Categories: The BikesThe RidesTraditionUnforgettable Rides

Weight Weenies

Parting the waters on a 24 pound bike.

My bike weighs about 6 kilos. It is no waify little thing either, with it having a 61cm frame and and three stories of seatpost. It has beefy tubes, a stiff bottom bracket and steerer, and deep section wheels which are laced 3x in the back and 2x in front. This bike has never made me go faster; only going faster has made me go faster.

Gianni rode Haleakala in the 80’s on a heavy steel frame with a 42T chainring and a 23T cog in the back. He rode it wearing a cuttoff sleeveless t-shirt; an offense which, had I known when we started this site, I would have put him on probation for. Then he did it again several years later on a titanium, campa-equipped steed with a compact and wearing proper kit. He rode it in about the same time, also proving that you go as fast as you want, not as fast as your bike is.

Gianni Bugno (different Gianni but possibly the source of inspiration for Keeper Gianni’s name), won back-to-back l’Alpe d’Huez stages on a 24-pound steel Moser, beating lighter carbon TVT’s to the punch both times.

Riding light bikes is fun, but they won’t make you go any faster. Pushing harder on the pedals does.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

unversio says:

Jun 27 2015 at 3:27 pm

@Nate

Gert does it with one bottle in the jersey pocket and one cage on the bike.
Jay says:

Jun 27 2015 at 6:14 pm

I have always contended that it is not the bike, but rather the engine (as in rider) that is the most important component. I could ride on the most aerodynamic and lightweight TT bike with the most aerodynamic positioning possible, yet someone like Cancellara would kick my ass while riding a Schwinn Varsity. It comes down to how much power you can put to the pedals.

Nice article. For the record: I am no weight weenie, I go for durable.
ChrisO says:

Jun 27 2015 at 9:02 pm

@Jay

I have always contended that it is not the bike, but rather the engine (as in rider) that is the most important component. I could ride on the most aerodynamic and lightweight TT bike with the most aerodynamic positioning possible, yet someone like Cancellara would kick my ass while riding a Schwinn Varsity. It comes down to how much power you can put to the pedals.

Nice article. For the record: I am no weight weenie, I go for durable.

Well yes, as @Frank also pointed out, the bike doesn't make anything go, the rider does... so glad we cleared up that area of confusion.

To make such obvious statements as if anyone was arguing about them is missing the point.

I know people like to wax lyrical about steel and that a fast rider on a crap bike will be better than a crap rider on a fast bike. D'uh.

You hit it when you said it comes down to how much power you can put on the pedals. That's the single constant. You only have so much power at any time. Put that power on a heavy steel bike and give yourself a 'bad' position (aerodynamically) and you are throwing away some of what is already a limited resource. Everything matters - just riding on the hoods not the drops will make a 10-20 watt negative difference.

If you want to see and work out some of what goes in to making you go faster have a look at http://www.bikecalculator.com . It's not 100% but an interesting indicator of what we can do to make the most of what we've got, and not waste our improvements.
Matt says:

Jun 27 2015 at 11:09 pm

@Nate

@unversio

Gert-Jan Theunisse certainly defends Frank’s choice to mount his control levers — level.

Awesome cap luft as usual from indurain.

I never get tired of pix of Gert.

Too bad Gunderson is in the frame, befouling the rainbow jersey.

Indurain's Cap wearing is flawless to the point of frustration, because I know no matter how long I stand in front of the mirror trying to achieve the perfect Luft, it will never look quite as good as his. Fuck.
tessar says:

Jun 28 2015 at 1:38 am

@ChrisO

@Jay

I have always contended that it is not the bike, but rather the engine (as in rider) that is the most important component. I could ride on the most aerodynamic and lightweight TT bike with the most aerodynamic positioning possible, yet someone like Cancellara would kick my ass while riding a Schwinn Varsity. It comes down to how much power you can put to the pedals.

Nice article. For the record: I am no weight weenie, I go for durable.

Well yes, as @Frank also pointed out, the bike doesn’t make anything go, the rider does… so glad we cleared up that area of confusion.

To make such obvious statements as if anyone was arguing about them is missing the point.

I know people like to wax lyrical about steel and that a fast rider on a crap bike will be better than a crap rider on a fast bike. D’uh.

You hit it when you said it comes down to how much power you can put on the pedals. That’s the single constant. You only have so much power at any time. Put that power on a heavy steel bike and give yourself a ‘bad’ position (aerodynamically) and you are throwing away some of what is already a limited resource. Everything matters – just riding on the hoods not the drops will make a 10-20 watt negative difference.

If you want to see and work out some of what goes in to making you go faster have a look at http://www.bikecalculator.com . It’s not 100% but an interesting indicator of what we can do to make the most of what we’ve got, and not waste our improvements.

Give http://www.bestbikesplit.com a shot if you want to go all nitty-gritty with the details. For those with measured CdA values, you can get to within seconds if actual wind measures up to the value entered.

P.S Hoods are sometimes more aero than the drops, thanks to modern fitting practices. Frank, for example, or Ryder Hesjedal.
wilburrox says:

Jun 28 2015 at 4:49 am

@Jay

I have always contended that it is not the bike, but rather the engine (as in rider) that is the most important component. I could ride on the most aerodynamic and lightweight TT bike with the most aerodynamic positioning possible, yet someone like Cancellara would kick my ass while riding a Schwinn Varsity. It comes down to how much power you can put to the pedals.

Nice article. For the record: I am no weight weenie, I go for durable.

Question: Would Ultegra be considered more durable than Dura-Ace ? And 105 even more durable still ?
The Pressure says:

Jun 28 2015 at 8:12 am

@frank

Once again the meter of seatpost throws me off. The head tube is a telltale sign. Thanks for the clarification. Sweet whip btw.
gilly says:

Jun 28 2015 at 2:05 pm

@frank

@michel02

gert jan theunisse had a training wheel filled with lead, for training purposes needless to say…it worked! (-:

Fucking GJT was such a legend!

Rock star without a band!
Beers says:

Jun 28 2015 at 9:10 pm

@wilburrox

@Jay

I have always contended that it is not the bike, but rather the engine (as in rider) that is the most important component. I could ride on the most aerodynamic and lightweight TT bike with the most aerodynamic positioning possible, yet someone like Cancellara would kick my ass while riding a Schwinn Varsity. It comes down to how much power you can put to the pedals.

Nice article. For the record: I am no weight weenie, I go for durable.

Question: Would Ultegra be considered more durable than Dura-Ace ? And 105 even more durable still ?

Tiagra, heavy punched steel, a bit of drilling but all the cogs are splined right to the middle rather than milled out and riveted onto a cage, no alloy to speak of, heavy and cheap as fuck.

But why would you ride it. The profiles and teeth patterns are probably at greater tolerances than all the others put together, so your shifting etc is probably going to suffer. The higher spec cassettes have alloy cogs to make weight, which is obviously going to hurt longevity compared to steel.

I ride lower level on my training bike as it is not a problem to change regularly. Can get chain, cassette and chainrings for the price of a dura ace cassette, and my butt doesn't clench everytime I ride gravel or it starts raining.
Mikael Liddy says:

Jun 28 2015 at 9:51 pm

@Nate

@unversio

Gert-Jan Theunisse certainly defends Frank’s choice to mount his control levers — level.

Awesome cap luft as usual from indurain.

I never get tired of pix of Gert.

Too bad Gunderson is in the frame, befouling the rainbow jersey.

While I get where you're coming from re COTHO, his desire to commit to Rule #15 was at least a slightly redeeming feature...