Bikeorexia ... Cannondale purging
 

The Theater of the Absurd now includes road bikes; the destructive extent of bikeorexia has finally been revealed.

Over the weekend, during Tour coverage, Versus had a short piece on the Liquigas Cannondales. In the segment a Cannondale product manager revealed that their bikes weigh only twelve pounds. He then proudly raised his hand to display a three inch piece of metal pipe that had to be added to the bikes in order for them to comply with UCI regulations.

What a ridiculous demonstration that was. My mind began to spin with wonder.

Do people who buy those bikes look at the dead weight as rare earth, costing hundreds of dollars an ounce?

Do they wonder how much safety was given up to have a piece of scrap metal strapped to their bike in order to make it racing legal?

If I'm passed on a climb by a Cannondale rider should I demand that he display his silly axillary pipe or just assume he's cheating?

I don't understand what you are asking. They add the weight to the tour bikes, not to the ones they sell. If some guy passes you on that bike, you can assume it doesn't have the added weight. However it probably doesn't have all the other light crap that made it underweight in the first place.

I don't see why they would even have a min weight regulation. As long as the bike has the required components, brakes and whatnot, why not let it stand at that?

Cannondale is marketing to people who won't be racing in situations where the UCI minimum weight rule is enforced. Is that hard to understand?

The idea is similar to what NASCAR does. You can't gain an advantage by reducing weight beyond a certain point.

Or people who could lose the equivalent of a lead pipe by eating less and riding more.

My questions were rhetorical, intended to provoke a conversation about what I see as an absurd pursuit of weight reduction for the pure sake of it and at a cost that only benefits the sellers of bicycles.

Okay, I admit I occasionally suffer from vengeful bowel syndrome (VBS), but I wouldn't describe the symptoms as a lead pipe.

They should have put the weight into the bottom bracket to make it as low on the frame as possible to lower the center of gravity. I wasnt sure if he said he put it on the seatpost or the bottom of the seat tube which would be better.

If they didn't people would make the frames so light that they became unsafe

What part of lighter faster better stronger do you not understand in the world of evolution?

Formula 1 will also build their cars under the weight limit and add ballast. There is a benefit to controlling where the weight goes, as it affects handling. I imagine this would the same for bikes as well as cars. Regardless, you made it sound like the bikes they were selling would also have this ballast and people were paying extra for it.

I thought the same thing when I saw that episode.

UMD, I honestly like most of your comments and think you have a lot of good knowledge to share on a variety of topics. But on this one, we don't see eye to eye.

Here's the big difference, and the essential point I'm making. Cannondale is not making those bikes for other professional riders. They are making those bikes (and you can purchase an exact copy of what is being ridden in the Tour) for non-professional cyclists who pay big $$ for what is essentially a cheat. Think of it as a golfer with fifteen clubs in his bag or a swimmer with fins.

Yes, but bikes aren't like cars: bike lean into turns. So maybe you'd get "better handling" by keeping the dead weight as close to the center of mass of the bike+rider as possible (lower polar moment of inertia).

But if the non-professional cyclist is racing in an event that has a weight limit, then the bike could/should be put on a scale and that person dq'd. They cheated and got caught. If the they race an event with no weight limit, then how is it cheating?

I know nothing of golfing so your example is lost on me. I ride a ~13-15 pound bike (depending on trim). There is no minimum weight in amateur racing, so it's not cheating. There is certainly no minimum weight for recreational road cycling.

It isn't cheating if you aren't competing in anything.

If people like riding around on a 12 pound bike, then shouldn't that be their choice?

Anyway, a lot (if not most) of this is marketing hype designed to sell products to people who don't necessarily understand the subtleties of geometry, weight distribution, or for that matter anatomy in the choice of a bike. They can understand weight because its a very obvious metric. Bike A weighs a pound less than Bike B so Bike A must be better.

It works the same way in so many other consumer marketing fields, like digital cameras where more megapixels are supposed to be the be-all and end-all, or stereo equipment where more wattage is always better, or cars where more horsepower is definitely a must, or computer CPUs where more Mhz are always faster, and on and on.

Very true, seems like the first thing people ask about someone else's bike is "how much does it weigh". I can't even count how many times I've been photographing something with my 1D and some guy with a Rebel comes up and asks me how many megapixels it has. "Eight" I say. "Mine is ten" they reply smugly...

I think half the problem with this forum is that people don't recognize posts that are satire/sarcasm/tongue-firmly planted-in-cheek.

To quote that great American statesman Rodney King, why can't we all just get along? :love:

Cheat? Like everyone who chooses DA over Ultegra? Red over Rival?

I mean, cost vs. weight exists at all levels, right?

But he knows how to use "P!!" :)


P.S. If you ever need to get rid of your 1D or some L lenses, let me know.
P.P.S. If you ever need to get rid of a ~13-15 pound bike, let me know.

At least in the states. A lot of amateurs have to follow UCI regs. I've actually had my bike weighed at the start of a hill climb TT.

All aboard the fail ship.

All the Rebel users I've seen usually leave it on the green box. Some have figured out the picture modes like sport, portrait, etc. None that I've talked to even knew what the P, Tv, Av, etc. did.

One nice thing about the 1 series bodies and L series lenses is the weather sealing. I've shot in pouring rain and watched while others tried to deal with plastic baggies.

And to keep it relevant, it's a Canondale!

http://www.photoscene.com/kimandsteve/images/6009.jpg

http://www.photoscene.com/kimandsteve/images/6021.jpg