Weight Weenies

I have a 2012 felt f1 with 12 reds on it. It has a zipp sl handle bar, sella slr seat and kcnc seat post. I think the bike come in at 13.8. It feels strong but I only have been riding for a little bit so I haven't been on all the bikes. The bike I rode before the felt was a giant tcr with dura ace top to bottom and it weighted 15 pounds with pedals and the felt is a much better bike. It is not close between the two. I want to bring down the bike two mid 12's so I was thinking a new thm fork, ax lightness brakes and these new wheels and I would be there.

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I ride 100 miles a week and between 60-70 miles on sat. and I have not seen any of the top muscles come down, I wish I would be loosing muscle because then I could be getting better parts like you guys

There are other constraints keeping me from exotic bike parts...

You might have to reduce protein intake also. Then your body will have an incentive to take protein from unused muscle.

Curious why you like the Felt-Red so much more than the TCR-DA?

You have been in this game for 6 months. You will soon learn that while you can ride light and exotic wheels, the question will be how long they will last. That I can answer: not long. At your weight you will even distort the pawl seats of all but the most robust hubs. The will lead to ratchet mechanism failure. As for the rest of the wheel, get used to breaking spokes or having wheels that don't handle well, too flexy, rub brakes, etc.

I weigh less than you but I am still on the large side for a cyclist. I have given up on getting optimal handling and ride characteristics from anything less than about 1300 grams. My favourite in light gear/tubulars so far have been the latest from Zipp but with higher spoke counts. But for serious hard riding I prefer H-Plus Son Archetype built on either Chris King R45 or Shimano Dura Ace hubs - 32 spokes rear, 28 in front. Everything else by comparison including the Zipps feel flimsy. You might consider some good factory sets like Fulcrum Zero, etc.

Go ahead and get some light wheels but make sure that you have a real set available to use while the light ones are in the shop. Also realize that performance gains in your situation will be next to nil.

WMW wrote:If you do a lot of long rides, your upper body muscle should reduce pretty quickly.

And change up your food intake/macronutrient composition.

As regardless of your body fat percentage, you're simply very heavy for a cyclist.

The tcr over a 200 mile trip I had an average of 14.8 mph I live in a real hilly area. The felt over the same 200 mile I averaged 16.4. When I was on the giant I was killing myself to get to that and on the felt I felt like I was barely pedaling. I know I am really big for a cyclist but I just started doing this, I only know how to be a D1 athlete which does make me eat a diet that is hi in protein and low in carbs and fat. What does a cyclist diet look like? I would just like the lightest bike I can. So that being the case I am trying to get the best set I can. If the wheels break down I will use the ones on the bike now. But I have never broke spokes or hubs so far.

230 pounds and cycling don't don't work very well together once the road points up. I was reminded of this again trying to ride up the hills in the Maui mountains this week

A 12 lbs bike won't make you appreciably faster in this case (it sounds like you already have an awesome bike). Maybe focus on aerodynamics instead of low weight if you are looking for a project?

P.S. Look at EE brakes if you want a lightweight pair that also works great.

I am a ww at heart and I do look at this as a project, I think it is what makes it fun. I don't know how to make the bike more aero other than increasing the rim depth? Can you help me out if I am missing something? I have aerolight pedals with mavic heuz shoes. What else can I do?

Well, there are little things you can do, but upgrading to a set of aero wheels is going to be the most noticable.
Other than that, you can minimize your drag coefficient by getting a set of clip on tt bars, or an aero helmet.

Well madfiber is the lightest biggest wheelset I know about and they don't have a weight limit but they only have 12 and 18 count spokes and that just doesn't seem like enough but they don't have a weight limit so I don't know

You don't need to quote the post above


Take a look at the 65s from Enve. They come in much more sensible spoke counts than Madfiber, and they come standard with a 5 year warranty.

If we are talking aero, wouldn't the Smart 6.7 rims be a better choice?

Also, the Madfiber don't have a weight limit because they are a special construction, different from conventional spoked wheels, so the spoke counts can be lower.

Aero?? Seriously guys, can you imagine the drag from this guys shoulders? I have a big upper body and it sucks. Looking for efficiency, make sure your clothing is tight. I am guessing it already is at 230 lbs with no body fat. Probably a few euro clothing brands that don't even have a size to fit the OP.

liketoride, go ahead and build a light bike, a fun project and it is always cool to lift up a 12 lb machine. As for the riding part, be patient. Even with hard training it could take 2 to 3 years to build your engine to its potential. Also, if you lay off the gym you will lose muscle as you age.

Mr.Gib wrote:you will lose muscle as you age.

I don't get why you want to loose some muscle, sure it makes you heavier, sure it makes you unable to use WW parts, But I would love to be that strong. If I were in your shoes, I would build some 88mm rims (or maybe even deeper) and just smirk at the lighter cyclists who get blown about on their 30mm rims.

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Mr.Gib wrote:Aero?? Seriously guys, can you imagine the drag from this guys shoulders?

True, the rider is a very large percentage of total drag but this doesn't change the fact that there are aerodynamic gains to be had from equipment so might as well try to gain some benefit from things within his control. An aero frame, aero wheeels, good tight-fitting clothing (like the Castelli San Remo Speedsuit), shoe covers, and even an aero road helmet like the Giro Air Attack if you want to go all out, can help anyone in the performance department no matter their size.