What do you think can be the heaviest a race bike can be, particularly for an entry level racer? Let me know what you think. If it matters, I'm 160lbs.

Heavier than that if you're strong enough. It's not (much) about the bike. Bike weight is only a serious factor if you're doing major climbs. I've never seen an entry level race with major climbs.

What do you think can be the heaviest a race bike can be, particularly for an entry level racer? Let me know what you think. If it matters, I'm 160lbs.

If you don't want to be at a disadvantage, I definitely shoot for under 20 pounds, and really more like 18. Much under that, and if you lose, it's not the bike. Only total weight freaks will have a bike close to 15 pounds, and for some odd reason they are usuallly not the fastest riders. 16-17 is pretty light for a fully equiped racing bike. This more climbing there is, the more it matters.

Bike weight actually (mathematically) matters more to those with less power; it matters more to Cat 5 than a 1 (again numbers). Climbing is mainly about power to weight ratio, and the less your power, the larger the weight factor is.

You can get some good approximate numbers for weight loss effects when climbing at:

http://www.analyticcycling.com

and do pretty good. I routinely win heats at the local oval track and have come in 2nd overall for the evening in the Cat 4/5 group. But this is a relatively flat course. I also do well on crits.

Rolling hills are not a problem but I do get dropped at times in road races on the long hills. It's either me or the bike, but I'm sure the extra 5-6 pounds of bike is not helping. (I've taken all the extra weight off of me). They like to feature the longest steepest hills that can be found in most of the road races around here and there is always an attack on the big hill.

I'm going to get a light weight slightly used AL frame this winter and build up a 17 pound bike for next year.

To answer your question, a heavier bike is only a problem on the longer or steeper hills. If you race where it is flat or rolling hills I would not worry much about the weight of the bike.

What do you think can be the heaviest a race bike can be, particularly for an entry level racer? Let me know what you think. If it matters, I'm 160lbs.

Unless you weigh 130 pounds, don't worry about a super light bike. If you ride a 22 pound bike, and someone beats you up a hill, he'll still beat you when you're on your super 16 pound bike.

My experience is that the weight doesn't really matter per se. The problem is that light bikes tend to be the high quality bikes--and the heavy bikes tend to be the "cheap" bikes. So more than likely the 25lb bike also has bottom-of-the-line components all over. This may or may not matter to you. My "heavy" bike had really crappy tires, I didn't know how crappy until I got a new set (Michelin carbons) and suddenly my bike felt like a race car and those tires aren't even all that race oriented. Similarly with the drivetrain type components...it's not that shimano's top of the line 10 years ago is their bottom-of-the-line today. They may weigh the same, but today's bottom-of-the-line are still cheap-a-fied versions of the current top. This means that when you compare Sora to Ultegra, Ultegra will not only weigh less, it will probably last longer, and need less adjustment. I think that this is due to sloppy tolerances on the cheaper components which leads to wide variation...so you may get a long lasting high quality part, or you may get one that lasts exactly the length of the warranty. And lastly there's the engineering. The high end bikes (those that tend to be light) have a lot of engineering going into them. Those that are at the bottom, in a word, do not.
So what do you "need" for racing? I don't race so I don't know.

I have a 23lb bike and don't race.

_42

What do you think can be the heaviest a race bike can be, particularly for an entry level racer? Let me know what you think. If it matters, I'm 160lbs.

In category 5 and Men's C races, I'm sure you will see a wide variety of bikes, including those that weigh over 20 lbs (but many really light ones as well!!!). My bike was listed as 22.5 lbs by the bike shop where I bought it (and I believe it). I race and I do fine in crits, but not so well in hilly road races, probably because I'm not fit enough yet.

You should check out your school's racing team if you can. I ride with my local university's team, even though I am not a student (I'm a postdoc).

I ride with my local university's team, even though I am not a student (I'm a postdoc).


You can race collegite if you are a postdoc?

I can say this, because I suffer from it.

Truth? More races have been lost by having too light a bike than too heavy. Remember David Millar's brilliant decision to remove his front der. on a flat TT then losing his chain? Or Phonak's decision to use 19mm tires in bad conditions on the TdF TTT and flatting 4x? And how many examples of snapped bars? When your face hits the asphalt, it tends to slow you down.

Anybody out there think Lance wouldn't have won the Tour on a 105 equipped KHS?

Light bikes are a lot of fun to build up, but if you want to go faster worry about fitness and bodyweight. Last week I and my 17lb titanium road rocket got dropped by a guy on a Bridgestone that looked like it had seen service in WWII.

You can race collegite if you are a postdoc?

Sorry, I wasn't clear on that point. I do training rides with the university team, but I race with a different local team. Postdocs, even if they're considered "students" as they are at Stanford, cannot participate in collegiate sports. Graduate students can, though.

Remember David Millar's brilliant decision to remove his front der. on a flat TT then losing his chain?
Why do you say this was Miller's decision? Everything I've seen or read has said it was the director's decision and Miller wasn't aware of it. Also, it was the Tour Prologue last year, much shorter than a TT.

Why do you say this was Miller's decision? Everything I've seen or read has said it was the director's decision and Miller wasn't aware of it. Also, it was the Tour Prologue last year, much shorter than a TT.

I read something different: That this was Millar's decision and that his mechanic warned against it due to the cobbles. I don't remember the rest of the team being w/out their front ders (though it's possible I missed it), and it is unlikely that Millar would not notice the fact that it was missing.

My point wasn't to beat up on Millar for this (I can think of better reasons to beat up on him these days.) Whoever made the decision, it was strange. The fact that it was a very short, very flat TT makes it even wierder. Best case, how much time could this save? A tenth of a second? Seems like a big risk for a tenth of a second.

Heck, many riders could save themselves 100 grams by taking off those dopey gold necklaces they all like so much. Hey... Business idea: Titanium necklaces. No. Carbon. Nice...

Heck, many riders could save themselves 100 grams by taking off those dopey gold necklaces they all like so much. Hey... Business idea: Titanium necklaces. No. Carbon. Nice...

Why do you think I've ordered a titanium wedding band??

These guys are right, a fast guy on a clunker will beat a slow guy on a ti dream bike any day. I have a friend who rides a heckler (I'm a mountain biker most of the time) and it's gotta weigh 6 lbs more than my bike (sworks epic), and he smokes me all the time. Only at the very elitest levels of cycling does it matter.

More races have been lost by having too light a bike than too heavy.

Along the same thinking, I'd have to throw in fit/comfort with that too. So you get the latest n' lightest saddle/shoes/bars-stem, whatever, and 43 miles later you're starting to ache because something just ain't quite right. IMO, that only slows you down because you'll start using mental energy to convince yourself to ignore the discomfort, or constantly trying to re-adjust yourself to the ill-fitting gizmo while riding.

For instance, every now & then I get a comment on my Brooks Pro like, "Hey, why the boat anchor saddle?" Geez. Ok - it weighs about twice as much as my last Selle Italia Mythos (274gm vs. 554gm.), but I don't notice the extra 10oz. when my butt is still happy and you're chamois cream ain't working.

Well, maybe I should go "uber-light" and get a.......Swift! ;)

He who gets the last laugh...