Eric F 

"Better" is relative to your goals. I might do a workout of multiple high-intensity intervals that leaves me trashed, but because of low-intensity rest periods, my average watts might be fairly low. That could be a very "good" workout. I could do a steady-state tempo ride for a much longer total duration, and a higher average watts, but finish feeling very fresh. That could also be a very "good" workout...or not.

wolfchild

You don't need to get the lightest and most expensive and most sophiscated racing bike out there...You can get a good quality hybrid bike or an entry level road bike or a gravel bike or a mountain bike for around $1500 - $2500, that's not much...Spending a little extra is worth it if you plan on doing any amount of riding

njkayaker

Nonsense.

You have no idea what shape these three riders were in. "Team kits" means nothing.

There's no real reason you couldn't have gotten in the same sort of shape with a lighter setup.

Many cyclists stronger than you don't use heavy crap.

You became stronger by riding harder. You can ride hard on a light bike.

You've been a member here long enough to know better than the nonsense you are pushing.

caloso

Cross off your bingo card for "unless you're racing, you don't need ______"

gringomojado

let tire air out for more exercise

AlmostTrick

For the best workouts get heavier wheels. Rotating weight matters!

GlennR

Just gain 20 pounds, You'll burn more calories and you don't have to buy a different bike.

livedarklions

That's possibly fewer calories burned, but less muscle mass lost. I have no idea which would make you stronger.

livedarklions

For what purpose? And there has to be a point of diminishing returns when you're talking weeks.

livedarklions

For the maximum workout, buy a 50 pound bike and store it on the second floor between rides. Don't use an elevator.

livedarklions

Alternatively, weight the bike, buy a snorkel, and ride it in a five foot deep swimming pool filled with Jello.

cbrstar

I think the OP watched the Anime "Yowamushi Pedal" where the protagonist is able to pedal up a mountain on a 1 speed bike making him almost invincible when he joins a team and becomes their "Hill Climb Specialist"



Too bad it doesn't work that way. Otherwise every rider who puts 70lbs of luggage on their bikes for traveling would easily blow past the best racers in a long distance race.

AlmostTrick

Gain? Some of us are doing all we can just to maintain!

I also resent the common sentiment that thin people need to gain weight before they have "earned" the right to buy a heavy bike.

Leinster

I’ll go one better than a 30lb bike. Between kids and Covid, I’ve gained 25-30lbs on myself in the last few years.

However, training with that extra weight on has not made me any faster. Thus I must reject the hypothesis of this OP.

Sy Reene

For a bitesize shorter example. How about a city dweller, who's looking for some exercise by daily biking his commute to/from work. 10 miles each way. He could opt to ride his relatively lightweight road bike, or grab a 45lb bikeshare on the corner.

AlmostTrick

Exactly. "Better workout" does not need to equal training to be faster, no matter how many times the racer wannabes say so while rushing to defend their choice of $$$$ featherweight bikes. Maybe they use carbon fiber dumbbells for a better workout while weight training in the gym too!

JohnDThompson 

Buy a quality product, and it will last as long as you can avoid the "gotta have the latest and greatest" urge.

KPREN

I agree with the OP. I have an 80 lb bike. If I want a better workout I just decrease the power setting. If I wanna cheat or rest, I just go up a power setting or two. If I wanna pas a roadie, turbo.

livedarklions

Or he could ride the entire route on the lightweight bike on a 53x11 gear ratio. Read the thread, no one's arguing that distance is the variable to determine the quality of the workout.

Reflector Guy

Uses a bell. My kind of cyclist!

friday1970

I would assume watts is watts
You could push 200 watts on a 35lb steel bike, and then push 200watts on a lightweight carbon frame/wheel bike.
You could certainly go faster on the lighter bike, but the input would be the same on both bikes. Am I right on this?

caloso

Yes, you are correct. See LeMond’s Law.

ClydeClydeson

No.

Your biking workout is determined by effort and time. You are likely to put in the same effort riding a heavier/junkier bike, but you'll ride slower, and not go as far because you'll exhaust your energy at the same rate/unit-time as when riding a lighter/less crappy bike, so you just won't go as far. THe result of this in the real world is that riding becomes less rewarding for the same amount of effort, so you are less likely to ride more. A lightweight/fast bike rewards you for every ounce of effort you put in, so you are motivated to keep going hard. A slower bike has a higher effort/reward ratio so is more likely to end in frustration.

THe exception I can think of:

(as mentioned above) if you are riding with a group of people who maintain a consistent speed, keeping up with them on a slower bike will give you a better workout than keeping up with them on a faster bike.

Also, weight only matters when often stopping/starting, and when going up hills. A 30lb touring bike is (almost?) as fast as a 17lb carbon race bike with the same tires on flat terrain. On climbs there will be a penalty based on the difference in weight for the whole rider+bike system... assuming a 175 lb rider, 17lb bike (192 lbs bike+ rider) has an advantage over the 30 lb bike (205 lbs bike+ rider) of about 6% less weight to carry.

ClydeClydeson

Also, I don't know if this has been said above, but weight is not the primary reason Huffys and the like are slow - it's the crap X-tra thick casing cheapo tires, loose and improperly lubricated hubs and bottom bracket, and other drivetrain problems like poor shifting or rubbing. There are lots of fast 35 lb bikes out there (Trail bikes, loaded tourers or commuters, etc), you don't have to ride a POS to have a heavy bike.

remlapnonrev

I do loops with my fat bike for interval training.