weight: a rant.
first question out of most people's mouth these days..."how much does it weigh?" talking about bikes, pedals, tires. one dude actually asked me how heavy the tube was when he was buying a tube. seriously?
what the hell has happened? why is everyone so weight conscious all of a sudden? why does everyone think they need the lightest everything? this is mountain biking, not road cycling. you want to go faster? GET STRONGER. you want to go up a hill better? GET STRONGER AND LEARN TECHNIQUE. you wanna be able to ride all day? RIDE MORE AND MORE UNTIL YOU CAN RIDE ALL DAY.
people want to go tubeless because it's "lighter." yes, in a way it is, but if you use an actual UST tire, they are heavier because they have to have burly sidewalls. i have UST continental trail kings front and rear. they are heavier than other tires, almost by a pound. but they work GREAT and i won't give that up. i have a dropper post, adds weight, but i LOVE it and wont give it up, it makes riding waaaay more pleasant and fun. riding is supposed to be fun.
my current bike weighs 33 pounds, it is the heaviest bike i have ever ridden. i climb on it better than any other bike i've had. yes, i'm slow going up a hill. if i want to be faster, i need to HARDEN UP AND GET STRONGER. i could also lose about 20 pounds. i like ice cream and booze, so that aint gonna happen.
you want to cut weight on your bike? how about rider weight. i'm pretty sure 90% of people who want a lighter bike can stand to lose at least 10 pounds, probably more. trying to have the lightest bike while carrying around extra pounds and having weaker legs and lungs than you should have is backwards.
if you have the money and are into geeking out and getting the super lightest bike ever, because that is your thing, that is cool, it's your bike, enjoy. but if you think you need a lighter bike to be competitive or have more fun, or keep up with everyone on the trail, you don't. your bike is just fine the way it is. you need to work on the engine. only after the engine is super finely tuned and can't be any more efficient, ONLY THEN you should really worry about improving the hardware.
the point is....you are riding a bike. it's supposed to be fun. you wanna lighten something up? lighten up the attitude.
Last edited by ed; 08-23-12 at 08:50 PM.