Seeking the impossible - cheap road bike sub 8.5kg that can climb

[dan_bo]

Pendle - looking for a medium or small large

What

 

[ColinJ]

What

Bigger than a large S, but smaller than a small XL!

 

[dan_bo]

Bigger than a large S, but smaller than a small XL!

Course. Silly me.

 

[FrothNinja]

What

Some L bikes seem to be the same as a M (which I usually ride)

 

[I like Skol]

We settled on Jinny Lane, Steep Section for the climb. 0.33miles and 193ft ascent (11%) - rolling start.
The Mares did it in 2:56 (6.8mph)
Had the honour of using the Wilier and did it in 2:16 (8.8mph)

Totally unscientific test and meaningless result. You could have done the climb back to back on the same bike and got a similar spread of times.

 

[fossyant]

11% isn't steep !

 

[FrothNinja]

Totally unscientific test and meaningless result. You could have done the climb back to back on the same bike and got a similar spread of times.

Knickers, I would have been slower if I had done the second one on the CX too. More than good enough without access to a load of gadgets.

 

[FrothNinja]

11% isn't steep !

Doh, 11% is the average but it felt like more. The last third gets up to 22%.

 

[fossyant]

Doh, 11% is the average the last third gets up to 22%

Ditch the tractor tyres then. I quite like using the CX bike for getting out in the back lanes near my home as it can deal with the grit, and the gearing is much lower than my road bikes.

 

[ColinJ]

11% isn't steep !

It isn't the hardest climb round there but it does kick up in places and you can definitely feel the gradient when trying to get up it quickly!

Ditch the tractor tyres then

I am sure that the tyres are what is slowing the CX bike down. My bike in Devon is a couple of kg heavier but it is fine uphill since I put 28C slicks on it.

 

[I like Skol]

Doh, 11% is the average but it felt like more. The last third gets up to 22%.

So average is 11% with some bits at 22%. I guess that makes a lot of it less than 10%, maybe only 7-8% or less?

I think you should be focusing on correct gearing far, far more than bike weight. Get the gearing right and a couple of kilos either way becomes negligible to the point of irrelevance.

 

[Cycleops]

500g, have a good poo first !

,...and don't forget to take the loose change out of your pocket.

 

[Jameshow]

So average is 11% with some bits at 22%. I guess that makes a lot of it less than 10%, maybe only 7-8% or less?

I think you should be focusing on correct gearing far, far more than bike weight. Get the gearing right and a couple of kilos either way becomes negligible to the point of irrelevance.

Esp if you have a brooks saddle and carradice saddle bag!🤣🤣🤣

 

[Cycleops]

If you're really serious about weight check these out:

https://road.cc/content/feature/lightest-road-bike-components-world-302757

 

[cyberknight]

my tuppence worth
my best times on strava are set on my old boardman around 2014 , alloy and about 8.5-9 kg .since then i have got a carbon and lighter wheels but im still chasing the PBs i set