Re:Bicycle Recommendations
by systemBuilder on Wednesday February 23, 2022 @03:28PM
(#30445986)
You can definitely notice 2 lbs + butted tubing upgrade while riding a bike. It's essentially why Raleigh offered 3 grades of steel bikes in the 70s :
28 lbs : carbon steel (2 models)
25 lbs : 531 butted main tubes, forks (2 models)
23 lbs : 531 throughout (2 models)
The super course was a bit of an aberration (27 lbs; 531 plain gauge steel main tubes only; only a 1 lbs upgrade from carbon steel; the 531 did not improve the bike but the sticker on the seat tube conferred bragging rights!)
I think the problem with heavy bikes isn't only the weight itself. It's the fact that heavy bikes typically have much cheaper components / manufacturing overall.
Consider that adding 5 pounds to stationary components, like the frame, is adding < 5% to the amount of work being done by the rider, depending on the rider's weight.
I took his comments on bike weight as him saying that it isn't really worth worrying about an extra pound or two.
> if a car crumples too much when it’s in a collision, that’s an unsafe car and you don’t want it on the streets. I feel the same about bikes.
also sounds a bit strange. Certainly carbon fiber can crack instead of bend, but you typically notice that. And aluminum is probably not as "bendy" as steel, but I've never heard about anyone getting into problems due to riding around unknowingly on a cracked aluminum frame.