Tia

I have a 29lb bike and that's heavy. A 35lb bike is very heavy. Sounds like your looking at a MTB. Are you going to ride it off road? If your not doing off road riding then why would you want a MTB?

i am planning to commute 6 miles (3 miles each way), half of which is through the dense downtown core, if i get new tires will i be able to shave say 10 minutes off my time? then that extra $40 for 2 new tires will be really worth it

The Supercycle 1800 18-speed Men's/Boys' MTB looks like a good commuter to start with. But I would get road tires for it.

It depends on what you're using the bike for. If you're a pro racer trying to win a TDF stage in the Alps then I'd say yeah, spend the extra hundred. Otherwise look at reliability, quality, functionality, and maintainability before weight.

If you had posed the question in the roadies forum you'd probably get a different answer.

THat's heavyand at that price,if it's new,it's a cheap bike. This is not a reason to get rid of it. You will gofast ter with leaner tires,no question. You'll go even faster on a lighter bike. A fitness or flatbar road/hybrid,many terms describe a lighter than mountain bike. A sleel one made br Giant weighs around 29 pounds,it costs $250,not much of an improvement. An aluminum flatbar / fitness/ hybrid by Bikes Direct for example will cost $190,it will weigh OVER 25,I'd say. A better flat-bar like a diamondback or Mongoose will cost $350 to $400 and rthey weigh UNDER 25lbs.. A road bike with drop bars that's steel and weifghs 20lbs. costs OVER $1,000, an aluminum weigh 21 MAY cost as little as $370,a better brand costing $700 will weigh 18lbs. click on Bikes Direct.if you did you wouldn't have to ask much more. They AD. here.

im getting thinner tires for it, so the total cost of the bike comes to $140 now

is it possible to get the bike down to 30lb from 35lb?

ride the living bleep out of it and get your money's worth. commuting on slicks should help out a lot with rolling resistance. you could try replacing the wheelset or the fork to shed the occational pound or two but that may end up costing $$$ that could be put toward purchasing a complete bike that is much lighter.

i would look at getting a used road bike from CL, local pawn shop, Salvation Army, or even Ebay if you decide you want to shed some weight. Read through a lot of the posts on this forum and you can find people with some 20lb. (some more some less) high quality used road bikes that they picked up for extremely cheap

You know,if it's comfortable,I'd keep it,like the man says. Anyway it's not a bad place to start(it's steel) Actually ,other more important aspects will become apparent after awhile. Then you can Really focus just on what you like or don't. Many guys LOVE their old Schwinns, many of the old road bikes weighed as much as your's. A heavy bike is not the worst thing, getting a sore neck and back is worse. Think possitive,you can probably whoop me on my twenty -pounder so....

New tires are a good decision. They will likely make the biggest difference.

Are you skinny? if you have some weight to spare, you'll lose 10 pounds really quick on a 35 pound bike. It will be cheaper then losing 5 pounds of your bike. Find some good hills.

Then, when you no longer feel like you are about to die when you ride up a big hill, you are ready for a lighter bike. Then, and only then, grasshopper, will you be able to appreciate the difference a lighter bike will make.

Is your commute hilly, or flat? If it is flat, weight won't matter much anyways.

not to blindly +1 the above, but really,

1.) Put on the new tires.

2.) make sure you've adjusted the seat and bars and such so that you're comfortable riding it.
take the time to make sure the brakes and derailers are properly adjusted.

because really, fit and adjustment will shave more time and make your ride more enjoyable than almost anything you spend money on.

3.) find a saddle that's comfortable for you.

and then ride it till 1.) it's unridable, or 2.) you've decided you're far enough along to justify a better bike.

Spending hundreds of dollars fixing up a cheap bike you end up with a cheap bike + hundreds in gear, not a higher quality bike. (in most cases, not in all, but in most)


The way you shave 5 minutes off a 3 mile ride is... ride it. alot.
(fwiw, my 3 mile ride only takes me between 10 and 20 minutes depending on how motivated I am to ride, and whether or not I pay enough attention to time the stoplights)

my $0.02. probably worth about what you paid for it

-- James

If you are walking your bike for the 3 mile commute, then knocking 10 minutes off will be easy - get on and ride. Even in traffic 3 miles should only take 15 minutes. If you are seriously out of shape or there is a serious change in altitude then it might take much longer - but you did not really say much in your original post. Asking if changing your tires will reduce a 15 minute ride to a 5 minute ride is not very sensible.

Did you just buy a new bike - in which case you just bought a child's toy. What is the make and model?

Does it have front and / or rear suspension - if yes, then at your purchase price you just bought a toy. For commuting on roads through a typical downtown for 3 miles, you really really really should avoid suspension at all costs - it is simply not needed. Good suspension, that is light is very expensive, considerably more than your purchase price. It is also high maintenance (relative to plain vanilla forks and hard tail).

Changing your tires for smooth, smaller and more importantly high pressure will make an enormous difference - but not 15 minutes becoming 5 minutes! I am surprised no one has mentioned tire pressure - do not waste money on good tires unless you are also going to invest in a damn good pump and a pressure gauge - you want tires that can go to at least 75 psi - harder is much better. To your hand this will feel like it is solid. And you have zero chance of getting the pressure right based just on the feel of the tire. Take the pressure to 4 or 5 psi above the value stated as the maximum pressure on the sidewall of the tire. Over a period of days the pressure will slowly drop and on a weekly basis you should check them.

