On Mar 25, 2009, at 3:11 AM, Bill M. wrote: > On Mar 24, 9:51 pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote: >> On Mar 24, 2009, at 10:52 PM, Bill M. wrote: >> >>> The 'less than a full water bottle' arguement always seems >>> specious to >>> me. I don't carry less water to make up for a heavier bike. >> >> That's not the point of that argument. The point is that- at least >> IME- no one complains that the weight of their water bottles (about >> 2.5 pounds for 2 20-oz bottles) slows them down or that they can even >> feel the difference between full and empty bottles on their bike. >> Yet people will get all lathered up over a bike component that weighs >> 100 g more than another. >> >> Grant's attitude to this, as part of the guiding philosophy of RBW, >> seems to be "meh." Adding a few ounces of steel to the frame with >> slightly thicker tubes means a bike that might very well outlive its >> 40 year old purchaser. >> >> Back in my racing days I chased those 100 grams, generally at much >> expense and never for any measurable improvement in performance. Now >> I ride my bike for fun and I don't sweat it. I've got bikes ranging >> from 21 lbs to 27 lbs and I don't to have any less fun on any of >> them. I prefer to measure my rides in smiles per hour these days...
> No one complains about the weight of water because it's fixed (though > racers will dump extra water before a major climb or sprint finish so > that they don't carry the extra weight). You can't make it any > lighter and you need to carry enough to meet your need so you have to > accept it for what it is. So, I don't find that the water bottle > arguement convinces me that bike weight is not important. There are > better ways to make that case IMO. I raced for 9 years and never, ever saw anyone from Cat 5 to Cat 1 dump their water bottles before a climb. Even pros often don't bother to do this, and there is no need for them to carry water up the last climb in a race (pros will often dump their bottles before a sprint finish for safety reasons, as a loose water bottle rolling on the ground in the middle of a pack can wreak havoc- you can see them being jettisoned out of the bunch about a km before the end of the race). Can you feel the difference in climbing or any other type of riding as to whether your water bottles are full or empty? Do they make you slower if they are full? I've never, ever noticed the difference except when picking the bike up. > Bike weight gets attention because it can be controlled. If I have > the choice between two components of equal function, light weight is > one criterion I would pay attention to (others include cost, > appearance and longevity). But, yeah, spending hundreds to chase > grams makes little sense and reasonably light is generally light > enough. The rider to bike weight ratio for my Riv is about 8.5:1. My > commuter is more like 5:1 (and I can feel the difference!), really > light bikes can get to 10:1. Since I am 6'4" and 220 lbs, it's pretty easy for my bikes to be in the 10:1 range. ;-) Harder for 140 lb riders to do. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
