The money that the WW people spend, finance the advances in technology that all bicyclists benefit from.
Besides, a bicycle is more than a tool for me. It is art. I spend more than I should to have the art I enjoy. Lighten up! I spent a lot less on my house and car than most people, so I can enjoy my bike!

Palaver.

Is it worth it going sub 15?

Yes.

TRINITY

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=trinity

I wish I had a bike that weighed 14.9 lbs including pedals.

If you've got the money for it, go for it. More power to ya. For the poster saying, "why not just give the money to charity,' I have to ask. At what point would you stop giving to charity? This is capitalism and free market forces. I can't wait till I can afford to be a weight weenie. Till then I'll ride my 19.5 lbs tank.

So, I hate to admit it, but I had to look that word up to realize how irrelevant it was.

the good folks over on weightweenies are talking about this very thread. It's kind of fun to read what they have to say.

I was just giving my 2 cents on the OP's question of "is it worth it?". For alot of people on this forum the answer is yes. There's nothing wrong with that. If shaving grams makes biking more enjoyable to you, I dont think there's any need to defend that. I interpreted the question to be asking if the performance increase you will gain is worth the amount of money you will have to spend. We could ask 100 people that question and get 100 different answers. My answere would be that the money might be better spent elsewhere. That's all.

At what point would you start giving to charity? When you had 10 sub 15 bikes?

Okay, then here is a word that you (perhaps) won't have to look up: stupid. As in, "claiming that a bike is art is stupid." Or try inane. Or nonsense. Or just plain silly.

There are many reasons for wanting a lighter bike. You're just too lazy to think of any of them, apparently.

Addendum: art is, among other things, an act of expression. Do you really assert that you are expressing yourself by studying spec sheets, whipping out your credit card, and then bolting together lightweight bike parts? You really believe that? If so, then everything I wrote in the above post applies. Boy, does it apply.

I agree. We all have our priorities. I just don't think, as bicyclists, it helps to make accusations about people who tend to spend some extra dough on bikes that they actually ride (not always the case). Also, as a group, I find that cyclist tend to do quite a bit for the non-profit sector.

Does anyone else feel like this guy is a moron?

I am a weight weenie. I would never buy any wheels over $1,000 though. My spreadsheet says I can hit sub 15lbs with Rolf Elans. I just made some purchases off of fellow BFers who saw some of my posts, and had stuff for sale, now I got 220g of weight savings on the way. A KCNC Ti post, and Syntace Carbon bars. Next plan of attack is wheels, and crank. Those will knock over 1000g off. I will be able to hit sub 15lbs, and keep some of my heavier parts. Anyone wanting to lighten a bike, I urge you to make a spreadsheet, and calc it up. That way you have a plan, and don't just throw money at it.

Meh.

He doesn't get it - his loss.

Well. I discovered someone on-line tonight that uses words no one else I know uses, and doesn't like me because I consider bicycles art. It really doesn't bother me, like my posts obviously bother you. Go figure.
I'll go ride tomorrow, like I did today, on my beautiful work of featherlight ART!

Who said they're not giving to charity already? You also have to consider other economical questions. For example, perhaps they're not donating to charity, but because of their lighter bike they were able to either become pro or do some spectacular ride like ride 24 hrs straight for charity. Becoming pro/doing a spectacular ride leads to publicity where they promote a charity and raise more money for the charity than they could have by just handing the money over. You never know.

I'm tired.

you know...i hate to agree with coyote because he seems like he has some animosity in his posts towards 'strong bad'...but i have to agree with him...it just doesn't seem like a form of self expression to study spec sheets and spreadsheets, throw money at people/companys, and put your bike on a scale to see if it has become 'art'...

it's just my opinion...if you believe it's art, it's art to you...and that's all the really matters! :)

There's many way to describe art. Part of which is just that, no two people will see the same thing when looking at it. Art is also a form of perfection, or search for it. You don't see art in the perfect combination of metal, carbon, or whatever else is used to make this bike that light? Science can be an art form. At the end of the day I'm pretty sure a lot of WW are very proud in their work. That's literally what it is, their work. They spend countless hours looking at spreadsheets trying to find what works for them. All I did was go down to my LBS, point, and grunt at the bike I wanted.

Having said all that, I am very intrigued by the fixie WW bikes that can weigh less than 9 lbs. That's just insane. Would hills even exist at that point?

I am well aware of other expressions of art. I have been a musician since the age of 9. Photography is one of my other passions, and I love poetry. I am an engineer by trade, and have a fondness for disciplines that combine both art and science. To say that bicycles are not art is to ignore a basic tenet of art. It has to mean something to the person who perceives it as art (and therefore cannot be determined by one person for another). If you don't think bikes are art, then maybe you haven't seen any of RAD/55's photos.
Great photography, no doubt. But the subject of the photos is also art.

ok, here's a question. it was briefly touched on earlier in this thread.

what's the best bang for the buck, performancewise, when you're starting at the bottom and are poor or cheap or both? I have a 10-yr-old steel Trek with RSX components and clip-on aerobars. I'm less concerned about weight than overall performance (i.e. aero). If I had $100 to spend to go faster in a triathlon, where should I spend it? And what about the next $100 after that? What would the most rational $500 budget be? (assuming parts are bought new and I don't sell the bike and buy another used one.)

phil

A bike can be considered a work of art, but I don't think anyone is claiming to have created a work of art by building a light bike, but rather purchased a work of art (or works of art in pieces), much like one buys art and displays it in their home.

Photography is an art as well, and Rad uses it to celebrate a work of art, a sculpture that is more than just to look at, but one that has many intrinsic representations of other dimensions and forces, like speed, and sweat, and glory, and pain.

[Valve cap removal have nothing to do with weight saving. It has everything to do with Fred.]

Some (a lot) of you guys on this board are such A_holes. You waist so much time worrying about "FREDS" and "dork discs" and whether or not your cranks are parallel when you take pictures of your rides in front of the garage; I'm amazed that you actually get any enjoyment out of actually riding at all. Or maybe your just out there to see whom else you can make fun of or point at to make yourselves feel better.

My stem is up, and so is my finger, to all you high school "better thans", who can't seem to get over finding new ways to segregate yourselves from a group that finds enjoyment in the same thing you claim too.

OR come tell me how "FRED" i am on the road and we can ride single file together.

Is being a 'weight weenie!' worse/better than being a 'more horsepower!' person?
Is getting liposuction better than being hungry?
Is receiving charity better than giving
Have pedaled over a quarter million miles on bicycles . . . have made my choice.

A blast from the past