Does the weight of the bike
 

have a lot to do with how fast your going to be able to go? Whats the lightest out of the budget frames?

Lighter means faster acceleration, less to push up hills, easier to carry up stairs, etc. Most affordable steel frames weigh about the same, so unless you want to get an aluminum frame or buy more expensive components you're looking at 20-22lbs across the board.

Ahh okay. How greatly does upgrading the components upgrade the speed of the bike?

see how well you like fixed 1st. if your addicted upgrade to a better parted or lighter bike. its more in your fittness than how light a bike is even though lightness will make it a lot more enjoyable. but you don't want too light either if you ride bumpy streets. what's your purpose for a light bike? racing? if not then find a compromise with being as light but as durable as possible if its for the streets.

Im 5'6 will a 5'4 be too small? Im sorta a small dude

Weight is pretty darn inconsequential compared to your own fitness. That said, putting gears on your bike will be likely to increase your speed a lot more than shaving off a pound or five.

I'm 5'6" and I ride a 53cm. Bike frame is not measured by a persons height, although the overall height is part of the equation.

It's measured by how comfortable you are when you are on the bike leaning forward holding the handlebars. That's the top tube length. I learned all this here.

I found that standover is not a factor unless the frame is obviously too tall.

I might even fit a 56cm frame if the standover height is not more than 31 1/2".

If you meant a 54cm, it would fit as long as you don't have unusually short or long arms/torso and such.

this reminds me of a common conversation I have
"how fast is your bike?"
"It's pretty fast when its falling over"
"no, how fast is your bike?"
"Its a bike it can't move on its own but, I am pretty fast when I am pedaling it."
weight is superfluous unless you are a pro and am trying to shave a tenth of a second off of your time.
most track bike frames are in the sub 10lbs category built your average bike weights from 13lbs to 23lbs
get over the weight subject and get to riding your bike so it can be fast

I just realized I have a very tall standover compared to my heigh. IM 5'6 with a standover of 33"

You mean a 54cm frame? Should fit. Might even be too large. Best to go to a shop and get yourself a fitting.

On the other hand, if the bike feels fine and it's inexpensive, I say just go for it. I'm assuming you're doing a conversion of an old road bike?

Listen to Gyeswho. Good advice. Luckily there are plenty of tough but reasonably light 80's frames which are also pretty inexpensive.

Naw im thinking of a cheap BD bike. The Hour or the mercier, I know the mercier is a better bike but for some reason I like how the slate blak the hour looks.

so get a khs flite 100 it has better cranks and comes in the color you want nancy

heavier bike = teh juggernautz

since it isn't about stopping anyway, why not have something that's easier to keep in motion

a lot of people seem overly concerned with the weight of their frame and components. it might be a little more challenging, but won't riding a heavier bike will make you physically stronger? please correct me if i'm wrong.

My elder son has trained under two olympic coaches who told him, in the context of competition, one pound on a bike equals seven pounds on the body.

For those of us who ride on the street, this kind of lightness doesn't have that much relevance.

That said, I have found, in general, that the more mechanically-refined (more reliable) parts on fixed-gear bikes tend to weigh less.

They don't weigh less because of their mechanical-refinement, but because the designers have figured buyers of these parts want both lightness and reliability, and so they go together.

In contrast, I have just had a fixed-gear mountain bike made for me by Webcyclery, and I note on mountain bike parts, the manufacturers tend to focus more on reliability than on lightness, and so my fixed-gear mountain bike weighs considerably more than my fixed-gear street bike.

When I pick up the two bikes and compare them, I can feel the difference.

However, riding them, I really don't feel any difference I can attribute to weight.

In fact, I actually like the mountain bike a little better (even though it weighs more) because I knew more about fit when I chose my mountain bike components than I did when I put together my street bike (it fits better).

Are they otherwise intelligent?

While accelerating, climbing, and sprinting, I would assume you are correct. It would take more energy from the body to move a larger mass.

When I think of speed, I don't think weight or components play a big role. Speed would be dependent on gearing and cadence. Acceleration and deceleration would be affected by weight, both bike weight and component weight.

Also, it would be easier to maintain a 'max' speed on a heavier bike since it would have more inertia than a lighter machine.

I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for. Hopefully, it's all correct... my last physics class was 5 years ago.

You'll most notice weight when climbing hills. Big difference between your old gas-pipe 30lb Schwinn and a 20lb road conversion when you go up the same hill.

Rotational weight (the wheels) is more important and more easily felt than weight elsewhere on the bike. Than again, you also want wheels that will handle uneven surfaces and the occassional pothole/curb drop, so if you're 220lb it's probably not the best idea to get some 28 spoke Velocity Aeroheads...

a heavier bike only adversely effects your speed if you're wearing a skirt.

Yes, very much so.

Why?

I work with a fellow who won the Australian Iron Man some years ago and still regularly wins Master's races.

His son, a National Junior Champion, trains with the Olympic team and rides a fixed gear bike over the winter as a training bike.

They both have ridiculously low body fat and cannot take off any more body weight and still maintain normal health.
For that reason, they ride very light bikes.
As light as the rules allow.
For them, one pound on the bike equals seven pounds on their body.

My elder son, on the other hand, runs the 440 in college and has an exceedingly muscular body, and, in fact, an overly-muscular body for a bicyclist.
He has no interest in losing weight and rides a bike to cross train for running and other activities.
He couldn't care less about how much his bike weighs, as long as it doesn't break.
For him, an extra pound on the bike means nothing.

For myself, I have fairly light bike.
I have light components on a relatively heavy Pista frame, and it all adds up to a light bike for a street fixie.
I feel the greatest benefit in the low inertia wheels, and then again when I pick it up to carry it.
Otherwise, for me, fit matters more than weight.

i live in england and prefer lighter bikes because i live at the bottom of a valley with 800 feet clims in each direction. I really notice the difference in bike weight. however people do get obsessed about the weight of their bike and how a bike goes. A biek will only go as fast as the guy person pedalling it and how long they can sustain that cadence for. I think aerodynaics is more important than weight, i had a aero fork and then a normal fork and i lost 2-3mph on the top speed of the bike.

thanks for the family history. i'm sure your sons would love being discussed on a message board.

If you want to build a "fast" bike focus on rolling resistance (tyres) and aerodynamics (wheels, frame, seatpost, bars/stem, clothing). Both come into play on flat roads, both greatly impact on maximum achievable speed.

take a pre-race crap problem solved and when I am training for a big race I usually take creatine to cut the water weight out of my body

On a singlespeed/fixed gear your maximum speed also depends on your gearing, the terrain, and how fast you can spin in addition to all of the other factors mentioned. If you are riding a singlespeed/fixed on the street any gearing that will allow you to get up steep hills will probably "top out" on flat roads, thus limiting your top speed. That is unless you are riding stupidly high gearing in which case you will have to either destroy your knees or walk up the hills.

In short, if you really want to go fast, get a road bike.