seypat

For me, a 10lb loss is equal to 1 cog in back. So, if you had to go up that hill on a 32t cog, now you can go up on your 30.

Wilmingtech

Fit above all.

If the bike doesnt fit right it wont matter what it weighs. If you buy too small a bike to save a few grams of weight but you keep banging your knees on the handlebar drops everytime you stand up to climb the savings wont matter.

Nor will it matter at the end of a 50 mile ride when your legs and back and arms hurt from poor positioning.

Make sure you get the right fit and geometry for your riding style.

Then work on body weight. When you finally get yourself slimmed down to your highest performance watt/KG ratio and you are killing yourself trying to beat your Strava segments, then drop your saddle bag, go down to one bottle half full, leave your gloves off, dont wear sunglasses and you'll gain a second or two on your best climb.

If it makes you feel better you can ditch the 80$ Aluminum bars for the 400$ carbon ones to save a few grams. Might not make you faster but carbon bars are more comfy if they dont kill you first

Love your bike and ride it!

Kimmo 

Or $40 carbon bars...

If you want to upgrade your bike on the cheap to get that light bike feel, start with light tubes and tyres, pretty good bang for buck there. Wheels are first on everyone's list for good reason, but not so much with heavy stuff on the perimeter.

It's not all about rotating mass though - you feel a light seat and post, and a light cockpit, when you stand on the bike. You also feel the light cockpit any time you turn the bars fast or pop up the front wheel, and I'm pretty sure lower inertia here also has a subtle effect on the tactile feedback from the road; it makes a bike feel more alive and exciting. There's often a fair bit of weight to be lost here, since on most bikes, these parts are a bit on the low-spec side.

If you don't have a light carbon seatpost, get one. You should be able to find something cheap and Chinese, and you can make pretty sure it won't asplode by giving it a bit of what for before you ride it. Bare carbon seats can be pretty uncomfortable when they're the wrong shape, but get the shape halfway right and the flex of a light carbon post can make it feel almost as plush as a padded seat on a beefy aluminum post, if not more. You can find carbon seats for $20, so it's worth a try just to feel the difference... Hard to find one with a good shape, though.

Not so easy to cheap out on the stem, but IMO carbon is pointless here; stiffness is about on par with forged ally on this part, weight for weight, unless maybe you pay big bucks for like 25g. IME a good rule of thumb is stem length plus 20, ie a 120mm stem under 140g is probably a bit flexy.

Seems to me you don't want the stem flexing on the fork, but a certain amount of the bars flexing off the stem is just fine, even desirable. You can get 230g carbon bars for $40, and make sure they won't asplode before you fit them. Probably a good idea to check between fitting and riding too, but having to do your own QC saves $80%... And it's a sweet upgrade. I have three such bars, and they all passed muster.

The levers are hanging right off the end, so are low-hanging fruit in a sense, but unfortunately cheap and light levers aren't much of a thing... I went with used Red. You can do all this stuff except the levers and feel a big difference, but for the full light bike experience*, this one's the icing on the cake.

* At least, on the bike. Do all this stuff, and a 7kg bike could feel as good as a 6kg bike, until you carry it.

Seattle Forrest

I bought one of those cheap, all carbon saddles once. You could slice potatoes with it.

Senrab62 

Wheelset weight matters more to me, in ride feel, than overall weight.

Kimmo 

Aside from how the seat itself felt, how did it make the bike feel though?

wphamilton

Awesome wasn't it? 180 grams - 140 grams if your "cheap" means the real thing and not a knock-off - leaving off the padding and cover that you don't really need. I can't really tell much from the weight difference but I still have mine on the bike. I just like the saddle better.

bruce19

Clyde1820

I've had injuries in the legs for the past several decades, damage which has limited the amount of power I can apply through the pedals. ("Spinning" helps, but it's still a severe limitation.) So, I tend to be more sensitive than many folks to differences in weight of a bike.

For me, vastly more important is rotational weight and drag. If I'm on a "pig-mobile" bike with very heavy, "clyde" type wheels and tires, ones a good 1000g heavier overall than a "lightweight" bike's wheels, I notice a real difference in my ability to get the bike moving. While already moving, though, not so much. Way down the list is overall weight of the bike ... at least, in the ~17-35lb range for bikes. Can't say I recall taking a lighter bike out for a spin. And the only bikes heavier than 35lbs have included the rack/panniers and minor gear in them.

Yes, weight can matter. But for most folks who have injury-free legs and can put down a decent amount of power, it's probably nowhere near the difference many think.

For people like me with severe limitations on the amount of power that can be generated, it can matter more. But still, it only matters insofar as I can't find a lower gear to aid in the climb or to aid in the acceleration.

