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.
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@Cary
Indeed. My 1978 Brooklyn Gios comes in at 21 lbs. Interestingly my 1995 Pinarello Sestriere with modern 11 Sp Athena Gruppo is also 21 lbs. The Butler (1967 mid range Claud Butler) does come in at 24 lbs.
the early '90s Motorola MX Leaders were burly bikes, and they were between 20-21lbs.
Stumbled across this today, it might explain things here.
That didn't work. "Quote" is not capturing the previous comment. This is what I was referring to:
REPLY | QUOTE | #17 @frank // Jun 25 2015
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@Barracuda
@piwakawaka
@RVester
Do you have a source that Gianni Bugno’s TdF-ridden steel Moser weighed 10.8 kgs?
@frank‘s source for all his ‘facts’ is being Dutch.
The guy who owns my LBS has a great line “I can make it lighter but I can’t make it any faster”.
Source ? Who the hell uses credible information to back up facts ?
That’s absurd
The day we start to cite sources or in any other way become credible is the day I shut this place down.
@MangoDave
hmmmm........
@Teocalli
Who measures anything in lbs anyway?
@RobSandy
Old farts like me!