Road Cycling - Weight of bike

I know the racers are on bikes in the mid teens in weight. I'm wondering about the weight of bikes for the average user. I'm looking at the giant OCR2 which is perhaps a bit heavier at 23 lbs? I only ride 10-20 miles or so on weekends so I don't even know if this is an issue for me. What do you think?

What weight are most of your bikes?

Thanks,

Sheldon

Mines about 27 lbs.

Weight shouldn't be an issue for you. Build up your mileage, then get faster, then worry about weight.

My theory is the weight sitting on the bike makes a much bigger difference than that of the bike itself. For a lot of people, it's cheaper to lose too.

During the winter months my bike and I weigh an average of 185, give or take. The rest of the year we average ten pounds lighter, give or take. Makes no difference whether I'm on a 17 or a 24 pound bike. I'm usually more concerned about my body weight than my bike's.

George

weight is not an issue for someone that rides 20 miles on a weekend, but weight is a wow factor. When I look over a new bike, I squeze the brake levers and pick up the bike to see what it weighs. It pretty amazing that something that weighs less than 20lbs can carry you screming down a hill a over 40 mph. On technical decents, I wish to my bike did weigh more...not to go faster, but the unspoken secrect is that lightweight things are more likely to break. this was more true of products of years gone by, I remember when carbon seat post were first introduced... many of them broke. But a 6lb steel frame is not something I will miss.

My bike weights 20.25 lbs. I agree with the other posters, weight of the bike is not an issue for you.

My bike weights 20.25 lbs. I agree with the other posters, weight of the bike is not an issue for you.


Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the responses. I kinda thought that was the case.

I'm replacing a 30 year old Peugeut which I know is heavier that the Giant. I'm planning on putting a lot of miles on this new bike!


Regards to all...

Sheldon

ha! mine is 19 lbs! I'm better then you! hahaha. just kidding. My bike really is 19 lbs, but it isn't that big of a deal to me.

ha! mine is 19 lbs! I'm better then you! hahaha. just kidding. My bike really is 19 lbs, but it isn't that big of a deal to me.

Did you mean better thAn... :eek: so is it 19 lbs ready to ride or stripped down? and what size is it?

I just built a new bike this week. It weighs 18 pounds with pedals and bottle cages. It's fun to gadgetize bikes, though I wholeheartedly agree it's all about the rider.

My bike is "stripped".......it's a 16 lb. fixed gear, including pedals & 36 spokes!

My bike weighs(stripped down) 23 lbs. A few weeks ago, while I was riding the bike, the rear tube blew up. I carried the bike on my shoulder for about a quarter of a mile before someone drove by picked me up. It was only a quarter of a mile but my shoulder was screaming with pain. Specially after 35 miles of riding, it wasn't a pleasant experience.
Yes, the weight matters in that case but it doesn't happen very often.

My bike weighs(stripped down) 23 lbs. A few weeks ago, while I was riding the bike, the rear tube blew up. I carried the bike on my shoulder for about a quarter of a mile before someone drove by picked me up. It was only a quarter of a mile but my shoulder was screaming with pain. Specially after 35 miles of riding, it wasn't a pleasant experience.
Yes, the weight matters in that case but it doesn't happen very often.

Why did you carry it on your shoulder? You could've just pushed it along...

Did you mean better thAn... :eek: so is it 19 lbs ready to ride or stripped down? and what size is it?


its a 57 Cm Lemond alpe d'huez. Stock it was 20, but I puts ome bangin new wheels and tires on it, lost over a pound of rotating mass. and yes, that is "stripped". With water (a pint's a pound, right?) and seat pack, its probably around 22-23.

I'm rollin' a Lemond MAillot Jaune with Ultegra, and Shimano wheels... I wanna say the dry weight is about 17 lbs... much of an improvement over the 27 lb. Centurion I was riding before

Jeff

While I agree that the weight of the rider is much more important overall, I disagree that it makes little or no difference. Riding my two road bikes, one 23lbs and one a little over 17lbs there is a HUGE difference. Acceleration is better, climbing is a little easier, and the lower weight down there makes the entire feeling of the ride substantially different to me.

