cyclintom
04-26-06, 07:22 AM
Over the weekend I was weighing my road bikes. My lightest bike was, of course, my (normally) hideously expensive and almost entirely carbon, Colnago C40. It tipped the scale despite what all of the weight weenies have to say about their bike weights - at 20 lbs 5 ounces.
My titanium Eddy Merckx Ex weighed in at 21 lbs 4 ounces.
Note that these weights are riding weights - with water bottles, seat packs and pumps.
Yesterday I was working late so I missed the evening club ride and decided to just do a local cross ride around the parks around 12 miles or so. I pulled the Raleigh Team CX off the hooks and went out riding it. It rides REALLY strong but I have these super heavy Specialized 38 mm knobbies on it that I happened to pick up on sale. Aside from the frame and fork there's nothing particularly light about the bike. I put a set of Mavic Kyserium Equipe's on it because they're good wheels and cost less than having the local bike shop build you up a reliable set of wheels.
So you might say that the bike is a moderate setup in most regards. The only real change I'd make to it is to use Avid Shortie brakes instead of the more cx-y looking Radius I used. And of course for Real(tm) CX racing you'd need some real CX tires which would weight in at half the scale that these Specialized do. Though I'll admit that these get 3 times the traction in soft stuff.
The bike handles so well that I am impressed every time I go out. I really didn't expect it to be such a sweet ride. CX bikes are supposed to just get a job done and beyond that who cares?
Anyway, when I got it back to the garage and was about to put it up, it felt so light that I had to stick it on the hanging scale and I was very surprised to discover that the bike, set up like it is, is less than 2 ounces heavier than the titanium road bike! There was more weight in mud still on the bike from this last winter (OK, maybe I'm not the fastest clean up guy in the world.)
The frame and fork was pretty cheap as I recall. It sold for less than other good quality stuff.
So you guys might think seriously about this mark.
My titanium Eddy Merckx Ex weighed in at 21 lbs 4 ounces.
Note that these weights are riding weights - with water bottles, seat packs and pumps.
Yesterday I was working late so I missed the evening club ride and decided to just do a local cross ride around the parks around 12 miles or so. I pulled the Raleigh Team CX off the hooks and went out riding it. It rides REALLY strong but I have these super heavy Specialized 38 mm knobbies on it that I happened to pick up on sale. Aside from the frame and fork there's nothing particularly light about the bike. I put a set of Mavic Kyserium Equipe's on it because they're good wheels and cost less than having the local bike shop build you up a reliable set of wheels.
So you might say that the bike is a moderate setup in most regards. The only real change I'd make to it is to use Avid Shortie brakes instead of the more cx-y looking Radius I used. And of course for Real(tm) CX racing you'd need some real CX tires which would weight in at half the scale that these Specialized do. Though I'll admit that these get 3 times the traction in soft stuff.
The bike handles so well that I am impressed every time I go out. I really didn't expect it to be such a sweet ride. CX bikes are supposed to just get a job done and beyond that who cares?
Anyway, when I got it back to the garage and was about to put it up, it felt so light that I had to stick it on the hanging scale and I was very surprised to discover that the bike, set up like it is, is less than 2 ounces heavier than the titanium road bike! There was more weight in mud still on the bike from this last winter (OK, maybe I'm not the fastest clean up guy in the world.)
The frame and fork was pretty cheap as I recall. It sold for less than other good quality stuff.
So you guys might think seriously about this mark.