eduskator

Lighter wheels will def. make a huge difference. They spin easier and with less effort . Tires are playing a big role as well. I immediately noticed the difference when I jumped on my Adv. Pro (that is roughly 3-4lbs lighter than my previous Defy & that has carbon fibre 30mm rims.). Some upgrades are worth prioritizing.

Snowflake6

They'll only make a difference until you're up to speed though. Once you're stabilized, lighter/heavier wheels won't matter much. It's just when you jump to chase someone where you feel the lower weight.

sheddle

to help people out with this important question I made a helpful flowchart

Seattle Forrest

Back when I rode tubulars (purely recreationally, I got a deal on a set and wanted to see what the hype was about) I put my bike in the car and wheels in the trunk, drove 2 hours down to Ashland (?), and planned to go Paradise. But I had a staple in my trunk, and arrived with a flat tire. The can of sealant I had didn't fix it, and the nearest shop was like 50 behind me. I've been meaning to go back for it, but that kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

Did Sunrise, though. And a bunch of passes, sometimes two at a time. Everything in the Methow is fantastic, and Sherman is pretty nice too.

bbbean 

That's a subjective question. As you can see from the answers to this thread, it matters very much to some, and not at all to others.

As a matter of testable performance, a lighter bike will accelerate and climb faster. Depending on the amount of weight, you may or may not find this noticeable, and it may or may not be worth the cost. With that said, there are a LOT of things that impact performance, and some of them are a tradeoff. Aero frames and wheels tend to weight a little more than their non-aero components. You have to find the particular set of attributes that best suit your needs, your price range, and your abilities.

If he bike you're riding is several years old, almost any comparable new bike will be lighter, more aero, and have better components. The net effect of all that is that it will likely perform better than your old bike. If performance is important to you and you can afford it, test ride a few bikes, find the bike that best suits your needs, get it properly fitted, and ride as much as you can. But don't obsess on any one particular aspect (aero, weight, electronics, etc) to the exclusion of the whole bike.

BB

eduskator

Yep. My rides being 90+% hills, I'm almost never ''stabilized'' - I'm either going up or down. Newton's first law is rarely on my side. My climbings have improved so much since I switched to an Adv. Pro versus the Adv.

Snowflake6

How much weight have *you* lost since you switched? I'd bet it's more than the drop in bike weight.

eduskator

A lot more! The TCR Adv. Pro is 16.8lbs (7.25kg) while the Defy Adv. was close to 21lbs (9.5kg) if my memory is good. On my side, I lost close to 20lbs (from 200ish to 180ish) since I started riding intensively back in May, but I, however, lost 90% of that weight using my previous bike. I bought the Adv. Pro at the beginning of September, and immediately noticed a difference. The TCR is 20% lighter, which is considerable.

The transformation is impressive, because I wasn't fat at 200lbs (I'm 6'1''), I was bulky and had been training at the gym for over 5 years. With winter knocking on our doors, I need to go back to the gym and train those quads to be ready for next season

sterlingsam

Most of the time I ride a mid-1970s Bridgestone T700. Though I have 'upgraded' it, the bike still weighs 25+ pounds. Despite this, I am still able to keep up with others in most all situations, in various bicycling groups, with their carbon frame/fork/wheel bicycles. This is not to say that weight doesn't matter, it does. To the extent of about 2.5 seconds per mile/pound. That is, riding the same span with a bike weighing 15+ pounds, I would go about 25 seconds faster than if I was riding my 25+ pound bike. What matters as much as the bikes weight is your weight. A lighter bike, in other words, doesn't make you a better bicyclist, faster yes, better no.

eduskator

I agree and disagree. It all depends on your definition of a ''better cyclist''. If you would be able do the same exact ride (same efforts, rests, etc.) simultaneously on both bikes, you would perform better (a lot more than 25 seconds in my opinion) on a modern bike that's 10lbs lighter than your T700. Not only would you would (quote)keep up with others(unquote), but you would also outperform them.

