Road Bike, Cycling Forums banner

Spent the day on a 13 pound bike :)

8K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  Mark16q 
These claims of 13 lb bikes always intrigue me. What it the actual riding weight-- with bottle cages, pedals, etc.?

Interesting thing about tubies- when I first starting riding mine, I swore they were a night/day difference from my clinchers. Now I cannot tell the difference. Perhaps under controlled circumstances--- but not on the road.

Also, I find every new bike I ride/borrow seems like it makes a very significant difference in ride or performance. In reality, I believe there are enough differences in fit and geometry that it just feels different-- and the mind fills in the gaps to believe "different=better" when bike costs more or is lighter. I hate to admit this, but my best descending bike is a boat-anchor vintage lugged steel behemoth (and not necessarily the svelte Look).

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you rode the cerevelo for a few weeks.

Mark16q said:
My brother just built up a 13 pound Cervelo, zip 303 tubulars, SRAM red and lots of light parts. Just a hair over 13 pounds on my digital scale. My ride is a Seven Alta, full DA, Mavic Ksyrium SL's right at 16 pounds...not exactly a tank.

Call it placebo, imagination, motivation, whatever...I rode faster today. We rode in the Santa Monica mountains with lots of extending climbing and descending. These are hills that I'm very familiar with and riders that I'm out with every week. On flats I was able to pull the group longer, and when I'd drop back from the draft found it much easier to maintain speed. climbing 10 %+ plus hills just didn't seem as hard. And at the end of the ride, I had more left despite an overall faster average.

I realize 3 pounds isn't much as a total % (I weight 160) but thinking that if anything made a difference it would be the wheels. Stiff, much more aero and the my first time on tubbies and was loving the ride/cornering. Or maybe it's that the Cervelo carbon is a better frame for my riding style. I'm short, tree trunk legs and not particularly smooth...lots of bursts and sprints.

Whatever the case, it was fun riding such a light but solid feeling bike and it was hard giving it back. yes, I could easily lose 3 pounds or more and will over the summer, but at whatever weight, riding a nice light bike is a blast. If you can afford it, you'll enjoy it :thumbsup:


Mark
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top