Road biking is all about efficiency. The more power you get to the ground and the less weight you have to move to generate speed…the easier riding is and the faster you will be. The entire industry in road biking is centered around weight and how you can become a faster rider through decking out your road bike with the latest and greatest in lightweight components. While that shinny new Dura-Ace or Campy rear derailleur might look really cool on your bike in the parking lot waiting on your regular ride, where can you spend that money you work so hard for and actually see a sizable return on your investment on the road?
Losing Weight On Your Road Bike The Right Way
So you have a bike that needs to go on a diet. Before you jump in and dump a load of cash into new parts, there are a couple of things to consider during this journey into weight weenie stardom.
- Every Little Bit Counts – As you continue to upgrade components or look at buying a new bike, little weight differences over multiple parts add up. So as you look at a 100 gram difference, realize that if you save that five times throughout your bike component purchases, you have saved over a pound off your total weight (453.59232 Grams in a Pound).
- Noticing It While Riding Is Tricky For Some Parts – Getting that ti or carbon water bottle cage to shave some weight is really more of an impulse, bling buy. The trick is shaving the weight where you will actually notice the difference while riding.
Where To Start Spending Money On Road Bike Components
Keeping those two things in mind, there are 3 areas you should start in if you are looking at shaving serious weight off your road bike but actually be able to feel the difference on the road.
- Wheels – Rotating mass is probably the #1 place to start if you are looking to shave weight that will actually affect your riding. Not only do they have some serious ability to drop the grams quickly, but that feeling is multiplied on the road as you are having to actually rotate that weight with your legs on the bike. The more you shave off the weight with the wheels, the faster you will accelerate and get to speed. Nothing changes the way a bike rides quite like a new set of high-end wheels. But…many riders will forgo this option in place of a new component set. Regardless of bike, this is one investment that will pay for itself time and time again as you move wheels from bike to bike. Now…be sure to keep in the back of your mind that they still need to be durable enough for your riding style (don’t get the lightest ones you can find if you are 240 lbs and a power hammer rider).
- Frame – By switching frame materials or going to a higher end road bike frame, you can drop a drastic amount of weight and improve your ride quality at the same time. Newer carbon frames are going to have a better ride at a lighter weight than their aluminum and steel counterparts. Your frame is also the largest part of your bike (outside of the wheels), so any change in this department completely changes how your road bike feels (only in regards to weight) while riding.
- You – That’s right…you! This also happens to be the cheapest upgrade you could ever make. It is time to start eating right and riding more. It is much more beneficial to lose 10 pounds off your body than 2 pounds off your bike and it will not cost you several thousand dollars. I see riders all the time dump thousands of dollars into their road bikes looking for that extra bit of speed, but if they would just lay off the calories and get into better shape…it wouldn’t matter what bike they were riding.
As you starting looking for ways to increase your speed on the road, those three areas are where you need to start to squeeze that efficiency out of you and your bike.