Originally Posted by PeteHski (Post 23070342)

Remind us all again why 1 kg of weight matters for non-pro riders?

Originally Posted by terrymorse (Post 23070384)

Because some of us non-pro riders are skinny climbers, power-to-weight ratio is everything to climbers, and the denominator in the power-to-weight measure is weight.

For me, dropping 1 kg means a 1.5% power-to-weight increase.

Originally Posted by frdfandc (Post 23070493)

The weight difference is due to the lighting system Cannondale installs on their bikes from the factory. Canyon doesn't have a battery, front light, and taillight.

/thread

Originally Posted by terrymorse (Post 23070384)

Because some of us non-pro riders are skinny climbers, power-to-weight ratio is everything to climbers, and the denominator in the power-to-weight measure is weight.

For me, dropping 1 kg means a 1.5% power-to-weight increase.

Originally Posted by seypat (Post 23070690)

This.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...-8-di2-review/

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bi...n-2-rl-review/

Originally Posted by wheelreason (Post 23070740)

Numerator challenged cyclists are often weight weenies.... :)

Originally Posted by PeteHski (Post 23070414)

I get that if you are climbing competitively, where 1.5% might actually matter.

Originally Posted by Sy Reene (Post 23069865)

Looking at, for the same price, 2 bikes.
Cannondale Synapse https://www.cannondale.com/en-us/bik...e-carbon-2-rle
vs
Canyon SLX8 https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road-bi...aero/2740.html

While I know weight doesn't really matter, considering the actual percentage when adding our own body weights, I'm still curious why there's a listed difference of 2.6 lbs between these 2 bikes (19.7 lbs for the Cannondale, 17.1 lbs for the Canyon). I know there are a couple bits that are CF on the Canyon, that aren't on the CDale, but eg. an alloy handlebar isn't going to weigh that much more than a CF one, is it? Trying to determine, if I want to get a locally available bike, would there be somewhat easily done changes that would drop weight on the CDale? Or is it likely the weights are not correctly represented on one or both makers' websites?

Originally Posted by Eric F (Post 23070932)

An extra 1.5% would have been helpful on Saturday morning with a group of friends on a ride that included a lot of long, steady climbs (5000+' over 2+ hours). I could not quite maintain the pace of the rest of the guys and slowly got dropped between each of our re-group points.

Originally Posted by PeteHski (Post 23070992)

Sure. If you were climbing at a steady 2W/kg then 1 kg off the bike would save you 2W of power. Better than nothing, but not a huge amount. I agree it might make or break you in a marginal situation.

If climbing is the only thing that matters to you then a lightweight bike is an obvious advantage. But if climbing is only one thing that matters to you then there are many other factors to consider besides bike weight. (Aero, comfort, fit, handling, stiffness, braking, gearing, durability).

Originally Posted by Eric F (Post 23070932)

I could not quite maintain the pace of the rest of the guys and slowly got dropped between each of our re-group points.

Originally Posted by Eric F (Post 23071001)

A light bike is way easier to load onto a car rack, or hang on a wall rack. Also, when your buddy picks up your light bike at the group ride coffee stop, he will say, "Wow. Your bike is light." Those are bonus points.

Originally Posted by rsbob (Post 23071048)

Talking about weight:

Then you could add the weight of 2 large filled water bottles for hill climbs. Depending on the size and material of the bottles, two large filled ones can add up to 2 additional kilograms. Maybe the serious hill climbers either delete the bottles completely or only carry a small bottle partially filled. But on hot days with long climbs one just can’t get around the weight penalty.

Originally Posted by rsbob (Post 23071048)

Talking about weight:

Then you could add the weight of 2 large filled water bottles for hill climbs. Depending on the size and material of the bottles, two large filled ones can add up to 2 additional kilograms. Maybe the serious hill climbers either delete the bottles completely or only carry a small bottle partially filled. But on hot days with long climbs one just can’t get around the weight penalty.

Originally Posted by PeteHski (Post 23071094)

I routinely carry 2L of water on big alpine climbs. Last trip I was 78 kg dressed, bike with pedals and bottle cages etc was 8 kg, 2x1L full bottles another 2 kg. So around 88 kg total.

I’m sure I would have totally smashed it on a 7 kg bike!

Originally Posted by genejockey (Post 23071144)

These people who say, "You weigh 200 lbs! Another kilo on the bike is < 1% of total system weight!" have it all wrong! It is BECAUSE I weigh 200# that I NEED the lighter bike!!! ;):rolleyes::roflmao2:

Originally Posted by big john (Post 23071162)

There is some truth in that. If I'm climbing with a bunch of lightweights, I am at my limits just trying to avoid losing too much ground. Adding weight to my total would slow me even more. Adding weight to one of the lightweights might slow them a bit, or make them work a little harder, but still not make them slow to my speed.

Originally Posted by genejockey (Post 23071174)

You're not thinking big enough! "Hey, I need to get these 2 25# bags of cat litter home after the ride, and I hurt my back this weekend. Could you carry them for me?" I bet it would slow any of them right down to your speed!

Originally Posted by big john (Post 23071188)

It might be easier to get them to push me for a while.

Originally Posted by genejockey (Post 23071192)

Offer to let them draft you on the downhill - "You push me, I'll pull you!"

Originally Posted by big john (Post 23071211)

lol, they do that anyway. Reminds me of a day some years ago when I offered to show a couple racer friends a mountain route they had never done. I was having a really bad day and one of them did push me on some of the climbing. I was highly embarrassed. Of course, he still brings it up from time to time.

Originally Posted by Eric F (Post 23071001)

A light bike is way easier to load onto a car rack, or hang on a wall rack. Also, when your buddy picks up your light bike at the group ride coffee stop, he will say, "Wow. Your bike is light." Those are bonus points.