IdleUp

I bought my first alumininum road bike last year and had already put in 1500 miles on it. It is a 2010 Trek 2.1. I absolutely liked every single part of it except for its weight. It tipped my scale at about 21.3 lbs.

My biggest mistake was looking at my friends CAAD 10 4 which makes my bike weigh like a tank now. His stock CAAD 10 4 could very well be on the 15-17 lb. range.

I currently do not have plans of buying another aluminum bike as I love how my 2.1 handles but I was just curious why the big weight difference. Where is that coming from?

10 Wheels

Have you actually weighted both bike on a scale?

Adrianinkc

SRAM and a full carbon steer tube.

spock

Check your tubing. Maybe someone put something in there. Probably your friend.

Who cares. Be happy with what you have.

Carbon Unit

It could be a combination of things; lighter carbon frame, lighter wheels and lighter groupo. Dropping weight off of a bike will cost you a few bucks and the cheapest way of dropping weight is to buy a new bike with the components already on it. Manufacturers can get price breaks on things by buying in bulk.

Why not continue to ride your bike until you can't live without cycling, then upgrade your bike and ebay the old one.

BotByte

I had a 70's 10 speed that weighed over 45 lbs.
I'm now riding a full steel, double butted frame road bike (single speed) that weights 18.4 lbs.

Weight difference doesn't really matter if your not shaving off every pound.

Says me, I've lost 100 pounds with cycling and my distance and speed has increased 500%

I'd go for a aluminum frame and carbon fork and parts.
Riding a full carbon bike makes me think that it might just shatter at any moment. I like the carbon fork because it takes a lot of the shock out of the road.

datlas 

Ride the crap out of what you have.

A few pounds makes no major difference.

It's cheaper and easier to lose a couple pounds off your body anyway.

Ride more, worry less.

Carbon Unit

A well made carbon bike will out last an aluminum bike. I have a Calfee Tetra. Calfee has been building that same bike since 1987. There are Tetras with 120,000 miles on them that ride like new. Unless a truck runs over my bike, I don't expect that it will break and if it does Calfee can fix it better and cheaper than repairing an aluminum frame.

clink83

^ people who are afraid of carbon tend to neglect to mention that Aluminum frames have a finite lifespan, since they will fail from fatigue eventually. They also tend to neglect the fact that many high end Al frames have such thin tubes that the dent easy, which will eventually be a source of failure too.

bigskyTi

weight comes from a lot of places. Wheels are a big one, frame can be big, groupsets can be half a pound or so, tires and tubes, even something as innocuous as bar tape can weigh down your rig.

As somebody that rides a 13.8lb bike i cna say though that the weight really doesn't matter that much

oban_kobi

Htfu?

zachsilvey

As someone who is in the market for a new wheelset I can tell you wheels make a huge difference. Even a cheap alu set from neuvation combined with a lightweight tire and tube I could cut 1.5 lbs. from my bike.

clink83

My carbon bike is 21lbs with saddle bag, so you're bike isn't that heavy.

v70cat

Caad 10 is made of Alum!

pdedes

i remember when 21 lbs was a light racing bike.

Carbon Unit

OK, then maybe it isn't the frame but all the other stuff like groupo and wheels.

pallen

The weight differences can be anywhere and most likely is a combination of many parts - a little here and a little there - it adds up. Saddle, wheels, seatpost, crank, fork, pedals are probably the biggies (other than the rider). I wouldn't worry about a couple pounds though. You notice that difference most when you're putting it on the bike rack.

climber7

no, it's definitely still the frame, too. i think i saw somewhere that the caad10 frameset is around 1100 grams...really light for an aluminum frame. supposed to be 200g lighter than the caad9. it could easily be half a pound or even a pound lighter than your trek frameset.

beyond that, what everyone else said. little differences accumulate...wheels, tires, bar, stem, etc.

Carbon Unit

I have heard from a few sources that weight only makes a difference if you are climbing. On flats it makes little or no difference. I am probably carring 15 pounds around my waste more than I should. Dropping that weight would make a much bigger difference in performance than taking a few pounds off of the bike.

collegeskier

Are the bikes the same size? Bigger bikes interestingly weigh more, I think it has to do with density and volume but I am not sure. I know my bikes are always above claimed weight and part of that is claimed weights are for i think 54 or 56 cm frames.

v70cat

+1

NathanC

I think you will find that your bike compared to your friends CAAD 9-4 is that every item is just a little lighter on the CAAD, thus making 1.5kg difference in the end.

Nick Bain

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a generalization: lighter bikes and wheels will instantly feel faster especially when accelerating but in the end when it comes down to maintaining your velocity there is not much difference. Unless your a pro riding up mountains for 6 hours.

v70cat

A light bike will feel better and climb better however on a flat, after reaching speed, not much of a difference.

So if you just keep riding on the flats and don't stop and start no reason for a lighter bike.