I'm curious about whether it makes a difference in workload whether you shave say 2-3 lbs on your bike vs losing the same amount off body weight. Let's say as far as hill climbing is concerned. My CX bike is probably about 4lbs heavier than a typical road bike. It sucks for climbing hills but can't figure out if its the bike or me. I'm fairly lean but not in cycling shape.

The difference is, losing weight on your body is free.

My trainer tells me that losing a pound of the belly saves $1k off your wallet. I wish I could get that money back into the bank!

Probably the same if the weight lost is fat. If the weight lost is muscle, then obviously there may be relative performance lost.

But what about rotating weight?? That's a can of worms for another thread. Maybe.

No, because your bike doesn't get fat again over winter.

For the most part, yes. As brought up, weight lost from the wheels counts for slightly more as the lessened rotational mass takes less energy to move AROUND as well as forward.

No. Excess body weight (i.e. fat) must be cooled, which consumes energy. It can also compromise your riding posture and making sitting and standing more energy-consuming.

Weight on your body (body fat) can be much more hurtful to your performance than weight on your bike. Extra body fat robs calories, restricts oxygen to muscles, is harder to regulate temperature and limits movement/flexibility.

However if you are a healthy weight for your height the strain on your body that 5 or so pounds inflicts is minimal. In this case the pros and cons of each are debatable. Personally my weight fluctuates regularly up to 10lbs and I never seen to notice it in athletic performance but I do notice the difference in bike weight between my 2 otherwise equally set up bikes (responsiveness, steering, riding out of the saddle)

.... of course if we are talking about 1-2lbs I would say its all in your head lol

I dunno cause there's no more body weight I can lose

Does it cost you several thousand dollars to empty your bladder?

Losing weight from the bike makes you faster.

Cause your wallet gets lighter too so its a double win.

There could be a lot of reasons. Higher rolling resistance, less optimal positioning. Different gearing? 4 lbs will actually make a noticeable difference.

A light bike feels more responsive because it moves your center of gravity up slightly. Also, since there is only a semi-rigid connection between your body and your bike, a light bike feels like it "jumps" when you accelerate, because the light bike has a greater tendency to accentuate the lag between the bike accelerating and your body accelerating.

That said, you can always make your bike lighter with your wallet. A light body is a much more potent weapon.

A light body on a heavy bike still looks much better than a heavy body on a light bike. Best aim for a light body on a light bike- thats the stuff.

Short answer yes. However, most people can lose more than 2-3 pounds and still be healthy.


Do you mean "I ride a cross and a road bike, and the road bike climbs faster, as measured by comparing a large number of sample hill climbs under the same conditions?"

Or do you mean "I feel slow on the hills, and I'm getting passed by dudes on road bikes?"

w=mgh
w=work
m=mass
g=force of gravity
h=height (distance force of gravity acts against)

For me to get a bike that is lighter than the pounds I still have to loose would be impossible. (Shrinking clyde knocking on 200's door) I have changed my mind on upgrading to a carbon bike from my aluminum 16 speed to a 105 grouped 525 CrMo, which is about the same weight. I will be 20 pounds lighter when I make the switch, which is almost the total weight of the entire bike.

What this video from Global Cycling Network: https://youtu.be/5DRQwKREgvI

They use a rolling road with a normal guy and a pro to show watts used on the two bikes, Ceverlo S5 and add water bottles to simulate a heavy bike. Interesting results. There final statement is each kg adds 0.025W per kg (this normalizes the power to mass). You you do the math, you will see that loosing 1 kg from you or the bike will net about ~5W less to maintain the same speed. If you loose 10lbs, the same speed will save you 20W sustained. Weight sucks your power no matter where it is.

So unless you want to really spend cash on the bike, you should speed the effort to loose the pounds from you. I lost about 40lbs using Medifast last year. It makes a huge difference in effort to lose the weight from your body. If you are skinny as a rail, then there spend the cash on the bike.

Why do you all hate *******? We need to support our economy and buy ultralight bikes.

Losing body weight is transferrable and you will be faster on any bike you ride. Helpful if you enjoy more than one type of cycling discipline (road, c/x, mtb). Also helpful if you go on vacation and rent a bike. Shaving weight off your bike can be expensive and any gains you make in terms of speed will be limited to that bike. Losing body weight will likely also have a positive impact on your overall health.

But much more difficult.

No. People rarely lift me up in obvious envy of my weight.

Rarely? So it happens sometimes?

Bike weight is just weight. Body weight is supported by your butt, hands and feet. You're moving it when you move your body, consumes oxygen and energy, and generates heat. You cut 3 lbs of body weigth by not eating 10,000 calories, which save money rather than costs money.

Perhaps, but if anyone can actually feel the difference between a 20 pound bike and an 18 pound bike I'd be shocked.

Be shocked. Ride a bike enough and you can tell the difference between a seat pack or no seat pack. It's a 10% change in bike weight and, as I said before, only loosely connected to your body. What you are saying is that you cannot tell the difference. That may be, but there are others who can.