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.

I did like the mishmash way you attempted to censor yourself. Very modern chaotic without actually accomplishing anything.

If you're attempting to explain that something should be fun, you should probably refrain from shouting and swearing at your audience. Do you work in a bike shop? Seems like you're extremely bitter, what else is going on in your life?

Maybe it's time for a break.

My favorite thing is seeing people on the trail brag about how light they made their bike, meanwhile it has two massive water bottles on it.

Well, really, being such simplistic devices - - what else can you ask a person about their bike?

"How much horsepower does it have?" One look at my scrawny chicken-legs can probably help you draw some conclusions.

"How fast can it go?" Once again, dictated by the oaf mashing on the pedals.

"What engine/cam/carb/rear end gears/__________ (fill in the blank) does it have in it?" Since every component is kinda hanging right out there for you to see, there are not many hidden speed secrets. When it comes to bikes, can you make a sleeper?

So that leaves the only non-self-evident factoid for a conversation-maker. "How Much Does It Weigh?"



Although I do share your exasperation with weight-obsession - - belied by the fact that I finally bought a Harbor Freight gram scale this year :D

Well said. :D

I weigh 215lbs + my back pack full of gear and water and stuff. So I couldn't care less if my bike weighs 27 or 30lbs.

I think its time to start a special thread storage area of pablo rants. Its fun when PSNAZ goes all RUSH Limbaugh/Jimmy Swaggert about bike stuff. There is always a kernal of truth in it.

Speaking for myself, sometimes when I know I lack skills I compensate through a purchase. "What does it take to make and American happy?" "Something else!" If we can't do stuff we want to be able to talk like we know stuff. When I look back over 20 years, I had as much fun on a Rigid Norco Bigfoot as I do my C/F F/S rocket ship. I can go faster now so I have regained through technology what I have lost in aging and beating my body off the terrain.

Since 99% of us will never be sponsored in a way that we can make a living from riding, it really is about feeling great about a good ride. I do like the way my bike looks.

I might not be finely tuned or trimmed to perfection.. or even look pretty! But that doesn't mean my can't ;)

Weight conscious all of a sudden? I don't think so...people have been forever and the bike industry is built around it...higher end bikes and parts cost more and are usually a fair bit lighter. So most cyclists are programmed to think that when you want something better, you're getting something lighter.

And not all UST tires are heavier...my USTs are almost 1/2 pound lighter than the same tire in non-UST. Granted, they're Maxxis Minion DHFs so they're not light to begin with but going tubeless had several benefits including a substantial weight reduction which I enjoyed.

Interesting observations you make @ ole PSNAZ. He is our resident "Uncle" who imbibes a tad too much now and then. If you ever plan a trip to Western Colorado or Moab, you want him in your back pocket. Dude is sage.

Ever had a Flying Gorilla?

http://www.drinksmixer.com/drinkn1m3620.html

We make em with three scoops of ice cream instead of ice. Nice summer time refresher.

(and yeah, we might add some rum to keep it balanced, or is it to loose ours?)

i never try to censor myself.

Pablo, if I ever ride with you, and I am going to sneak as many rocks into your saddle bag and back pack as I can.

You have been fairly warned.

The ONLY sane counter argument is that weight saved makes your bike more fun to ride.

You get to kick your buddies ***** up the hill.

WIN!

You drop a smegma of time off your normal loop.

WIN!

You feel like you are cranking out an extra couple of horse-pressures.

WIN!

Because you made that incremental change, you are now SUPERHUMAN awesome.

WIN!

Because you are now SUPERHUMAN awesome, you will ride more, which will help you lose that extra 10 lbs off your fat ***.


Other than that, Pablo is correcto-mundo.

true, i was oversimplifying and generalizing. my contis are waaay heavier than other UST tires, and yeah, tubeless does cut down on rolling weight, where you really feel it. i just don't understand people who want to go tubeless just for the weight. does that tube really slow you down significantly?

Because of my heavy bike and fat ass I come down much much faster. :D

Win!

why am i so fat?

Guinness and ice cream.
http://leitesculinaria.com/69967/rec...ice-cream.html

You could have saved at least three grams by using fewer capital letters.

I need to go tubeless because I plan on being KOM on Strava at my end of town! So far I have two KOM's. They are sections I have submitted that no one else will probably ever find. I am KING of the chubby bald guys! Hear me ROAR!

+ rep

Don't forget "How Much Does That Cost?", to which I never give an answer less than 3x MSRP.

Don't forget "How Much Does That Cost?", to which I never give an answer less than 3x MSRP

.>> That one gets harder when you've built the bike out of second hand parts over 6 months. Besides, I don't want people to know my bike is worth stealing. As for how much does it weigh? Heavier than most, lighter than some and I don't care about a few pounds here and there. I trimmed off the extra pounds on my body and the way I see it the way to be faster is to be fitter and stronger, not make the bike lighter.

I live I guess in an area where there are many affluent people - all with credit cards with unlimited power. So many of these people are now getting into mountain biking. Its amazing. I have ridden for about 30 years and up until about 3 years ago had many trails to myself. Now most are crowded. The point I am badly making is at one time, people in the sport knew something about bikes or riding. Now if you have a credit card, you are an "expert". I recently sold an extremely nice (and yes very lightweight) bike. The gentleman that bought it knew nothing of the great setup on the bike; the components, geometry etc. His first question was "is it lightweight? How much does it weigh?" I assured him it was light asuming he was going to use the bike to race. I took him on a test ride and the guy could barely negotiate an easy flat trail. Weight was the last thing he needed to worry about.

Sort of going the other way... I see all these noobie kids buying big hit, huge fork bikes 'cause I guess they think somedy they are going to do a Red Bull Freeride challenge but they can barely go down a local urban trail and no one is able to ride up a hill. This fat old lady cruises by all these kids walking those big rigs up hill.

OK sorry for my rant... I am happy people are discovering the sport.... I just wish people realized there is a learning curve and just because a bike is lightweight and fast or has a great bike fork, doesn't mean you are a good rider or anywhere close!

You made me laugh!

I don't get that STRAVA thing but I have a friend that does the same thing.... he rides weird trails no one knows about and then brags he has the best time. One day I asked what the next best time was and he said... "uh just mine.... no one else ever does this tail..." o kayyyy

I have long since bowed out of the lightness race, too. City riding, for example, doesn't really work. Sure, I can spend hundreds more on a bike that weighs two pounds less but then I need to get a nice big lock for it which will quickly eat up that savings.

Most of the dead weight on my bike is firmly attached to my own person. There's less of it all the time, but that's that. I gave up on the light saddle race a while back and got myself a Brooks B135, something that works for my own riding style and comfort and desire to not neuter myself through pressure on the softer bits.

I strip off things I no longer find useful, but not for weight reasons, but just as a way of decluttering my bike in general.


But I don't think I get as upset about the lightness race as some. I don't care. If a strong market develops for ultralight stuff then I'll just move in and get my standard weight components/bags/etc. on clearance price. I am just not seeing the down side here.