I recently purchased a Trek 1.2 bike and it's spec'd at 20lbs I believe. I see bikes that are double in price and they can be down to 16.5 lbs.

How much difference does that make on a ride? If you've make a similar jump of dropping 3-4lbs of bike weight did it make a huge difference increasing you average speeds?

Thanks

OB

A couple of trips to the bathroom.

Let's see...for an average 150 lbs cyclist, the difference in mass is about 2%. That my friend, is noise in the real world...unless you're doing a time trial.

Want more proof? Buy a cheap $5 speedometer. Put a 5 lbs bag of rice or bean in your backpack and go out for a ride. Come back and let us know if you lost more than 1/2 mph.

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24075

My Trek 1.2 weighs in at 19.1 lbs! You got bamboozled!

Will you notice the weight difference? Hard to say. You may notice a difference in acceleration if the wheels are noticeably lighter. A couple pounds of overall weight really won't matter much, since the weight of your body matters a whole lot more. Me, I'm losing weight. Down 10 pounds so far, which is going to make a much bigger difference than a couple pounds on the bike.

It's about 3.5 lbs. That will make zero difference on flat ground, and a small difference on climbs. You can find out how much by using a calulator such as the one on analyticcycling. Unless your rides are all up serious climbs you won't see a significant difference in average speed.

It depends on where you ride. If you live in Florida, not so much. If you live in the Rocky Mountains, it will make a difference. Gravity becames an issue on step hills and that is where weight makes a diffence.

Approximately 30 years ago there was a big fad about weight reduction. People were drilling holes in various bicycle components. Some people, in order to make fun of the fad, would cut little circular holes in the legs of their cycling shorts.

Look, you are obviously new to the sport and have just shelled out almost a grand on a bike. The difference at this point of 4 lbs is not going to make any difference to you. Ride the bike you have and get the most out of it. If you progress in your riding, you'll be upgrading in 2 to 3 years anyway. There are many very good riders out there that are riding lesser spec'd bikes than you just bought. A heavier bike (yours is not heavy) is a smoother riding bike for the most part. Where a lighter bike will excel is on climbs and sprints.

Fred me out big boy.

+1

When you have to diet and train year round to keep your weight down to 165 and you are still the Fat guy on your club ride getting your ass kicked on every climb 5 lbs of bike is huge. If you are folllwing your wife around the park on Sunday not so much.

When you get dropped by a girl on a hill during a practice race, you're going to wish your bike weighed less. But if you're just riding for fitness by yourself or group rides for distance and not speed, you don't need to worry about weight. You can always upgrade to a better bike later.

my newest bike is several pounds heavier than my old bike. i went from an aluminum frame/ carbon fork to both in steel. it feels a little slower climbing (but thats probably more because its not as stiff) at the end of the day i dont care that its heavier. if i traded bikes with a cat 1 racer, they would still drop me. i am the disadvantage.

Going from a 24 pound bike to an 18 pound felt like a big difference at first...

Now that I've ridden more, there actually wasn't too big of a difference. My lighter bike is a lot stiffer, which makes more of a difference I think.

Hey Bean Bag - It may be 19.1 The weight I found was from a past year. Mine is a 2010 Trek 1.2 C.

Somebody beat me to it, but I'll say it anyway.

3.5 lbs.

spend a week or three eating only 1500 calories a day, voila 3.5 lbs lighter.

I just purchased a 2010 trek 1.2 also. they weighed it for me becuase i was curious. 21.4lbs. that was with the stock pedal. now i have clips. but this is my first road bike and I'm getting spanked. I'm very competive so it burns me sometimes. but then you have to stop and think these guys probably have about 3 years or more time in the saddle. and unless they are ballin. they started out right where we are. so I wouldn't worry about the weight factor. I'm 225 and 4lb don't mean crap. buy the time I save up for another road bike. maybe weight will be lighter who knows. the only thing I'm thinking about for mine is up grading my shifters and front compnents. the rear tiagra and I'm pretty happy with it.

You will lose the 3.5 lbs of body fat faster on the 20 lb bike to make up the difference.

Back in the day when I was lighter and less sane. I took an old water bottle and filled it with lead BB's and epoxy resin. That was to weight down my light 20 lb bike to get stronger on training days.

My old coach used to say don't be afraid of the guy who races the 10k blah, blah. Be afraid of the guy riding a Huffy with some weird glow-in-the-dark liquid in his water bottles.

However, the 2 grand in cash must weigh atleast 1/2 lb. So the net weight difference is 4 lbs due to lighter pockets.

I would appreciated 3.5 pounds less at my race on Saturday, but for general riding it's not going to make much difference.

If I can input my 2 cents, it depends where the weight is coming from. If you're taking 3 pounds out of the wheels (aka unsprung mass), you'll notice the difference in how the bike feels and performs. It'll have more of a racy/rocket ship feel to it.

If the weight is coming off the frames or components (aka sprung mass), you're not going to notice much of a difference at all. People tend to get too caught up in a few grams here or there that make close to a negligible difference, particularly on flats. Avoid getting sucked into the law of diminishing returns by some weight weenie and save yourself a few grand. If anything, consider it motivation to lose a few pounds off those love handles.

In the same vein, I've become a fan of steel frames for the rigid, racy feel, despite the additional poundage.

A lighter wheel will permit faster spin-up, but the advantage is quite subtle to the average cyclist. The advantage of super light wheels is negligible once the bike is up to straight-line cruising speed.

You should stay in the commuting forum

This isn't a car, there is no sprung mass.

i also use 4 bricks AND includes the rebar and cement holding them together, beat that..

unless you have one of those outlawed trek y-foil road bikes with the suspension fork...

edit:

but even if you did, it wouldnt have the same effects it does on a car. lots of unsprung mass would poorly effect the response of the suspension, but thats about it. i dont think handling would be effected as much as weight is not transfered to the outside wheel