Are cheap bikes harder to ride

[ChrisEyles]

^^^
Agree with this, but I've always assumed it's mostly psychological. I certainly pedal harder on my road bike than my 1950s roadster, cause it's my "fast bike".

I also find if I've got really low gears I crawl up hills in the lowest one I've got, whereas I'll get up a lot faster if I'm not given this option (obviously more tiring!).

 

[Colin Grigson]

My old (cheap) steel hybrid is definitely harder (as in more effort required to attain a similar speed regardless of gear selection) than my carbon road bike .... that seems to almost push itself along in comparison. I notice this much more into a stiff headwind.

 

[Reynard]

My old (cheap) steel hybrid is definitely harder (as in more effort required to attain a similar speed regardless of gear selection) than my carbon road bike .... that seems to almost push itself along in comparison. I notice this much more into a stiff headwind.

Well, I certainly notice the difference between my 9 kg road bike and my 12 kg hybrid.

Both are alloy, although admittedly the latter is running with guards, rack and panniers. Mind, when I'm on the roadie, I *ride* whereas on the hybrid, unless I'm tight to catch a train, I *bimble*

Although I am a slow cyclist, so the difference between riding and bimbling is, erm, marginal.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The differences in weight between high end steel and carbon fibre frames & forks is a lot less than people think.
The best steel frames money can buy (think Reynolds 753 or similar) weigh around 1,700g for the frame and around 600g for the fork, so about 2.3 kg or 5 lbs.
A half decent CF frame & forks might come in around 1.1 kg or 2.4 lbs.

Your weight saving is nothing like 5kg with carbon, otherwise the CF frame would have to weigh less than nothing. Any weight saving over and above around 2 1/2 lbs compared to high grade butted steel has got to come from the fitting of ultra lightweight parts & accessories elsewhere on the bike; wheels, seatposts, saddles, bottle cages, bars, cranks etc. It's not all coming from the frame.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I think the OP was referring to a manual bike being his/her non electric assist bike. A conventional bicycle in other words.

Ah just a bike then, no prefix warranted.

 

[xzenonuk]

got a load of big hills around here and depending on where i am cycling there are a load on the way back, i usually go up the hills on the bike regardless of how slow i go just as long as i get up it, sometimes im too knackered or get chest pains then i have to walk up the odd big one, all good, still exercise

got total burnt off by a old guy who whootled passed me on a leccy bike before up one of they hills and i just thought wow good for him

my cheapo triban 500se had a nice difference when i upgraded the stock wheels, my old model rockrider 540 is my go to bike though as i have gained weight and the lower gearing is awesome for the mentioned evil hills.

if you want a decent but cheapish bike look up decathlon for something to go along side your leccy one

 

[Mike Ayling]

Hi I have 2 bikes both Carreras yep Halfords bikes. ones a £250 hybrid and the others a £1000 Carrera Vengeance ebike Which I use all the time. I find my cheaper bike is pretty much redundant however on the rare occasion I go back on it and just to remind me how difficult it is to ride a manual living in a hilly area.

I often see people riding normal bikes around and think do I need a ebike is it because my manual bike is so cheap if I was to spend a little more on decent trek or giant, Specialized bike would I manage.

I guess I like my ebike but still have a part of me that wants to ride a manual bike

I saw a couple pushing there bikes up a hill yesterday I don’t want to be that person I know my ebike can do it but would i manage on a decent manual bike.

I’m not really a road bike type person always preferred hybrids or mountain bikes.

I think people are missing the point in this thread.
Even if the OP had a 6,000 quid super light weight bike he would find it harder to ride up hill than on his ebike!

Mike

 

[Tom B]

Seems were comparing ebikes with cheap pedal only bikes. Of course the ebike will be easier to pedal, the extra weight may affect the handling.

I'm yet to find a hill I can't ride my standard bike up but could ride and ebike up. It's all about fitness. I'm not saying that in a bad way, but fitness is something that you build and takes time. When I started riding again my 12 mile commute was an epic that could only manage Tuesdays and Thursdays, then I managed Mondays Wednesdays and fridays, then each day. First it was hard work but as the fitness built and I cycled more and more it became easier and easier, now it's inconsequential it's just something I do that barely registers.

I do find the geometry of some really cheap bikes is uncomfortable, but my mate has a £1500 hybrid that feels horrible to me, like riding a deckchair, but it suits him and he hates my £500 clunker.

I was pondering a few days ago if one had an ebike and the battery lasted 50miles of a 100mile ride would completing the 100mile ride manually result in more of less calories burned than on a plain bike given you'd be lugging dead batteries around. Too many variables to ever calculate properly but amused me for a few hours.

 

[Justinitus]

Health and fitness of the rider will have the most noticeable effect.
Bike setup is important too - correct saddle height (it’s usually higher than most novices think!), stack, reach etc makes for the most efficient peddling experience.
Bike weight will also play a part, especially rotational weight - so lighter wheels and tyres will help.
And just as important is a properly maintained, lubed and adjusted bicycle - a rusty chain and rubbing brakes can only make turning those rusted seized pedals harder!

 

[confusedcyclist]

I saw a couple pushing there bikes up a hill yesterday I don’t want to be that person

No one told me pushing was an option, why didn't I think of that

 

[confusedcyclist]

I don't know how long it took me to stop caring about how fast others were going, but once it sets in, it rarely comes back, for long anyway. Every now and then someone will come screaming past me, and I might have been away with the fairies, and the rude awakening inspires me to catch up and give chase. SCR forever, but I love my heavier bikes for their useful properties. I have to remind myself I had a light weight machine once, but I always preferred the bike with mudguards, rack, panniers & dynamo lighting system. I sold my racer in the end as it rarely came out, except for group rides. But when I ride in groups now, it's a social thing, and my mates don't mind waiting at the top of a climb, where the heavier bike always fairs worst. I'm rarely the slowest anyway as I have decent fitness from daily riding a lumpy steel framed commuter.

 

[Blue Hills]

I was pondering a few days ago if one had an ebike and the battery lasted 50miles of a 100mile ride would completing the 100mile ride manually result in more of less calories burned than on a plain bike given you'd be lugging dead batteries around. Too many variables to ever calculate properly but amused me for a few hours.

Good question - knowing my self and my talents in physics/maths/biology/anything vaguely scientific, I wouldn't myself spend more than 10 seconds contemplating it. But it is never-the- less a good question.
Maybe some of our more talented members can address it.
I am no weight weenie, carry lots of stuff that I may need on a ride, but there is surely nothing more like dead useless weight than a dead battery.

 

[confusedcyclist]

I was pondering a few days ago if one had an ebike and the battery lasted 50miles of a 100mile ride would completing the 100mile ride manually result in more of less calories burned than on a plain bike given you'd be lugging dead batteries around. Too many variables to ever calculate properly but amused me for a few hours.

Well, you'd be plain daft to set out on a 100 mile ride with a 50 mile range ebike! Certainly pushing an ebike up hill is no fun, but not a huge problem if your route is mostly flat with only a few short climbs. My ebike is about as heavy a proper gaslight piping roadster, which you don't really see many people climbing with for good reason! I've arrived within a mile of home with a battery at 4%, I thought I would make it, but to my surprise at the time, I learned the motor shuts off under 5% to keep the lights and power meter operating but no assistance. It's a steep 1 mile climb, and cobbled in parts. Not fun. If you fancy putting the theory to the test, strap a crate of beer to your back and get pedalling

 

[matticus]

50-mile climb followed by 50-mile descent might be OK.

 

[Tom B]

If you fancy putting the theory to the test, strap a crate of beer to your back and get pedalling

Are you buying?