In the end, at all depends on your own needs. A casual cyclist who enjoys rides from time to time won't bother having a heavier bike. It would be a waste of money. A cyclist whos goal is to lose weight won't bother either - the heavier, the sweatier! For that cyclist who's already in optimal shape and looking to improve his stats ride after ride, bike weight will matter and he'll start shaving grams by upgrading his components. When you are in your optimal shape and size, you can't cut any more body weight.

banerjek

This. The right answer depends on the individual, how/where they ride, and their goals.

I also think the math-based responses miss the mark even if they are technically accurate. Your body doesn't work like an electric motor where you simply put out the exact same normalized power and you go slightly slower.

Real life cycling is full of constant micro accelerations, and/or you're typically riding with others which requires more effort in some situations. Add in that your body is used to moving a certain amount of weight around, and small differences matter even if it's easy to exaggerate how much. For example, you'll definitely notice if you lug a quart of water around with you -- that's only 2 pounds.

If you don't ride near your limits, neither a slight speed drop nor effort increase will be noticeable or relevant. But a lighter bike might still be more fun.

UkCatsBiker

[QUOTE=MinnMan;21143771]Naw, I’m still here. Amazed at the in depth responses.

Maybe I should have asked: is it worth disregarding or not testing a bike that may weigh 2-3 pounds more than another companies equivalent model?

Seattle Forrest

Random data point.

Every MTB I've ever been on has weighed more than any road bike I've owned at least in the last decade. But, thanks to gearing, they climb steeper hills than I'd want to on a road bike, and with ease.

Seattle Forrest

No. Unless you're extremely pressed for time.

Every test ride you do is going to add a little bit. If you take a bike out and can't stand it, that helps you narrow things down, and you'll feel like you made a better decision when it's all said and done.

Two pounds isn't that much, especially if it buys you something worth having for your riding style. If you wind up loving it you might get the bug and decide to spend $$ on light wheels and other components.

wphamilton

I've never test ridden any bicycle I've ever owned. Maybe I can't miss what I never knew, but I push the pedals and the bike goes forward. Everything else is either spec'd, or adjustable, or I can get used to. YMMV.

bbbean 

I can saw with nearly 100% certainty that you would get more out of your next bike if you test rode a few different bikes. While you may be able to make a lot of bikes work, finding a bike that fits you and your needs to a T is a wonderful thing.

BB

Mogens

I have never felt tempted to pour the water out of my bottle in order to make climbing a steep hill easier. I'm sure weight makes a difference for people who need minuscule advantages in competitive environments, but not to me. Or most likely you.

terrymorse 

...with ease, but more slowly.

HTupolev

Unless you're bottomed out, in which case lower gears can be considerably faster.

Seattle Forrest

Sure, but it's not a race. If we were having this conversation in the racing forum it would be different, but most of us are recreational cyclists in here. That doesn't mean speed can't be important, it's up to everybody individually how much they value different aspects of riding. But it doesn't make sense to take a lot of good bikes off the table because they'll slow you down a few seconds on big hills.

big john

I never test ride either. In the rare case that I find a bike in my size it won't be set up to my liking. The last road bike I bought I test rode 2 bikes and they both felt awful, couldn't ride either one more than a minute. Ended up buying one of them.
The last mtb I bought sight unseen, just picked it from geometry charts. Most roads bikes I buy as a frame.

big john

[QUOTE=UkCatsBiker;21146117]In that case it all comes down to money and if you are willing to shell out for the lighter, more expensive model. In my case I also consider durability as super light stuff will sometimes break under my weight, sloppy riding, and lax maintenance.

terrymorse 

Compared to gearing that won't allow you to make the pedals go around, lower gears are infinitely faster. Obviously.

But assuming that you have adequate gearing to climb a hill on both a road bike and MTB, my own experience says the MTB will be substantially slower.

Back in 2004, I did the Big Pine to Schulman Grove climb (21.4 miles, 5940') on my touring road bike, then several weeks later on a MTB of about equal weight. I was 12% slower on the MTB.

MinnMan

[QUOTE=UkCatsBiker;21146117]Something funny in the cutting and pasting. UKCatsBiker wrote this, not me.

big john

[QUOTE=MinnMan;21146660]Yeah, that was weird.