Of course this may just be me and you may not notice any difference. I would say ride a variety of bikes, light and heavy, and see what you think.

Allan

Why did you carry it on your shoulder? You could've just pushed it along...

I was afraid it would hurt the rim. After the tube blew up and shredded, the remaining of it wrapped around the cog, so I removed it. The tire was coming off easily from the rim as I rolled, the rim had no protection from it. I had another experience the tube blew up long, long time ago, the tube balooned up from the cut on the side of tire. The tube stayed in. I walked little more than ten miles pushing the bike.

My theory is the weight sitting on the bike makes a much bigger difference than that of the bike itself. For a lot of people, it's cheaper to lose too.

Lose the donut around the middle and you will go faster! Besides Strongbad is a really cool guy! I think, well maybe.

Man, you all 're a bunch of sissies.

Just weighed my bike, with the water bottles on and filled with water. I'm a pushin' 60 lbs down the road.

Give me a 25 lb bike and I'll blister ya all. . .

If I had a choice between a 23 pound bike and a 18.5 pound bike, guess which one I would go with. The easier the machine is to ride, the longer I ride. Maybe a 20 mile weekend ride will turn into 40 miles and then something after work and later...total obsession.
A slightly lighter bicycle will climb a little better and allow me to go further into the hills. True, you don't want to be too much of a weight weenie, but then you don't want your machine to be holding you back.
Get and ride the best that you can almost afford.

I don't get all the weight weenie business.

Any weight you are carrying on your frame is already dealt with on a day to day basis by your body musculature. That is, it has adapted and the muscles, connecting tissue etc are strong enough to hold you up right through the day.

Any additional weight you put on yourself (in this instance, a bike) will hamper you more than the same amount of body weight, comparitively speaking. Think of it this way, if you had a 180lbs guy and a 170lbs guy (ceteris paribus) and put 10lbs on the lighter guy's back, who would win? The 180lbs guy, because he is used to heaving the extra 10lbs around on a day to day basis.

So, pounds on the bike are worth more than pounds on the body. Obviously, if you are well over-weight, it would be a good idea to lose a few, that's obvious. But there certainly is a good case for a light bike.

I just don't get the idea of gloating about riding a 1953 lead framed bike with stone wheels. You'll go slow, period.

Weight?
All I know is that My new road bike feels almost too light, it is a weird sensation, after riding on 25 and 27lb mountain bikes, I swear that the 20lb road bike feels like it is light as a feather!!
And yes, I agree that the rider is better suited to loosing the weight than the bike, in most cases.

I know the racers are on bikes in the mid teens in weight. I'm wondering about the weight of bikes for the average user. I'm looking at the giant OCR2 which is perhaps a bit heavier at 23 lbs? I only ride 10-20 miles or so on weekends so I don't even know if this is an issue for me. What do you think?

What weight are most of your bikes?

Thanks,

Sheldon

23 pounds sounds LIGHT for a bike that would serve your needs.

My ex-racer friend cruises around on his early 90s vintage cromoly Allez, which has gotta be something like 30 pounds lol.

My first and only bike is an ocr2 and it is a great bike!! Good luck on your rides... I enjoy the heck out of mine... and that third ring comes in handy on some climbs!

My bike is around 19.5, its a Bianchi SL Lite with Camp Centaur and Proton wheels. My rocky mountain is around 31, but its a hucker bike so its ok.

i agree, the average person can lose a whole lot more weight on the body than on the frame. but then, once you get down to a certain point in body weight, it gets hard to lose any more and still retain power.

hence a lighter bike, especially for climbs. those who don't understand how desirable it is to take a pound off either the bike or the rider have probably never been on a 2-3 hour climb. on the flats or rolling hills it just doesn't matter so much.

my last road bike was 17.25 lbs. my new cyfac, coming in a month or so, will build up to 16 lbs and change. both bikes were/are to be built with ultegra ... with campy record they'd be sick.

my last road bike was 17.25 lbs. my new cyfac, coming in a month or so, will build up to 16 lbs and change. both bikes were/are to be built with ultegra ... with campy record they'd be sick.

