Bike weight

[HaPPy8]

Can anyone advise me how much difference a bikes weight makes to speed/ effort required to ride? Thank you

What kind of riding? Road, xc, dh?

Ive got three bikes.

One is about 6kg, one is 10kg and my heaviest is a bit over 20kg. Id say my middle one is the easiest to ride from an effort point of view due to skinny tyres. Not sure if my heavy bike is comparable as its a recumbent. I find it easy enough to ride but not sure if that would be the same for a 20kg upright bike. The bike which needs the most effort for me is my lightest bike as its got massive mountain bike tyres.

The effort required will depend on a number of factors as well as weight, including tyres, they type of riding and the geometry of the bike. I swapped my xc mtb for an enduro mtb that was heavier but no more difficult to pedal up hill because the bike fits me better.

Thank you for your replies. I have got a hybrid bike that is fairly heavy at the moment though i do enjoy riding it. I would like to go further though so am thinking of getting more of a road bike.

Im thinking of getting either one of these but can't decide if its worth it or not. It is for riding on road. (I'm not sure what dh is?)

www.allterraincycles.co.uk/Giant-Thrive-1-Disc-Road-Bike-2016 or

www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/avail.3/24959/90596/

www.specialized.com/gb/gb/bikes/road/dolce/106368

weight makes a huge difference to everything, I find.
Only doesn't matter much if you live somewhere very flat (Amsterdam, Cambridge) & don't need to go far anyway. (< 5 miles each way on the flat).

Only thing in big favour of my heavy bike is the small granny ring, so easier to get up hill than my light bikes. But the weight slows me down for everything else.

Thanks for your comments .... has anyone got any thoughts on the bikes i've linked to? Im a bit of a novice!

I quite like the Dolce, but tbh bikes are very individual. How tall are you? Most women can ride what is sold as a mens bike, which gives you much more choice of bikes.

My road bike is a Cannondale Synapse disk, DHs is a Felt 95 (which has been upgraded). I love my Synapse!

If you have a good local bike shop, go in, explain what you want and your budget and they should have some suggestions. Failing that, go to somewhere like Evans and sit on lots of bikes and see what fits you best. Don't be afraid to try loads.

They're all decent bikes. I'm a Specalized fan myself and I don't have a Dolce but ive ridden one and it's nice. The giant hybrid you've linked to is the only one with disc brakes and I do li,e them now, wouldn't go back to a non disc brake bike if I could avoid it.

But you said you wanted a road bike and IT isn't a road bike? People generally say that you will be more comfy on a longer ride on a road bike as you can vary your position, especially your hand positions more. Saying that when I ride my road bike I stay on the hoods rather than the drops 99.9% of the time and I do sometimes think I should probably have got a hybrid. But road bikes look cool. . With a hybrid as well remember you can put end bars on so that will give you other hand position options for a longer ride.

Do you think it will be all on road that you'd be wanting to ride? Not any tow paths, etc?

I would try them out for a test ride. You might sit on one and know straight away that you don't like it.

I couldn't quickly find weight numbers for the linked bikes, so that needs to be in the decision.

What kind of riding do you do? I think mostly leisure so you wouldn't be out a lot on wet roads & likely some rough tracks?

Marginally fatter tyres on the Giant-Thrive, plus disc brakes, so I suppose that means it's good for Mud.
The Specialised with dippy frame is possibly a bit more comfy frame geometry. And it's the prettiest (I am shallow).
I've never had disc brakes but the consensus seems to be that they are slightly less stopping power than calipers (dissent?). Might matter if you have a lot of down hill.
As others said, all good bikes for the money.

I think my disk brakes have waaay more stopping power than calipers, especially in the wet. My hybrid has hydraulic, road has cable - I think generally hydraulic is better.

Simon - it says its a road bike in the description? Why do you say it isn't? Sorry i really do know nothing about bikes i just know i enjoy riding and want to do more!

I was only really planning to use it on roads as my old bike is fine for family rides on tracks etc.

Thanks for advice so far.

One is about 6kg,... How the hell can any bike weigh that little!?

Been thinking about bike weight a lot lately as I'm in the market for an electric. The lightest ones seem to be around 21kg, 25kg about standard for a cheapish one, but many are up to 29kg. Hope I can lift it.

Which one is 6kg tiggy? Where did you read that?

Cmot -I'm 5 foot 3 so pretty short!

disc brakes are more prone to overheating, which matters on very long descents, but maybe only on warmer days anyway.

Electric bikes are very common around here (locally manufactured). I have a friend who's very thin & about 5'2" & manages ok with hers. She doesn't drive so uses it to go longer distances.

I think my cross bike (I use for long distances) is only ~6kg without pedals/cage/barbag/nicer seat etc.

Sorry, you're right Giant do say its a road bike in the description. Which suprises me a little bit because when people say road bike they generally mean a racing bike with drop handle bars. But if you're not bothered about the drop handle bars then it really doesn't matter. It's a well specced bike......just bare in. Mind what I said earlier that drop handle bars are generally considered to be better for longer distance as you can vary your hand positions which makes a difference to your whole body position. But I do think you could probably recreate that effect on a flat bar bike by adding bar ends very cheaply.

whothefuck said they had a 6kg one up thread.

(Saddo alert) I just went & weighed my 3 main bikes.
17 kg, 14kg, 8 kg. So 8kg not 6kg (with knobby tyres & pedal & cage). Boy is that 8kg quite a difference from 14 kg!