"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Removing components for a race

Is it allowed to remove unnecessary components for a race?

Example: A hill climb with zero descending or significant turns.

Would it be against any rules to remove the FD and rear brake and associated cabling? I looked at the rulebook and it doesn't state that having 2 brakes is a requirement, although the UCI book does. This would save .5 to .75 pounds depending on level of components.

I'm asking mainly out of curiosity, but this also seems that it could be useful in certain situations.

It's easier to lose body weight. Just go take a number 2 and you're good to go. You never know when you might need your components.

be careful about removing front derailleur - you might lose a chain. Even if you don't shift.

What hill climb are you talking about?

i think people remove rear brakes sometimes for like Mt Washington, etc. MOST of the pure hill climb races are NOT sanctioned, anyway. Like Equinox, Ascutney, Burke, Washington, Whtieface, etc.

"only a bicycle with a freewheel and one working brake on each wheel shall be used"

I remember about 15 years ago, a woman rode the USA national TT with only one brake (think it was Rebecca Twigg, not sure), anyway she was disqualified afterwards.

I'm sure she was not happy.

Does a half a pound really make that much difference?

For some races, I'll remove my frame pump.

Pls don't report me.

I seem to always remove my courage and ability before races. Perfectly legal but no performance advantage.

Does a half a pound really make that much difference?

on a hill climb it sure can.. I did the calculations a few years back for our local hillclimb race, at the speed I was climbing (slow) 1 lb was almost an entire minute over the 80 minute climb..

"only a bicycle with a freewheel and one working brake on each wheel shall be used"

That is what I was looking for. I skimmed over the rulebook, but must have missed that. The FD isn't really worth removing anyways since it is only ~85 grams.

The hill climb I'm speaking of is the Mt. Charleston hill climb in Las Vegas. There's a thread about it.

I'm usually in support of the "take a dump", "lose body weight", etc. argument in lieu of spending a ton of cash to save bike weight, but I just thought if I can spend 5 minutes and $0 to remove components that will essentially be dead weight during the ride, why not?

To answer the question of how much time it can really save: based on a rough calculation, 20 seconds. Sure it's not much, but I'd take it for no cost and 5 minutes worth of work.

Your ability or lack thereof will far outweigh the advantages of removing a brake...front derailleur is optional.

Your ability or lack thereof will far outweigh the advantages of removing a brake...front derailleur is optional.

Ability is definitely the most important factor, but it isn't the only one. The fastest climber in the world is going to be slower up a lengthy climb if he has to ride a bike that is 5 pounds heavier.

Your ability or lack thereof will far outweigh the advantages of removing a brake...front derailleur is optional.

Having ability and removing a rear brake aren't mutually exclusive.

Ability is definitely the most important factor, but it isn't the only one. The fastest climber in the world is going to be slower up a lengthy climb if he has to ride a bike that is 5 pounds heavier.

Yeah, but that's 5 pounds. Can you shake 5 pounds off the bike?
I'm not here to be all negative and a spoiler, but seriously, proper training and diet will far outweigh anything you can take off the bike for a faster climb. I bet if you have enough time you could train hard, eat right, get enough recovery and destroy your personal record.

Yeah, but that's 5 pounds. Can you shake 5 pounds off the bike?
I'm not here to be all negative and a spoiler, but seriously, proper training and diet will far outweigh anything you can take off the bike for a faster climb. I bet if you have enough time you could train hard, eat right, get enough recovery and destroy your personal record.

See the post above yours. Of course ability is the most important factor, but any type of optimization helps.

If I had the choice between proper training and removing the rear brake on my bike, of course I would choose proper training. However, if you can do both, then why not?

Edit: An analogy would be: Why bother getting aero wheels when you can just train harder and gain more? The answer: do both and you gain even more.

I guess. Try to borrow a set of lighter wheels. I think that would be the best approach.

start by removing spokes, because that's rotating weight.

if you trained for the amount of time it took to read this thread you'd be faster...

You can calculate how much it'd help here http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesLessWeight_Page.html

.5 lbs won't be much.

You might look into cutting an aluminum tube to the right length to replace some of the sections of your cassette. It's not going to make much difference, but when you're going lean, why not?

if you trained for the amount of time it took to read this thread you'd be faster...

Not if it's recovery time.

start by removing spokes, because that's rotating weight.

And the tires too....I hear they have rolling resistance.

Not if it's recovery time.

Not trying to be cute with this response...but doesn't recovery help make you faster? Hmmmmmmm?

Don't remove the FD, you will lose your chain.

Don't remove the FD, you will lose your chain.

shouldn't be too hard to find.

shouldn't be too hard to find.

You'd be surprised.

Guy on a training ride snapped one in a sprint. It almost hit someone in the head on its way off the road. We looked for about an hour, but never found it.

You'd be surprised.

Guy on a training ride snapped one in a sprint. It almost hit someone in the head on its way off the road. We looked for about an hour, but never found it.

Now that would be a chain tattoo a cat5 would be jealous of.

Does a half a pound really make that much difference?

No, but 5lbs does. :thumb:

I have a hill climb this weekend. 17.5 miles. 7% grade. 5400 feet of climbing.

In 3.1 miles at 7% grade, 5lbs will save you 30 seconds and about 2 min 30 seconds in a short 1.5hour race.

I was amazed how much power it came off of there with. I always figured they just kind of broke and stayed there. This thing had some serious speed on it. Incredible amount of energy in it.

I think someone might've gone to the hospital if it hit them in the face. They're not exactly light, and it was going really fast.

Not trying to be cute with this response...but doesn't recovery help make you faster? Hmmmmmmm?

Yeah, we're on the same page. Posting in the forum won't interfere with getting stronger if it's done during recovery time ;)

Yeah, we're on the same page. Posting in the forum won't interfere with getting stronger if it's done during recovery time ;)

Don't stand when you can sit, and don't sit when you can post on bikeforums.

I'm going to need a graph to explain that.

Posting in the forum won't interfere with getting stronger if it's done during recovery time ;)

You could have higher quality recovery offline (sleeping, etc). That's why I do most of my posting while "working", my recovery time is too important. :lol:

*yawn* time for bed. See you after my first meeting...