Bike weight into context
Discussion
I am looking to buy a new wheel set and am considering a pair of the Wiggle Cosine 45mm carbon wheels and Huntwheels 50mm ones. The former are over £450 cheaper but weight about 120g more. I have been over thinking this and have come to the conclusion that it would make the sum total of flip all to me.
To put the difference into context,120g is 4 teaspoons. Yes, I weighed them. That £450 saved will give the kids and me a great long weekend away somewhere which in 10 years time will mean a lot more than 10 places higher up the KOM table in the Cat and Fiddle or one higher place in the local club 10 tt.
To put the difference into context,120g is 4 teaspoons. Yes, I weighed them. That £450 saved will give the kids and me a great long weekend away somewhere which in 10 years time will mean a lot more than 10 places higher up the KOM table in the Cat and Fiddle or one higher place in the local club 10 tt.
ks gives choppers another thing to drone on about at the cafe.
Just before you decide on pure price... The shape of the rim has a lot to do when cycling in sidewinds, well it does to me who is <60kgs. I did have Mavic's on my bike when it arrived and I had a few scares when cycling along in sidewinds. I've a different set of wheels now and they don't make me soil my chamois in sidewinds and are still deeper section.
The Mavics were a pointy shape rim and the new set are more rounded and wider.
The final scare was one day cycling down a slight gradient round a long open corner on the LH side of the road and finding myself suddenly on the whiteline, it felt like I'd been lifted up and plonked down there. A few more inches and I'd have been on the wrong side of the road, not a cool situation to find myself in.
StevevRS, I take it you're entered in the FW this year? Hopefully I'll make it this year, I was entered last year too but work managed to ruin my plans... This year I'm better prepared to prevent them doing that. :-)
The Mavics were a pointy shape rim and the new set are more rounded and wider.
The final scare was one day cycling down a slight gradient round a long open corner on the LH side of the road and finding myself suddenly on the whiteline, it felt like I'd been lifted up and plonked down there. A few more inches and I'd have been on the wrong side of the road, not a cool situation to find myself in.
StevevRS, I take it you're entered in the FW this year? Hopefully I'll make it this year, I was entered last year too but work managed to ruin my plans... This year I'm better prepared to prevent them doing that. :-)
Lighter wheels do make a difference to the ride (although that may be down to quality of hubs, stiffness and materials too), but I'm comparing a 2kg set to a 1400g set. If I was thinking of a 120g difference, I doubt you'll feel it.
I did read somewhere that someone had done a calculation on how time someone would save on a mile ascent with different weighted bikes. 2 bikes with 3lbs difference and the lighter bike was only 7 seconds quicker with the same power output!
I did read somewhere that someone had done a calculation on how time someone would save on a mile ascent with different weighted bikes. 2 bikes with 3lbs difference and the lighter bike was only 7 seconds quicker with the same power output!
Edited by Chicken Chaser on Saturday 28th January 12:57
Having got 5 different wheel sets and tried many more I can honestly say that weight does make a difference even if it is quite small. Its quite a large impact on mountain biking where the wheels are constantly moving over ruts,roots etc and is easy to feel the lower inertia when you are accelerating quickly out of a corner and when braking into a switchback. If light tyres make the bike feel better then so do light wheels.
Depends what you call better though??? Stronger?...Stiffer?...more robust...better looking??
On a road bike though....id imagine the difference to be very minor and hardly noticable at all really. I certainly wouldnt pay anywhere near those prices for wheels.
I decided to build by own wheels (29ers/700) which come in 110g lighter than the carbon hunt wheels above (even though they include MTB disc hubs) but they cost me about £270 in parts total. They feel great, so easy to accelerate.
Id never pay an extra £500 to loose 120g...there are easier ways to loose that weight.
Depends what you call better though??? Stronger?...Stiffer?...more robust...better looking??
On a road bike though....id imagine the difference to be very minor and hardly noticable at all really. I certainly wouldnt pay anywhere near those prices for wheels.
I decided to build by own wheels (29ers/700) which come in 110g lighter than the carbon hunt wheels above (even though they include MTB disc hubs) but they cost me about £270 in parts total. They feel great, so easy to accelerate.
Id never pay an extra £500 to loose 120g...there are easier ways to loose that weight.
Edited by BenGismo on Saturday 28th January 19:54
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