[Leviathan]

At the exhibition at the Excel in London the other week I saw some very slender young bikes. I went round lifting them up to test the weight. I found one was 5.2kg, this produced a chortle and a certain amount of envy and avarice to get a next generation bike for myself. However I foolishly did not make a note of the manufacturer. After going from a mountain bike to a Carrera, um ‘metal’ bike, to a Jamis Carbon 8.5kg, even lighter and more aero has to be better right?

Are we always talking in the £3k+ region for 5-6kg weights? I was thinking a graph of weight to RRP cost would identify best buys and look cool, but perhaps the internet has got there first before I do this. Can anyone suggest what this ultralight beauty might have been or similar weight bikes? And anyone comment on the stability of v. light bikes?

Topic

[stefv]

Definitely. If I could afford
Definitely. If I could afford to, I’d love to upgrade my wheels and groupset, but then I’d get annoyed whenever somebody overtook me on a worse bike – might motivate me to cycle harder though! 😉

[Leviathan]

So it is true, haters DO have
So it is true, haters DO have to hate. Why they bother to sign up is the real question.

[ilovemytinbred]

yeah if we had bikes
yeah if we had bikes proportional to out talent most of us would be on bike shaped objects from Tesco 🙂

[700c]

We need a ‘Troll report
We need a ‘Troll report button’ on this website!

[pants]

People like you are
People like you are everything I dislike about cycling, overweight people riding around on zipp wheels. Jealous? Yes, but I’d like to think my riding skill is in proportionate to my bike (both aren’t very good).

[davecochrane]

First off, congratulations on
First off, congratulations on your weight loss – that’s a huge amount in a year. Can I ask how tall you are? I’m finding it a total pain in the backside trying to get from 88kg to 80 – even at the end of my last half ironman prep I never went lower than 86.5. I’m bang on 6 ft. I reckon if I lost 20kg i’d be in danger of folding in half if it rained.

With regard to the bike question, ignore anyone mocking your interest in buying a lighter/better one. If you want it, and can afford it, do what you want and get something you’ll enjoy owning. Haters gonna hate, and all that. My particular fetish if I were to get a new road bike would be a Look 695…mmmmmm

[notfastenough]

The club has, but not me
The club has, but not me personally. I do fancy trying it, although the ride I just described is possibly my favorite route.

[Bedfordshire Clanger]

Have you ever gone straight
Have you ever gone straight on from the top of the Goyt and over the North Staffs moors towards the Roaches and Longnor? There’s a stunning view off the top of the hill. There’s a great little cafe run out of a farmhouse kitchen in Hartington too.

[notfastenough]

Bedfordshire Clanger

Bedfordshire Clanger wrote:

Excellent news, I recommend Snake Pass either as an out and back flying down to Ladybower or as a loop returning via Edale. The climb out of Edale (Mam Nick) is brutal in the middle but mercifully short. Long Hill from Whaley Bridge towards Buxton is another good long drag. If you take the right at Sandy Lane down into Goyt Valley there’s a nice descent and then your choice of climb, following the valley up to the Cat and Fiddle or up the side and over the tops to Macclesfield.

I hate that arrow-straight section into the goyt valley. It’s worth it though, to go up long hill first, and follow the stream along the valley and up to the Cat and Fiddle. Then right, down, left and absolutely kick the shit out of it on the fast section to Wildboarclough!

[Bedfordshire Clanger]

Excellent news, I recommend
Excellent news, I recommend Snake Pass either as an out and back flying down to Ladybower or as a loop returning via Edale. The climb out of Edale (Mam Nick) is brutal in the middle but mercifully short. Long Hill from Whaley Bridge towards Buxton is another good long drag. If you take the right at Sandy Lane down into Goyt Valley there’s a nice descent and then your choice of climb, following the valley up to the Cat and Fiddle or up the side and over the tops to Macclesfield.

[Leviathan]

Bedfordshire Clanger

Bedfordshire Clanger wrote:

Did you end up buying that new cassette for the Etape Cymru?

Yes, a shiny new Ultegra 11/28 came today with Haribo from Wiggle. I spent a frustrating afternoon fitting it and a new chain, adjusting the chain length (don’t let the pins drop out) adjusting the indexing. Then I had to work out why the brand new chain was dropping of the front ring outwards! After finding the rouge tooth that was making it skip off and a little tink with the hammer (Clarkson style) it is now running true and smooth.

Can I have my cake and eat it, now I have two weeks to hit some hills and see how the 39/28 helps me cope.

[Bedfordshire Clanger]

bikeboy76 wrote:BEDS, I was

bikeboy76 wrote:

BEDS, I was thinking of attempting a ‘million month’ before the end of the summer, ie. a thousand kilometers. I already keep a 30 day rolling total which peaked at 748km after London. 800km a month, that is definitely a sustained challenge in the winter when it gets dark. It is hard enough to find time right now.

That’s a great idea, good luck with finding the time to bust 1000km for the first time. An excellent challenge. Maybe I was going over the top daring you to do 800km a month over winter, I hope you find some more challenges to keep you going through the cold dark months. Did you end up buying that new cassette for the Etape Cymru?

[Leviathan]

It can be irksome to have the
It can be irksome to have the same person banging on with the same response. I am quite aware that loosing weight will help riding faster, stronger, climbing and all. It is just perplexing that they think you might have lost weight since last week, since the last time they said the same thing. And even if I do loose more weight it wouldn’t be because they told me so. Seems a bit obvious on a bike forum to tell people that the solution to their problems is ride your bike more; ‘well obviously but that’s not what I was asking…’ So it is not an issue I am ignoring. However guys do like to talk about their equipment. This forum does have a higher class of poster so I try to keep my insult couplets to four syllables or more.

The advise about stability and stiffness is very relevant so off the shelf seems prudent, but I am 90kg not 100kg* important correction, so can reasonably go under 7kg without stretching any weight limits. A bit lighter but more aero too seems the best way forward, my Jamis has a 5cm diameter bottom tube, so the Canyon in the review looks very elegant to me.

[700c]

@Bike Boy, I reckon you
@Bike Boy, I reckon you should hire Simon E as a personal trainer, he seems keen to help you improve your riding through weight loss and I’m sure the unsolicited advice and any offence it has caused could be channelled effectively as you chase him up hills! 😉

[mooleur]

ilovemytinbred wrote:Maybe we

ilovemytinbred wrote:

Maybe we are splitting hairs a bit. I totally agree that there is a lot of pretty average stuff about that is just painted pretty. But I do believe that good companies are making superlight frames that are superstiff too, Cannondale is just one example. I also think that there is a general trend for normal priced frames to be lighter than 5 years ago without having to be a poor quality ride.

Definitely true, it’s nice that prices seem to be stable enough while good quality frames remain available to a larger market. 🙂

My other half got a Slice recently, it’s ridiculous! He took 20 or so seconds off his PB with it too.

If I ever win the lottery I’m buying myself an Impec though. Mmmm. Just because they look weird.

Sticking to my original Wyndy post though – those SL frames seem pretty sh1t hot for the price!

[Author]

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