JMO

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​
I leaned the true meaning of "ass hatchet" and strongly considered calling for a ride of shame so I didn't have to ride home. Any effect it had on my bike was drowned out by the extreme discomfort. Not from the lack of padding, the edges felt like ginzu knives.

I don't know if I ever weighed it, which is funny as I have a kitchen scale and a bit of OCD. I'd guess in the 100-140 g range.

I'm using a Fabric Scoop now, about 190 g. The shape is perfect, there's just a little bit of padding, I can do 50 mile rides in street clothes.

The time I notice weight is when I lift the bike. I hang mine on the wall, and carry it up and down stairs to ride. But to put that into context mine is about as light as it can be for the type of riding I do, and has been for a couple years, it's my baseline at this point. I guess I could take another 200g off by changing power meters, but I'm not willing to spend the money when I already have one I like. I need new skis and boots.

Princess_Allez

mcours2006

The question has been pretty much answered by all the responses from all different angles, so I've nothing new to add. I will, however, add that on our short 40-mile ride today I rode my 21+ pound vintage steel bike and felt no noticeable difference between it and my 15+ pound carbon bike. This is with the same group of guys on the same route that I'd ridden numerous times previously.

Wilmingtech

Wait til you get to those 20 mile and 10 mile climbs. That 5 lbs will make a difference.

mcours2006

Yeah, we don't have any hills that resemble those you describe.

MinnMan

[QUOTE=mcours2006;21143172]The question has been pretty much answered by all the responses from all different angles/QUOTE]

It has. Plus, the OP hasn't continued to participate in the thread. To me, this is always hint of a troll. I say let the thread die unless the OP comes back with something more substantive than "I'm a clyde, should I worry about a few lbs of bike weight?" B/C the answer is simply "no", and we can all move along.

bruce19

Did you notice any difference on climbs?

kingston 

Several years ago, I was on a brevet and met a guy riding one of those custom BQ style 650b rando bikes with light-weight steel tubing. I was riding an off-the-peg touring touring bike that probably weighed 10 pounds more. We were talking about his bike and the tubing for a while


He said "You should really consider getting one of these bikes"
I replied "What's the point, I'm already fast enough to finish well under the time limit. This bike is good enough"
His response "Don't underestimate the joy of climbing on a bike with light-weight steel tubing"


At that moment I realized that everything beyond a certian point is all about the joy that it brings the rider. Nothing else really matters.

mcours2006

I was able to keep up with the guys I was riding with...but that doesn't mean there wasn't a difference. Could mean they were tired that day too, or I was feeling particularly stronger. I notice the biking more snappy in the handling department than anything else, being a racier geometry and slightly shorter wheelbase.

But again, it was only a 40 mile ride, not 100.

Seattle Forrest

I do stuff like that on an 18 pound gravel bike. How many watts would I save on a 13 pound bike?

Mountain Mitch

I find that the main difference is in acceleration. A lighter bike gets up to speed quickly provided it is stiff etc. In short, a lighter bike feels more nimble.

But once at speed a heavier bike feels like it has a bit more inertia and clings to a fast steady pace better. On the other hand, it is somewhat slower on steeper hills. I really like riding a heavier bike on long flat roads.

Top speed on each seems about the same; motor and gearing being equal.

I have no idea whether any study would validate those observations, but that’s how it feels to me.

eduskator

Or buy one that's already factory equipped with CF components

The manufacturers already did all the thinking for you - they offer ''lineups''. It's also a lot cheaper than upgrading your current bike with better components. All you need is to swipe that plastic card in the machine!

Wilmingtech

@Seattle Forrest you may have done this ride before, Nisqually Entrance to Mt Rainier up to Paradise back down through to Ohanapecosh to Packwood and back up Skate Creek to the start.

Lots of videos (GCN has a couple) and if I remember correctly its about a 2% savings in wattage over a 5km climb by dropping ~5lbs (~2kg). Not scientific at all but what rings true in my experience is that the less weight you carry the more endurance you have over longer distances or faster climbing in short distances. The other side of this is that the more weight you carry up the climbs, the stronger you will be when you drop the weight

-Sean

tomato coupe

Strictly speaking, dropping weight saves you Joules.

Rides4Beer

Not sure, but I did a century yesterday with over 11,000ft of climbing including six Cat2 climbs, and I could definitely tell the 6lb difference between my gravel bike and the new road bike. The gravel bike has slightly better gearing and the road bike still climbs better.

Snowflake6

I swapped my stock wheels this year for a new stiffer, lighter, set of Campagnolos. Dropped half a kilo off my bike's weight. The only place it's noticeable is when I jump up to sprint after a lead-off, the bike *feels* lighter. But part of that could be that the wheels are stiffer and more responsive.

Still, I agree with what's been said earlier. If you need lower rolling weight, lose it off your ass. If you want to change your bike, make it more aerodynamic. Aero gains are much more important than weight gains.