16lbs with Ultegra?

What are you going to do? Just not bother with wheels and carry the thing with you :D I expect a plethora of pics when it arrives! ;)

i agree, the average person can lose a whole lot more weight on the body than on the frame. but then, once you get down to a certain point in body weight, it gets hard to lose any more and still retain power.

hence a lighter bike, especially for climbs. those who don't understand how desirable it is to take a pound off either the bike or the rider have probably never been on a 2-3 hour climb. on the flats or rolling hills it just doesn't matter so much.

I've done the Death Ride 3 times to completion and I still don't care about weight. I thought I was fairly lean when I raced a few years ago but I was still able to go from 168 to 151 w/o any loss of power. Next fiscal month I'm buying myself an Aliante saddle to reward myself for all the riding I've been doing. Also, riding indoors tends to exacerbate saddle discomfort. Even though I'm way under the 180# limit for the carbon-railed version, I'm going to get the Ti one and use the $35 to buy some new tires as all of my tires are worn and cut to the point where they're safe only for indoor use.

combined weight of me + race bike is 144lbs. how does that make you feel? that's without water obviously.

combined weight of me + race bike is 144lbs. how does that make you feel? that's without water obviously.

I don't know if you're talking to me but I'm not impressed. Tom Danielson is about the same weight so are you as fast as him? There are a lot of women that weigh the same as you but they have trouble keeping up with heavier men even on climbs.

Power/CdA determines how fast you go on level ground and power/mass is predominant when climbing. Simply being small and light or big and heavy is not enough.

i can almost match that, bike 19lbs me 126lbs. What is your height?

i think 5 foot 9.

sorry "squint" i don't think you were meant to be impressed. i don't live up my own ass but thanks for the reaction.

as far as being as good as tom danielson goes - what do you think? he's on a top pro team and i'm a cat 2 monkey. work it out.

i think 5 foot 9.

sorry "squint" i don't think you were meant to be impressed. i don't live up my own ass but thanks for the reaction.

as far as being as good as tom danielson goes - what do you think? he's on a top pro team and i'm a cat 2 monkey. work it out.

So I was supposed to be in awe of your feminine build instead? I'm sorry you didn't get the reaction you wanted.

what does the bike weight?

18 pounds.

i'd rather be whippet thin and fast up hills than a lard ass who gets dropped on flyovers.

and what's wrong with feminine anyway? http://www.bloodhoundgang.com/lyricsschmyrics/gwd.html for a full explanation.

16lbs with Ultegra?

What are you going to do? Just not bother with wheels and carry the thing with you I expect a plethora of pics when it arrives!

lolol! pics will definitely be posted. the damn frame is costing me more than any bike i've yet ridden, but i am hoping it will be worth it.

frame: cyfac custom-built starship elite (www.veloeuropa.com) carbon muscle rear
triangle, super muscle fork
wheels: mavic ksyrium sscs
seatpost: easton ct2
handlebar: easton ec90
stem: ritchey pro (for time being)
saddle: flite gel titanium
cranks: fsa carbon pro team issue
bottom bracket: fsa titanium
pedals: bebop stainless (i am gonna get rid of my speedplays, they suck)
all other components: shimano ultegra until i can afford campy record.



and i'm a cat 2 monkey

cat 2 where - location makes a big difference here in the states. here the top half of cat 4 is ahead of the last few cat 2's on hill climbs.

bike weight is not an issue?

Performance, a few lbs may not be that significant.
But a bad setup, poorly maintained machine is. This includes both the rider and bike. :)

If I were to choose. I'de pick up the lighter bike. Who wouldn't want one????