In general light weight wheels with good hubs and well adjusted brakes that do not rub are much more important than a light weight frame. I agree with zeytoun - losing 5lbs from your body is much better and cheaper than losing 5lbs from the bike.

The wheels and tires (and losing the suspension, if you've got it) are important. But equally important is getting a good fit with the bike. This is not just a case of getting the correct seat height, but also the seat position relative to the handle bars and the height of the handle bars - a cheap bike might not have much room for adjustment of either. You should make the assumption that you will be making many adjustments to your seat position over the coming weeks as you slowly home-in on the ideal position. Find a serious and experienced rider to help you find your ideal bike fit - a good local bike shop might offer some free advice.

no, your bike is not heavy.
when compared to my 96 diamondback parkway, which is 17kg aka 37.4 pounds!!
when loaded, just add some 10kilos more, (22lbs)

since no one has answered your question, i will.

you will NOT be able to shave 10 minutes off a 6 mile route; but the real question is can you shave 5 mins off a 3 mile route. The answer agains is no. A 3 mile route will take 10-15 minutes. How long it takes will depend on the number of stop signs and red lights you run into and choose to obey/ignore. The speed of such a short commute will have very little to do with how fast you're cranking or how heavy your bike is.

You already have new tires. Again, having another set of $20-each tires will not make a difference on such a short commute.

The fact is, the time it takes for you to change into cycling clothing (if you are doing that) may well exceed the commute time itself.

You have an inexpensive bike. I'd bring it to a bike shop to make sure everything is well-tuned and tightly screwed on. I would not invest any additional money into it.

If your goal is something DIFFERENT than commuting short distances, like pleasure cycling fast, then get a road bike -- at which point you'll also be paying something like $400 instead of $100, and you'd have to accumulate know-how, which will cost additional money too.

sd

used "if I have to" LOL.

Reconsider that. Seriously. For that price you can get a decent brand bike. If you're lucky you can find a garage queen cheap. 2nd hand is great for bikes. Check it out, you never know.

Good luck with whatever you end up with. Hope you enjoy it.

I don't think that's heavy by commuting standards. My bike isn't heavy, but lights, horn, trunk box, rack, SLA battery, water bottles, frame pump, extra tube and tools, side basket, kickstand,and backpack bring it to almost 40 lbs.

I wouldn´t worry to much about the weight- the only time weight really matters is if you are competing (I don´t just mean racing but also group rides and such like) with other people. Then the weight suddenly becomes very significant. Maybe also if you had a super long commute that was barely doable then weight would be an issue but for a 3-mile commute it makes no difference. A heavier bike may even be preferable as you will get a little more training.

100 dollars though sounds very very cheap for a bike. I would worry more about the reliability and safety of the bike if you are planning to rely on it for your commute in heavy traffic.

shag-d.. funny, all that text and YOU,only YOU answered the question. The only thing different at all that you added,was the clothing issue, which by the way was NOT part of the OP's question at all !

Hi exas
You bike is heavier than some but it not very relevant unless you have a very hilly route. It is also fairly cheaply specced out. That again is not relevant for a short commute, it will however, tend to go out of adjustment easily. The crank bearings (bottom bracket) will tend to work loose, more so if you are strong and work the cranks hard. They can be adjusted fairly easily though if you have the tools, the gears will tend to move out of adjustment because they are cheap, but they are only 6 speed on the back so again are easy to adjust. The lock you showed is a good basic lock.

The cheapest improvements are in order.
1.Pump the tires to the max shown on the sidewall
2.Keep chain lubed.
3.Skinny smooth tires that run at higher pressure.

For your commute, this should be an OK bike and a couple months
commute should pay for itself in saved transit fares and will make
you healthier and happier.

Happy Riding.

Weight is not going to make a significant difference at all for that short of a commute. Other factors are more important such as physical shape, tire width and smoothness, and aerodynamic position. Once you get these addressed then worry about weight. The only time weight would be important for this situation is if you have to carry the bike upstairs or on and off of public transportation.

lol. i know, i'm high on myself

The cheapest way to get your bike lighter is to ride it a lot and get in good biking shape. 3 miles at a time isn't much at all once your body gets used to it. It isn't even about leg strength as much as it is about your body learning to do something, adjusting to it, and becoming more efficient. My first bike was a steel frame full suspension $69 jobber that easily weighed 40 lbs. The first rides the wife and I did were around 5 miles. After a month we were doing 30-40 miles at a time and 5 miles was nothing.

A dense downtown with lights every block will kill any time saving efforts. So shaving 10 minutes on a 3 mile ride is highly unlikely unless you are going brutally slow right now and can make up some ground with riding a little faster. If you get to a point where you can time the lights, that can help. There's a section on my commute where I'm sprinting to hit a series of green lights. There's another section where I ride slower to hit a couple.

You are talking about turning a 15-20 minute trip into a 5-10 minute one. That's not possible in a dense downtown area. Unless the area is really hilly, weight is irrelevant. Lighter tires would likely be more prone to punctures, which could make your average commute time longer. If you have knobby tires, going to slicks will make the bike much easier to pedal and you will be less tired when you arrive. However, don't look to save more than a few minutes.

Paul

Taking weight off yourself will have the same effect at lightening the bike. Then again, you may already be as light as you can be. Then again, maybe your bike is too.

No. The Real Question™ is: "Does this bike make my A$$ look fat?"