Do you feel faster on a lighter bike (compared to a heavier one)?

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tmr5555
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by tmr5555

pdlpsher1 wrote:
tmr5555 wrote:
pdlpsher1 wrote:It would be interesting to run a double-blind experiment where the rider is asked to ride two bikes with different weights however they cannot lift the bike to feel the weight difference. I'm willing to bet that no one can reliably feel 500g. of static weight difference :D


Respectfully disagree. 500 grams difference is quite easy to feel.


I'm sure your body weight varies by at least 500 grams each morning when you wake up. Do you find a correlation between your actual riding weight vs. how fast you feel on the bike? I'm talking about static weight here so body weight is the same as the bike weight. If the bike weight stay the same and your body weight changes are you gonna feel the weight difference?


When shaking the bike side to side on a climb, I definitely feel it.
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bkw
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by bkw

When "KOM hunting" do you remove your bidons and everything else in your pockets? There's a short climb near me that I'm top 10 in and I'd like to swipe it.. wondering if it'd make a difference if I left everything at the bottom of the hill. But then I'd have to go down and retrieve my stuff and do it again :(

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

bkw wrote:When "KOM hunting" do you remove your bidons and everything else in your pockets? There's a short climb near me that I'm top 10 in and I'd like to swipe it.. wondering if it'd make a difference if I left everything at the bottom of the hill. But then I'd have to go down and retrieve my stuff and do it again :(


You should take off everything including your clothing :lol:

tmr5555
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by tmr5555

pdlpsher1 wrote:
bkw wrote:When "KOM hunting" do you remove your bidons and everything else in your pockets? There's a short climb near me that I'm top 10 in and I'd like to swipe it.. wondering if it'd make a difference if I left everything at the bottom of the hill. But then I'd have to go down and retrieve my stuff and do it again :(


You should take off everything including your clothing :lol:


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kode54
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by kode54

on hills, definitely yes. on the flats...once up to speed, no. in fact i can hold speed longer with my heavier bike than the light one. on the lighter bike, i really have to pedal to maintain speed....because once i back off on the pedals...i'll tend to lose someones wheel right away versus with the heavier bike.
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RyanH
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by RyanH

No, between 5kg and 7kg I don't notice it. I've gained 3-4kg in water weight in one night and wasn't any slower. The only time I've ever noticed the weight of a bike was on a 12kg bike on a 8% climb.

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euph
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by euph

Half of you guys are saying you don't notice a 500g difference in bike weight. Fill up a 500ml water bottle and put in on the bike. Then say you can't feel 500g!

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kgt
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by kgt

That's different because the weight of a bottle is not evenly distributed.

IME a difference of 1,5kg or more - in the case of a bike - is noticeable. In the case of a wheelset though even 200-300gr (especially on the rims) is rather noticeable.
Last edited by kgt on Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:12 am, edited 2 times in total.

euph
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by euph

Fair point kgt.

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Rick
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by Rick

My proposed explanation of why light bikes "feel" faster:
Weight only makes a significant difference during the acceleration portions of a ride.
But on a light bike, when you make a short-term determined stomp or two on the pedals, a light bike DOES jump forward a little more noticeably.
Over any significant period of time though, you are still just limited by your power to weight ratio.
So it subjectively feels faster because you can feel it jump forward when you are most concentrated on accelerating. But it is not really faster because your power-to-weigh ratio is negligibly affected by the small weight difference (although lighter still really is slightly faster).

Conversely, if you are riding a heavy bike, and you try to put out more power and you don't feel anything changing, the psychological effect is to think "Why bother?"
...even though the heavier bike might actually be holding your accumulated momentum longer.

Shmitt
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by Shmitt

From my opinion when i ride the same trip about 50 km , terrain is moderate ,some hills , some flats, some decent. when i going from home mostly with wind, returning with wind in the face - difference between 15kg bike and 7kg bike, when I weight 67-68 kg is of course noticable. It is easier in every way - stricly going up and with wind in the face - easier to move forward.

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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

When you speak of a lighter bike vs a more heavy, what numbers are you thinking of?

This was tested somewhere and they concluded that for a true change, we should have a difference of 1/3 of the total bike weight.
The most i feel changing tires.

I have Ax lightness Vial EVO D and it's about 5650 grams, my ready to ride Open UP with some tools, Co2 pump, cartridges and sealant is around 9Kg's.
Weight was not a factor with this build. Well, wheels was partly to be fair.

Most change i have noticed is actually swapping tires (on the UP) from just below 400 grams (each tire) to 500 grams.
The heavier tires feel much more sluggish.

A lighter bike feels more nimble but part from that you actually adopt quite fast to weight differences.

Most gains from a light bike is when climbing.

But if you are about 100Kg's, you should also consider durability and stiffness.
You really press the boundaries at this weight.

Personally i would consider fit, feel and durability over light weight if i were you.
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Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

fromtrektocolnago
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by fromtrektocolnago

one bike can certainly feel faster or slower than another, but usually it has more to do with geometry and wheel choice than a pound in either direction.
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dmulligan
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by dmulligan

fromtrektocolnago wrote:one bike can certainly feel faster or slower than another, but usually it has more to do with geometry and wheel choice than a pound in either direction.

Don't forget a stiffer bike feels faster too.

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Ginsterdrz
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by Ginsterdrz

Yes

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