Eric F 

This is false. A light bike doesn't mean I put out less effort, it means I go farther/faster with the same effort. I can guarantee you that I can get an extremely good workout on my 16 lb. road bike. In fact, my legs are a bit sore today from my ride yesterday.

EDIT: I can do extended climbs with an output of 240-250 watts, multiple 30 sec efforts over 500 watts, and a single all-out 15 sec effort at about 1200 watts. How would the weight of my bicycle change my body's aerobic capacity and power output capabilities?

genejockey 

I have done the experiment and this hypothesis was disproved.

genejockey 

This is one of those things that seems to make sense, but is actually nonsense. A heavier bike doesn't mean you put more effort into riding. It just means that effort doesn't get you as far in the same time, especially going uphill.

caloso

Your hypothesis is easily tested with a heavy and light bike, each with a power meter.

sammymann

They are riding bikes. Good for them.

surak

What alternate reality are some posters living in where they think that anyone would wear lycra to impress others?

Recreational riders overcome the embarassment of donning skintight outfits that turn themselves into human-shaped sausages in public because cycling clothing works really well for *gasp* cycling.

Just a sliiight whiff of jealousy from people who lack the confidence to do so and make wild accusations about the motive behind wearing activity-appropriate clothing.

RohloffRoller

Did you know that Shimano also manufacture fishing tackle!

Mike

genejockey 

The thing is, the larger you are, the bigger the improvement in comfort from wearing lycra vs 'shorts and a T-shirt'.

caloso

The thing is, the riders who are legitimately fast are doing their work in a basement on a trainer or out on a country road at zero dark thirty. No one to see their clothes but I can guarantee you that they're not wearing t-shirt and tennis shoes.

70sSanO

This can be true under the same route at the same speed. Ride 50 miles at the maximum speed you can go, say 22mph avg on a 15lb bike. Then ride a 30lb bike over the same 50 mile route, in similar conditions, at the same 22 mph avg speed.

John

70sSanO

Agree. That was my point. Riding less distance or slower is same, or possibly less, of a workout.

It is a response to everyone who claims more of a workout... go replicate it with a heavier, but same lever of quality bike; as I know there be one who will say... what if my heavy Dura Ace equipped...

John

jaxgtr

if you think cycling is expensive, let me introduce you to my wife's arts and crafts expenses. I got back into cycling in 2005 and I even bought a SLR 7 Project One bike last year, and the money she spent over the last 3 years alone is 2 or 3 times my lifetime of biking expenses, ....so let that sink in.

genejockey 

Too many negatives. You end up disputing yourself.

genejockey 

Folks who say, "You get a better workout on a heavier bike" largely seem to be saying "Those grapes are probably sour, anyway!"

BTW, often the people someone said "just want to be seen" are often members of local clubs, wearing club kit, which the club likes you to do to advertise the club and get more members. And it's often purchased at a discount, so it's cheaper to wear club kit than less gaudy stuff.

Greg Boggs

Holy **** are you people easy to troll... It's was weak but still went on for 9 pages.

krakhaus 

Am I the only one wondering where all the noobs came from?

rsbob 

When I first started thinking of getting into cycling, I was pedaling my 32 Lb Schwinn Varsity in cut offs, T-shirt and sneakers. Road many miles that way, hot and sweaty with sore hands. Bought some cycling gloves and my hands were no longer sore. Then I thought maybe there is something too the cycling clothes the fast riders zinging by me had on. So I tried cycling shorts and no more chafing. Wow! And my butt didn’t get sore. What the heck get a jersey and try that and it was cooler feeling against my skin and wasn’t flapping in the breeze. Toe clips were next used with my tennis shoes. My good friend who was a real bike nut said that I would be more efficient if I bought real cycling shoes which meant I might be able to better keep up with him so I did and those too made a difference. So incrementally I discovered each piece of kit had a definite advantage over street clothes and were purpose made.

Anyone who has never tried cycling clothes or a good bike is throwing the mud of ignorance, just like me, when I started out. To be experienced tells you what’s what.

relrrt

Don't worry about it.an mind your own business and quit being jealous.

aclinjury

ugh oh, I detect penis envy

Sy Reene

Speed isn't a measure of effort. I think you wanted your example to be to ride at maximum effort for 50 miles on a 15lb bike, and then ride at maximum effort the same 50 miles on a 30lb bike. Which will burn more calories?

70sSanO

Actually this is what the heavy bike crowd professes. I expend more effort on a heavy bike; higher heart rate equals more calories equals better workout.

In reality it is a reflection of a rider putting out the minimum amount of effort required. If someone struggles to ride a heavy bike up a climb, but it is much easier on a light bike that person is simply states the obvious... I don’t put out any more effort than I need to and a heavy bike forced me to put out more effort.

I think that is the main difference between the light/heavy bike groups. One camp needs to be forced to expend more effort the other camp relishes pushing beyond what is necessary.

John

livedarklions

Nahh, because the minimal effort would be driving a car or riding the bus. I think you're reaching to turn this into a morality play.

What's at heart here is the confusion of distance for time. The reason why maximum effort over 50 miles will lead to greater calorie burn for the heavy bike is because the slower speed requires that maximum effort to be sustained for longer than with the faster lighter bike.

Also, I think people are making a logic jump from running, where added weight actually has some pretty drastic effects on the effort needed to keep going while bicycles are actually machines designed to minimize the effect of weight on the effort needed to propel. You don't actually lift the added weight on a bicycle, but when you're running, you do so with every step.

burnthesheep

Sy Reene

Not exactly what I'm suggesting. Assuming the 2 bikes have gearing that allows the same effort (no struggling required) to be output, I'm simply saying that moving the heavier bike over the same distance will take longer, so that the total expended effort would be more because of time.

Otherwise there's a lot of psychological analyses going on for this topic. Someone should plot of linegraph chart or somesuch.. one axis can be weight of bike, the other can be a measure of the incremental joy's positive impact on FTP

70sSanO

No stretch.

There really are different camps that don’t relate to each other. One camp is pushing itself to hit certain numbers and the other camp just likes to ride. It doesn’t matter the distance it is either the joy of performing at a certain level or the joy is in the ride.

Some riders can’t tell you all the sights around them as they are focused on the numbers, other riders see the world around them and the numbers don’t matter.

John