10g Here And 20g There

[chris4stars]

right, first things first...before i get shot down, i get how a lighter bike helps! more responsive, easier to throw around etc etc..the list goes on

im also relatively new to trials riding, so if my thoughts are incorrect..id appreciate any constructive comments

basically, ive read through loads of posts talking about saving weight....with holes drilled all over, certain items bought over others etc...the saving of a few grams here, and a few grams there

going on a bike that weighs around 10kg though, only 1% of weight is taken off with every 100grams....as a previous pretty high level athlete and fitness instructor (only on the side during school) 1% difference of weight to lift/throw/do anything with is minimal!

for the majority of people infact, a relatively focused physical training program can raise a persons strength/explosive power etc buy atleast 20%...in my eyes, cheaper/quicker/easier and surely having a much more noticeable effect?! also, this reduces body weight by a few thousand grams (only put in that way to show perspective) making the total rider/bike weight less...meaning higher/longer leaps

and with new years coming up and resolutions to be healthier/go to the gym a little more, the topic is almost relevant!!

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

The thing with weight saving is that, as you say, if you only change one thing and save 50g it's not really worth it. However, the difference comes when you do everything you can which can turn a 10kg bike into an 8.5kg or 9kg bike which, if you think of it over the course of an entire trial competition, especially at the pointy end, can make a significant difference.

The other side of it is that losing say 500g from your rear tire will transform the feeling of the bike (and 500g anywhere else on the bike will still make a considerable difference to fatigue levels through a comp) whereas not wearing a 500g hoody will make virtually no difference to your performance.

[chris4stars]

fair enough, i never really looked at it from a competing view point! in which case, even the most minor of changes could be that slight difference

i guess my mind set was in a joe bloggs regular, go out and have some fun sort of way....maybe jump big things and look cool infront of friends!

if youre at a competition level though, is there a focus on 'training'? maybe practicing on the same (but heavier) bike to build up power etc?

[Rob Brodie]

looking at it from a different way,

(not sure if ive got the wrong end of the stick)

think if you have a dump its no easier to walk than it was before even though your actually quite abit lighter

[JT!]

Another thing that more and more people seem to be realizing these days is where the weight has been lost. If you lose 20% off the weight from a BB, it's not really going to be noticeable as it's dead center on the bike, but you loose 20% from a rear wheel, it's going to make the bike feel much lighter.

[chris4stars]

Another thing that more and more people seem to be realizing these days is where the weight has been lost. If you lose 20% off the weight from a BB, it's not really going to be noticeable as it's dead center on the bike, but you loose 20% from a rear wheel, it's going to make the bike feel much lighter.

lack of experience from me here in the difference in how it feels...again its not something i put much thought into, but it makes sence....still, there is alot of emphasis in the 20gram difference in a stem or bars (im shallow, i go for the best looking reguardless with the idea the extra pleasure in looks will give me that extra little bit of energy!)

so has anyone actually noticed a before and after difference then with physical training specific to trials related moves? and with that comes the healthy lifestyle, diet etc (mens health style questioning)

[Matt Vandart]

looking at it from a different way,

(not sure if ive got the wrong end of the stick)

think if you have a dump its no easier to walk than it was before even though your actually quite abit lighter

Also if you can get your bike to a sort of threshold weight for your strength/bodyweight it makes everything much easier.

For eg. a 10kg bike may feel very heavy to me but nothing to a really strong fit experienced guy like Ben Savage or Dave Kerr yet if I reduce that bike to 8.5-9kg it's a whole different bike for me

Don't get me wrong it makes a difference to them as well but the perceived difference and psychological difference to me is greater than to them, I think. I could be wrong.

[forteh]

Incremental weight saving can add up to a huge amount if done all over (as already stated), however its pretty pointless unless youre starting with a pretty lightweight base (frame & wheelset) to start with. You also get to the point of specifying lighter, less durable components for the sake of a figure that means bugger all to joe bloggs down the pub.

The amount saved may only be a relatively small percentage overall, however in a comp situation that can make the difference.

A case in point: -

My triton frame weighs 1590g, not hugely light compared to the modern superlights (but Ill bet it lasts 10 times longer than a koxx sky ) and when I first built it up it weighed best part of 10.5kg, after some carefull parts buying and speccing it now weighs 8.8kg without any real reduction in durability. Everyone (and I mean everyone) who has ridden my bike has said how nice it is to ride

I could get it lighter, however it isnt financially justifiable for me and the way I ride.

