
Plenty of bathroom scales read out to the first decimal place, but do not measure with accuracy of that level.
Also, if there is an error of 1lb in your weight and an error of 1lb in the you+bike weight, then the error of the.bike weight could be anywhere from 0 to two lbs. . You are making an assumption that any inaccuracies in measurement fluctuate randomly, rather than a particular type of error (either absolute, or on a percentage basis). I took multiple readings, that did not vary thus, if there is an error in absolute terms,it is a consistent error.
I have no way of knowing whether a reading of 158.2 is accurate or 177.2 is accurate in absolute terms. However, they are likely to be closely correlated. knowing that in absolute terms, the scale is within a few pounds.
Try this sometime; weigh yourself with an empty water bottle, then do so again with varying amounts of water in the water bottle and see how accurately the scale shows fhe difference. Here you may have a point, though again, I am less concerned with individual gradations of 0.1 lbs. I will weigh myself and myself with 2 gallons of water, Results tonight if batteries are still working
I’m sure some scales are good enough to do this. But most typical affordable home digital scales are not. At least the few that I have used.
05-27-20, 12:32 PM
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Using a bathroom scale and weighting your self and then holding the bike is the easiest way. BTW ---DO-- take the bathroom scale out in the garage and put it on concrete. Further I would suggest that most of today digital bathroom scales are probable more accurate than some fish scale.
The reason I say concrete is to get an accurate weight. Dont believe me, weigh yourself in the living room on the rug, and then in the bathroom on the hard surface and see the difference.
The reason I say concrete is to get an accurate weight. Dont believe me, weigh yourself in the living room on the rug, and then in the bathroom on the hard surface and see the difference.
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05-27-20, 04:02 PM
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05-27-20, 10:00 PM
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05-27-20, 11:03 PM
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I tried that & it worked OK, but I use the ~$15 fishing scale a lot.
More accurate, I think. Always gives the same reading to tenth of an ounce.
More accurate, I think. Always gives the same reading to tenth of an ounce.
05-28-20, 12:01 AM
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05-28-20, 05:27 AM
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05-28-20, 06:10 AM
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05-28-20, 06:28 AM
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I just ride my bikes.
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05-28-20, 07:34 AM
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