Heavy Bike Question..

[Boon 51]

Just a tad confused.

I'm reading reviews on bikes and the Trek 2.1 was mentioned as a heavy and slow to start bike.

But heavy compared with what? the Trek weighs the same as my old Giant TCR 1 of 2 years ago ( that was never mentioned as heavy or slow) so I thought it would be the same..
A 10 kilo bike is a 10 kilo bike, or am I missing something?

 

[Kies]

No you are not. The press are obsessed with weight. A sub 9kg bike gets them excited. Sub 8kg positively orgasmal

 

[Gravity Aided]

Slow to start depends on the gear you are in when you stop. If you downshift before you stop, you can take off just fine. I ride an Electra Townie, a heavy, semi recumbent bicycle, and have improved my time over the Trek 720 on the same course. The 720 is a thin tired hybrid. I think the design of the Townie keeps technique firmly in mind. But weight is not as critical as some would make it seem, IMHO. This could be taken to extremes, but I think of generations of Americans who rode Schwinn Varsities and other internal lugged bikes by Schwinn that were easily in the 30-40 pound range. And indestructable.

 

[HorTs]

Maybe they are talking about how it feels/responds rather than it's literal weight.

 

[HLaB]

At 10 kilos its not the lightest road bike but its not the heaviest either and its probably still light compared to a town bike or a mtb, its certainly lighter than my fixie which is listed as 13.5kg for the model below and I have a heavy D'lock on it. FWIW I say it weighs the proverbial ton but a colleague picked it up and said it was really light

 

[Boon 51]

Maybe they are talking about how it feels/responds rather than it's literal weight.

Thats a good point as that could be down to one bike having sharper steering or better tyres?

 

[Kies]

Just as an example ....
A 9kg frame/bike with (2 x 0.5kg) wheels would handle very differently to an 8kg frame with (2 x 1kg) wheels. Both "bikes" weigh the same. They start talking about initial inertia etc. so yes weight and where it is on the bike does make a difference, but to most of us - not really :rolleyes

 

[vickster]

I find my light carbon bike very twitchy when it's windy and I am not exactly light!

 

[Puddles]

Bertha weighs about 20 Kilo ish when dressed, I think she is 18 kg "naked", add the trailer etc weight means bugger all to me.

 

[Moodyman]

It's about perspective. Most road bike reviews are written by or for snake skinny roadies who count their grams.

To them, a £1000 road bike is 'entry level' or a 'Winter trainer'. To me it's my nice weather bike.