hypothetical question:
If my bike weighs 20lb, and I could shed 1 lb from either the wheels or the cranks\bb, would there be a performance benefit to the place the weight was removed? or would the now 19lb bike peform the same in either case. does the location of the weight on the bike have any impact?

context for this question: i've got a little extra money and am trying to decide if it will be better spent going to a tubeless wheel or xt BB and cranks. not looking at the performance characteristics of the tubeless wheel for this, which are imo better.

post or reply to chollaball@cox.net

jason

Losing the weight from the wheels would be most advantageous imo as the drop in rotational mass would make the bike accelerate quicker. Savings at the rim (ie lack of inner tube) make the most difference.

Changing the bottom bracket/crank would save weight but would have less effect on handling.

Both would shift the centre of gravity up slightly but shouldn't make too much difference.

_________________
.....but it still has to work!

Hello,

Just made some computations.
The weight of the bike prevents him from going faster.
The weight of the wheels additionnally prevent them spinning faster.
Roughly you'll save 2.5 as much energy when saving weight at outer part of wheels as opposed to other parts of the bike.
SO, saving 100g at the wheels is as good as saving 250g on e.g. the frame.



Cheers
Tousavelo