bmthom.gis

As for the weight, it would probably help if you were able to balance it out fore and aft. Al lthe weight in the back does make handling a little more difficult. As long as you have a wide enough range of gears and don't mind going slow uphill, I have found weight is okay.I have an east-west commute, so if the wind is coming out of the west on my way home, I am fighting a headwind for 90% of my ride.

RubeRad

+2

I'm surprised how many here say wind. For me, I know that wind slows me down (or speeds me up), drafting is good, I can see its effect on my cyclocomputer, but it's hard for me to feel. Now going uphill, that I feel, and with an extra 50lb of groceries, coming up the driveway is a real bear. And negligible grades become non-negligible.

ItsJustMe

Oh heck, no competition. Wind is the worst.

Weight only really bogs you down going up hills, wind is bad always.

Also, weight does not gust and try to throw you in front of a truck.

erig007

For me it's not the amount of time you spend on a bike and therefore how long the effort fighting wind is but the peak intensity of the effort that drain energy the most.
My body can recover little effort for longer period more easily than intense effort during a shorter period. Unless i'm fighting an hurricane or wants to keep the same speed all along wind is in the former category and going uphill carrying heavy weight in the latter one.

winston63 

For me wind is much worse. I often ride a heavy bike and I often carry heavy loads and I don't mind that even with some significant hills. Once I'm rolling it's pretty good and my bike (AWOL) handles nicely under load. But man, gusty winds can be nasty - in fact I was fighting a very strong headwind on my way to work this morning and I really, really don't like that.

rhm

If you're carrying your bike up stairs, weight.

If you're riding it, wind.

RidingMatthew

WInd is much worse. it is unpredicable. Weight is pretty constant. whatever you start the trip with you have with you for the long haul.

devianb

That pretty much sums it up for me.

erig007

The impact of weight isn't constant. When going uphill it will prevent you from going forward the same way headwind does

CliffordK

It all depends on how much weight and how much wind.

I'm not sure if I hit more than 5 MPH winds very frequently. 10 MPH? I could imagine that 20 to 30 MPH headwinds could be miserable (and a good reason to just turn around and go the other way )

30 pounds is nothing.

Here was my load on the cargo trailer today.



Just a little piece of steel that I picked up at the local recycler for a project. 407 pounds!!! (44% off sale last Saturday).

I'll tell you it just beats me up every time I have a 400+ lb load. I think I could make a trailer that could carry more (or perhaps my trailer would). But, I just can't pull it. What I really need is a Tandem Cargo Bike, but that would require a stoker that would be insane enough to ride with me.

A heavy load makes a road crown into a mountain. But, even the flats have a significant amount of extra resistance. Even if an uphill is followed by a downhill, one doesn't seem to get all the energy back. I've got two "smallish" hills on the way home. It is a struggle to make it up them. It is also a struggle to walk up them and pull the bike So, I try to ride up the hills, but they are slow, and essentially take 120% of my energy (on each hill). I.E. a point where the energy output is not sustainable.

I do remember when I was in Missouri, there was always a good wind between Augusta and Marthasville. One way it would be like sailing, and then turn around and the other way would be miserable.

However, I don't think I would get very far towing 400 pounds on that soft sand of a trail in Missouri, even though it was FLAT!!!

Anyway...
At 30 pounds... a moderate wind would be worse.
At 400+ pounds... the weight is worse.

howeeee

of course its wind, I ride lots on heavy single speed Schwinns, nothing is harder than riding one of those in a heavy wind. Putting 30 pounds of grocercy's is nothing.

snow_echo_NY

i don't know as the hills here are not that bad.

but we've had many days these past few weeks where it was 20 gusting to 30. the worst part is that when you go into the wind ON a hill and you're gasping for breath but every time you open your mouth, you get a mouth full of wind and can't breathe with wind forcing it down your throat. i have to often tip my head into my chest or in my shirt, or turn it over my shoulder to get a breath.

there was one day it was 30 gusting to 40. it was crazy.

i occasionally tow our LO in a trailer. which is 27 lbs + 37 lbs + a lock or drink/food stuffs - and going up hills is hard, yes. but thank goodness the hills are not that hard to begin with.

mcours2006

That's pretty extreme, 400+lbs. I think under normal riding/commuting conditions, for me the wind is worse, just because it can feel like you pedalling uphill the entire way.

