Originally Posted by
PeteHski
...Your analogy with gas guzzler vs fuel efficient car is hopeless on all sorts of levels. Fuel efficiency has literally nothing to do with this argument about light vs heavy bikes.
Missed this point.
Of course it's relevant. Gas guzzling or fuel efficiency directly relates to burning calories. This is probably the single greatest reason for lay people to exercise (not those engaged in conditioning for a sport); weight loss via burnt calories. Many people want the form of exercise that burns the most which is why many also see running as superior (in that regard) to cycling. You lose more weight running than cycling. Equally, a bicycle that is more efficient requires less energy to perform a set task. In racing that efficiency is used to go faster than the opponent. If the goal is exercise and not performance one may not want to spend a lot buying a bike that requires less energy output to perform a similar task to a less expensive (efficient) model. Can you pedal a more efficient model more to burn just as many calories - sure.. by why buy efficiency on one end and compensate for it on the other.