5lbs on a decently pitched climb is worth about .2mph

That can be the difference between hanging and being dropped. How much that's worth is subject to debate.

I think an honest weight weenie would admit that they build lightweight bikes as a challenge. They enjoy talking about specific solutions to the problem, they don't mind spending the money and they get a sense of personal satisfaction out of achieving their goal. All hobbies have sub-cults and this just happens to be one of ours.

My personal story - I took the bike I own with the lightest frame and built it down to the mid-15-pound range. Did it feel different? Absolutely. It had a true sense of lacking susbtance. Easier to throw around, not as glued to the ground, less "stable" for the lack of a better word. I don't mean it was hard to ride, it just felt like less of a bike. Not a bad feeling at all. But did it make a difference in me? None. For the kind of recreational riding I do, I was the same rider on that bike as I was on any of my others. No change to my 30-50 mile, 18 MPH rides. It's a bit easier to drag up a hill but unless I was doing a 30 mile uphill ride, I doubt I would see a true physiological impact.

The funny thing is - the one bike that I am consistently fastest on is my 19 pound lugged steel MasterXLight. I don't know why, but I bet it has much to do with the geometry and the fit.

At the professional level, of course. Splitting hairs makes a difference. At the local racing level it might too. But I think it's a fairly safe assumption that for most of us, we're the riders we are and a few pounds aren't going to gain us a spot on a Division 1 team.

And oh yes, the one thing that did make a difference in how I feel as a rider - taking my body from 175 to 154.

*sigh*

so, after this long thread, i'm still on the fence about getting zipp 303 tubulars...sapim light weight spokes...and tufo s3 lite tires.

Don't bother with the 303s. Either get some 404s, or 202s. 303s are the ******* love child of Zipps attempt to get both aero and light; they sacrifice and don't do either particularly well. No other manufacturer besides Reynolds bothers making a mid-depth rim. Not Campy, Shimano, Bontrager, Lightweight or any of the other big players.

And the Tufos blow. They roll like sh1t. Get yourself some Dugasts, FMBs, Veloflex Record/Carbon, Continental GP4000, or Vittoria Evo Corsa CXs.

alright...i'm going veloflex record kevlar...some sapim spokes (not sure which yet). but now i don't know which wheels to get. i was going with 303's because the weightweenie site said they are the lightest zipp wheels based on ACTUAL weight (not claimed weight). hmmm...

ah hell just buy it anyway . you know its going to do you good right!

I would think it would be worth more than .2 mph, but I agree 5 lbs on the bike is significant when climbing. To the OP, look at it this way: you drop 10 lbs of body weight and 5 lbs. of bike weight, now you are in total 15 lbs lighter and you will climb a lot better.

Bike weight is relative to the terrain and the application anyway. I do repeats on a a 1.2 mile loop in a nearby park. On my TT bike, which is about 20 lbs., I am consistently about 10-12 seconds faster than on my 15 lbs. Orca. Climbing I am faster on the Orca, which is set up more as a climbing bike.

Both the Z2 and regular 202s are lighter than the 303s.


Do you know how to glue tubulars? And are you building these wheels yourself?

If so, are you buying the rims seperate, or buying wheels and then putting new spokes in?

I couldn't have explained it better. As a WW I can say that you are dead on.

i just saw the z2. but weightweenies say the 303 is lighter than 202 on an actual scale. zipp says the opposite is true.

as far as building the wheels...no, i'd have my local pro shop do it for me. i can't do anything yet. i've been cycling for like 1.5-2 months now! lol

no

Want to really fly up those hills?

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...PL._AA280_.jpg

You will probably want to wear dark shorts, though.

Personally, I'm taking the Pro-deal route and getting non-dimpled 404s for less than half the cost of Zipps.

And then taking the money I've saved and treating myself to some vacation time in the mountains of the southwest.

Thus spake Zarathustra.

:eek: ew!

definitive answer to rotating weight: it matters some. If you take a kg off your tires and rims, and add a kg to your frame it'd feel the same, under acceleration as if you removed half a kg from your frame. In other words, when accelerating, weight on the outside of the wheel counts double. But that's only for acceleration.

I noticed a big difference going from Bontrager Race wheels on a Trek 5200 to Mavic ES on a PF RS. The acceleration from a stop is huge with the lighter wheels. They were an expensive upgrade but not as much as other wheels on the market.

that's interesting...because the bontrager race line of wheels range from 1423g-1757g. and the mavic ksyrium es weighs 1528g. which bontrager race wheel did you have?

I typically accelerate "from a stop" precisely once per ride - as I am leaving my driveway. I also typically "accelerate from a stop" only once in each race - from the starting line. I sure would not buy expensive and fragile wheels just for those instances, neither of which are very crucial.

I would buy more expensive wheels if I became convinced that they would make me faster in the real-world situations that matter to me - in races. But I am still not convinced that such wheels will be more than negligibly faster than my 32h 3x wheels.

I believe they were the Race Lites. Whatever was stock on a year 2004 5200. I never did weigh them when I had that bike but the first time I lifted the ES wheels with cassette it was noticeably lighter.

I don't race, I'm not a TT demon but I love challenging myself climbing hills. I'm 5' 7" 148lbs and live in the Bay Area where there are plenty of them to tackle. Some of it is due to more time on the bike and better fitness but getting the new bike and it being 4.5 lbs lighter I'm able to get up the same steep hills in a 34x 23/25 vs the 34x 24/27 combo I had on the Trek.

Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.

E. Merckx

Bikes costing their weight in gold.... It's becoming a reality!!!

Yeah, the only time I think my results (placing) would have changed with more aero wheels is a TT I did, where UT_Dude beat me by 0.25s. My 32h/36h Deep-Vs are not the most aero wheels around...

If I could have gotten a quarter second over 8 miles with wheels that cost 3x to 6x as much, I would have earned 8th place instead of 9th :)

Some Zipps would get you alot more than a quarter second.

Yeah, I'd love to have a set, but I'll never front the cash.

6th place was another 40s away...