[JT!]

lack of experience from me here in the difference in how it feels...again its not something i put much thought into, but it makes sence....still, there is alot of emphasis in the 20gram difference in a stem or bars (im shallow, i go for the best looking reguardless with the idea the extra pleasure in looks will give me that extra little bit of energy!)

To explain myself better, considering a lot of trials moves through all the different types of riding, you've got to think about how far you are physically moving the parts. To do a side hop, you have to get onto the back wheel, the weight of the bike doesn't really effect the move up to this point. Then you have to look at how far the rear hub moves compared to the front hub when you are actually doing the sidehop. If you somehow could double the weight of the front hub, and did the sidehop and then took that off and added 50% weight to the rear hub, doing a sidehop would make the bike feel much heavier with more weight on the rear hub.

Same goes with a street rider doing a 360. Think about the path of the rear hub compared to the path of a BB throughout this move. The bb does a tiny circle where the rear hub is traveling many times the distance. The weight of the rear hub is much more significant than the weight of the BB.

I personally noticed this when switching from a front freewheel setup, to a rear freehub setup. The weight difference wasn't that much, but it was all moved from the center to the back making the bike feel really sluggish when doing certain moves.

[eskimo]

It's also about having fun. Just spending money on crap and sometimes modding it or whatever. Or seeing how light you could actually get a bike for example.

I'm not into the 'comp scene' so health isn't my priority. If my job was sitting at a desk i probably would go to the gym to keep onto on my health, slightly.

[Greetings]

Riding a light bike makes a huge difference. I used to have a bike which weighed 10,5kgs before I went on a weight rampage, after it was finished it weighed around 8,3kgs. That's over 2kgs gone and on the first ride it felt like the bike doesn't weigh anything.

For people who are wrong and think that weight doesn't make a difference, try strapping some ankle weights (lets say 1kg on each leg) and jumping around. You will feel strangely heavy.

[chris4stars]

pretty impressive to hear that almost 15 - 20% of a bikes weight can be taken off without too much hassle

theres no question saving of that much would make big differences, my initial post though was looking more towards how those differences compare to those gained through specific training or gym work

as a basic analogy - lifting a weight in a gym

if my maximum lift say is 100kg, then if im doing light reps...im not going to notice much of a difference between a set of 20kg or a set of 25kg in terms of fatigue. The difference in weight is only +/- 5%, and id only be working at about a quarter of what i can do

if the next person though has a maximum lift of 50kg, the difference between the set of 20kg and 25kg will be quite signifigant....not only is it a 10% jump, the person is having to work at half of what they can do (twice as hard as me)

i apologise for the crude analogy! and i dont mean to patronise.....only giving some food for thought to anyone who wants to jump higher/further etc....the effect on weight saving differs for everyone, i guess it comes down to how athletic you are already

[tmusson]

An easy way to remove weight is with lighter tyres such as continentals. The supersonic range are crazy light compared to maxxis and you really notice the difference after fitting them

[hdmackay]

It's piss easy for stock riders to lose weight on there bike without sacrificing for strength.

You can lose over 2kg's on stock just from tyres and tubes.

[Rob.]

Have a shit before you go riding.

[Matt_Thibeau]

I like getting new parts and modding my bike. Because I do comps you can really feel it. If you ride street its not really necessary though. Why would I waste my time and hurt my riding and results by riding a heavier bike, to get stronger, when I could just do weight training. Plus its just bling factor to have a really nice light bike with holes in it..

[chris4stars]

In an ideal world, a light bike combined with an athletic ability is of course ideal...

the topic was just to provoke a few thoughts! its never been questioned about how much better a lighter bike would be...its more a case of looking at comparative benefits between specific exercise, and focus on lightening a bike

though ive never tried, it sounds like its easy enough to loose the first 60-70% of the potential weight loss...say 1000g to 1500g in total

at a guess, getting the final 500g or so is slightly more difficult, and requires drilling holes (maybe not somthing some people are comfortable with - i dont know) or purchasing more expensive parts (almost exponentially more expensive) which may not be an option to some

it was more a case of comparing the two, and thinking about what would give the best results to your riding for the least effort

as for the bling and fun n doing it..well yeh, cant argue that! and the idea of riding a heavier bike was just an idea to do from time to time, to train your muscles in the most effective way for when you ride your lighter bike (or same bike with the lighter parts)