Originally Posted by
pickettt
I moved into to Pro XC class at 148 lbs, and I was finishing nearly last every race. I put on 5 lbs. of muscle, and started riding farther and faster than I had ever done before.....and on the same 19lb. bike. So if you can lose fat and not muscle, that's great. If you're losing weight through muscle loss, I'd have to reiterate, I'll take the lighter bike.
Good point--I was arguing above it depends on what the 5 pounds off the cyclist came from.
I don't know how tall you are, but it sounds like you probably couldn't lose weight without losing muscle power.
Is upper body strength a bigger advantage in xc than other races? I actually got faster last year losing upper body muscle, and since I don't race, I've decided that's not worth it to me this year.