Hypno Toad

For commuting, given a choice, I'd take the extra 30 lbs over 20 mph headwind. I've hauled 30+ lbs in additional weight while commuting by Chrome bag, pannier, and BOB trailer (not all a once - ). Like others stated, starting can be a challenge, but once your moving the weight isn't a significant factor. With the trailer and the panniers, you have to be very careful when you stand on the pedals, do not rock the boat!

I picked up dog food on the way home from work, adding 20 lbs of dog food to my Chrome bag loaded with other commuter stuff. I recall not enjoying the step down hill with extra weight, but I also recall thinking that I used to carry that much weight with me everywhere (I've lost nearly 30 lbs).

Hills don't really bother me, I kinda like climbing. In all honestly, I live in Minneapolis and you can't find a climb over 200 feet, so there is that.

fietsbob

Quantity of all factors left somewhat un stated .

what slope,weight,windspeed?

Cycle touring the NL with a 30 knot wind off the North Sea was 'memorable'.. as was the steep slope, Loch Ness, south shore road, northbound. Oban to Inverness.

tarwheel 

I ride a lot on hilly roads, and in my opinion wind is tougher than climbing. I am not the greatest climber in the world by a long shot, but at least you get a break when riding down hills. In windy weather, you rarely ever seem to get a tailwind, so the effect on your exertion is almost constant. I ride Cycle NC nearly every spring at the coast, where the roads are very flat but the winds can be punishing. Some of these coastal rides have been very difficult due to the wind. However, if you are riding with a group, you can relieve some of the exertion in windy weather by drafting in a paceline -- which doesn't help much on long climbs.

kickstart

My commuter weighs around 60 lbs loaded, my path racer around 30 lbs, both are roadsters with the same size and type of tyre. Having ridden them both on the same roads and hills on a regular basis I can say for sure a 10 mph headwind is way more work than 30 lbs of extra weight.

RubeRad

I disagree. I can choose my level of exertion. If there's tailwind, my exertion makes me go faster (and I don't really notice there's a tailwind, I just take it for granted -- that's why everybody says 'there's never a tailwind'). If there's a headwind, my exertion makes me go not as fast (and depending on wind I might be in a different gear). But if I'm going up a hill, I have no choice but to exert more, and more weight makes the extra exertion even extra extra.

rmfnla

Lots of back & forth here.

My original choice of wind as the worst is based on my daily commute.

On days I carry my laptop home I stick it and accessories (can add up to 15 lbs) in my backpack and pretty much forget it is there once I start riding, but when that headwind hits me I'm all "f@%k this."

Perhaps if I carried more weight I would think differently...

cellery

Wind kills me no matter whether I'm on my light road bike or heavy gravel bike.

RubeRad

The weight of my fat a$$ kills me whether I go uphill on a light road bike or a heavy gravel bike.

If terrain is all flat, then yes, weight makes negligible difference, so wind is all that's left. But if I had two routes to choose from, same distance, sheltered hills vs windy plain, I'd go for the windy plain. Maybe if I spent a few years in Chicago I'd change my mind.

mconlonx

Wind. Hate it.

And I'd put uphills ahead of weight.

Weight I can usually mitigate, one way or another, but you can't fight weather or topography.

RubeRad

I guess that's my point. I always have hills, and I hate (up)hills, extra weight makes hills worse, so I hate extra weight.

For flat rides (like straight down main st between my house and the grocery store) I don't mind loading up with 30-50lb of groceries, but it's a ***** getting up the driveway at the end.

RidingMatthew

if your load weighed 25 lbs wouldnt it always weigh 25lbs even if you were riding uphill?

CliffordK

Still the 25 pounds. But in an ideal system, once accelerated to speed on the flat, the extra weight does not cause additional resistance. In reality, there may be some extra wind resistance and rolling resistance, but it might not be noticeable except in the extremes.

On the hills, you have to lug that extra weight up the hills.

Power (HP) is often defined as lifting a weight through a vertical distance over time.

It could also be considered the acceleration of a weight on the level from 0 speed over time. This is often ignored, but it may take a rider a few seconds to get up to full speed.

Thus heavier riders can often keep up with the lightweights on the level, but get dropped on hills.