DavyKOTWF

Been riding for 6 weeks; I'm in my 60's. Worked up to 23 miles a week, 5 or 6 times a week on the old Schwinn I dusted off. It's a hybrid.
I weighed it yesterday and it came in at 33 lbs.
So what's all this about weight? If my bike weighs an extra 10 lbs, is the reason everyone wants lighter because they won't have to push that extra 10 lbs around? Or is it something else?
Looks like I might want some solid weight out on the trails, which is mostly what I do. Please enlighten me on the weight issue. Thank you.

ColdCase

Its like a sporty car vs luxury boaty car. The light weight handles better and is much easier to ride. Because it rides easier, you ride longer and with more pleasure, but not everyone cares. Very subjective. My spouse's bike is 5 pounds heavier than mine and the riding pleasure difference is noticeable. She wants to swap bikes often.

A light bike is a heck of a lot easier to but on the bike rack, and to carry up 4 flights of stairs, however.

33 pounds is not that heavy.

Jefmiz

I lost 80 lbs and my Trek feels a lot lighter

DavyKOTWF

ColdCase, thanks for the '33 lbs is not that heavy' comment; makes me feel better.
How long did it take you Jefmiz? Congrats!

winston63 

Within reason, the weight of a bike doesn't really matter all that much unless you are riding competitively. My touring bike is considerably heavier than my cross bike, but I use both for commuting and running errands and I don't get things done noticably faster on the lighter bike. It is a bit easier to climb steep hills with less weight, but really I don't think it's worth obsessing about for most of us.

intbiker

dr1445

71 here, and i keep my bikes in the basement which means stairs and tight landings. my bikes are 26 to 29lbs, after that it becomes struggle. davek, i did 20 miles today on a pair of old knees that might be due for replacement in the near future.

texbiker

Since you are the engine that moves the weight the heavier the bike the more energy you have to expend. A bike in the low 20 pound range, or less if you can afford it, is helpful but the real weight issue is the rider. You can reduce that weight for a lot less $$ than the cost of a lighter bike.

DavyKOTWF

Makes sense Texas...that's why I've started this biking (which I'm loving it) is to lose 20 lbs.
I"ve biked 96 miles now in 6 weeks on my $50 BSO and haven't lost a freakin lb. yet. I think I'll have a
beer and check back in 3 months.

dr1445

riding 20 min is good for your heart. but maybe you need to work on doubling that to achieve some weight loss.

DavyKOTWF

I'm working on it...now am confused, I thought a hybrid was the same as a cyclocross, but reading, find that it isn't? What's the difference??

CliffordK

I think of a hybrid is a MTB/Road cross weighted towards MTB
And Cyclocross as MTB/Road cross weighted towards road.

In particular, the cyclocross bikes tend to have drop bars, "brifters", and cantilever brakes (or disc brakes).

DorkDisk

Cyclocross is a competetive sport. Hybrid is not. Cross is based on road bikes with added clearance and stronger brakes. Hybrids are based mostly on old school mountain bikes.

What does extra mass give you? It takes away nimbleness anytime you want to do anything vertical.

Now if you have no drawbacks and a lighter piece, does it not reflect more time and effort to make such an item? Some people appreciate quality. Light weight and strength show quality in the bicycle world, as in the aerospace world

"Strong. Light. Cheap. Pick two." Best marketing line evar.

yashinon

For myself, a lightweight, the lighter the bike...the better it is.

DavyKOTWF

[QUOTE=CliffordK;18838517]I think of a hybrid is a MTB/Road cross weighted towards MTB
And Cyclocross as MTB/Road cross weighted towards road.
QUOTE]

Really! Right now I'm doing 80/20% trail/road, but am a beginner, in the future it may be 50/50 as my mileage increases. So this Cyclocross sounds like it may be king.

So Dork, are you saying that Cyclocross is strong and light? and Hybrid is X and cheap?
Thanks for the input all.

CliffordK

There is a huge amount of variation in the Hybrid and Cyclocross type bikes.

The typical "hybrid" is cheap heavy bike. But not all are.

For example, you can buy the Specilized Sirrus Pro Carbon for MSRP $2800 with a CF frame & 11 speed hydraulic drivetrain.

On the other end, some manufactures are putting Claris 8 speed drivetrains on their fairly heavy aluminum "Cross" bikes.

canklecat

My hybrid weighs around 35 lbs as I usually ride it, with full 24 oz water bottle, tool bag and first aid kit, and heavy duty tires that are almost twice as heavy as the original tires. But it doesn't feel particularly heavy to me most of the time. Occasionally it does about 2/3 the way up some nearby hills.

I didn't give it much thought until trying a used Trek 7.5 FX at the LBS a few weeks ago. That Trek weighs less than 25 lbs, and was easy to lift with one hand -- in fact, with just my thumb and middle finger looped around the frame.

But I really noticed the difference during a test ride up a gradual incline. If I lived in an area with enough serious hills, or routinely rode longer than my usual 20-40 miles a few times a week, I'd definitely consider the lightest practical bike I could afford. But overall I'm still satisfied with my 35 lb bike.

prj71

No.

What people sometimes confuse on this subject is static weight vs. rotational weight.

A reduction in the weight of the wheels and tires is more beneficial than reductions to the static weight of the body, and other components on the bike.

Simple physics...It takes more energy to accelerate heavier wheels and tires.

An overall reduction in body weight and component weight along with reducing wheel weight will have an effect when climbing hills and working against the effects of gravity.

DavyKOTWF

I test rode a 19 lb Adventure bike today. Seemed no big deal. I guess losing the weight on my body is more important first; down 20 lbs there would be awesome.

winston63 

As I stated earlier, within reason, bike weight really doesn't matter that much for most of us and the kind of riding that we do. If you are riding competitively it may matter an awful lot. If you do some major hill climbing you'll definitely appreciate having to move less mass against gravity. But for most of us who use our bikes to commute or run errands or just ramble around town it's not something to get too concerned about.

But I agree fully that shedding some pounds is definitely a win all round! It's kind of an awesome feeling on the bike when you get lighter and stronger.

ColdCase

I have to disagree a little. I think ride satisfaction is subjective but most riders will notice a big difference. Judging by my 20 or so casual riding friends of all sizes, they all love to ride my 5 pound lighter bike with lower rolling resistance tires. Now the judgment becomes more of worth. Does the extra $500- $700 for a light hybrid provide enough riding satisfaction to justify the cost.

DavyKOTWF

After thinking about it later, I thought a 5 minute test ride wasn't enough to decided whether it was that much better or not. Got to practice on my test riding skills. What say you experts about how long of a test ride you should take and it involving what? like riding up a 20%+ grade? like a flat out top speed level run? braking hard from a fast run? what? Sure, these things come to me a day after my test ride. He was trying to sell his $3300 bike for $1800, it had about 50 miles on it, he said.
For right now, I'm with Winston and my $250 Schwinn and kickstand. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future.

AlmostTrick

Likely the tires are more responsible for the nicer ride than the 5 pounds difference in weight. Low rolling resistance tires like the Compass line have really opened up my eyes to what a big difference they make... definitely more than a few pounds does.

AlmostTrick

Ride it where and how you normally intend to ride. The longer, the better.

winston63 

Completely agreed! Tires can make a huge difference in ride quality.

And just to be clear, I'm not saying that bike weight doesn't matter, it certainly can be important but it's just one factor out of many and in many instances won't be the most important.