First off, I totally follow what you all mean by 'ride light'. Beyond transferring weight around for potholes and/or bunny hops, I have never really thought about the concept. Moving forward, I will.

Being an anal engineer, I do have a question: How does this work exactly? I ask this because we call it 'riding light' but I am 315lb and when I am on a bike I except 315lb of downward force on a bike if I am sitting or standing. Something is going on, but I ain't no lighter. Can anyone speak into the physics of what is really going on? Why do you ride so much smoother when you 'ride light'?

If I had to guess, it is that when you remove the weight from the seat, most of the weight goes to the peddles, which is a lower contact point on the bike, changing the whole dynamics. Is it that the weight is shifted from simply resting on the bike to helping it propel forward, so it seems the bike is lighter? I get that I could be answer my own question here, but I would love to hear from someone that knows the in's and out's of what this is really all about