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Weight
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
http://flowmountainbike.com/how-to/bike-setup-wo...
Weight, wheel size, stiffness and speed. Go with the Flow.
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I'd hardly say I was huge before but with solid training, it's without doubt the most significant benefit I've ever experienced to getting faster on a bike.
.....we all liked you more when you were more well padded and significantly slower.
ive dropped near 15kg since quitting booze and my 15 kg bike doesnt seem near as heavy.just added a dropper post on and about to put some fox talas 36 forks for the added stiffness in the nasty fast bits ive been hitting of late!hills are no were near as daunting as they were 3 months ago.Mind you id have bugger all chance of keeping up with you and half the other speed freaks on here!
I'm no doubt going the other way
OK - I'm at my estimated racing weight, so what can I do to make my bike better/lighter and what shouldn't I do? Rather than just tell us to lose weight, tell us how to work out what our appropriate weight is by revealing the main methods for calculating it? Or, how do we increase power to weight ratio (mine is abysmal and getting worse with age) and keep reliability and confidence?
Or maybe we should do that for the mags
Just what is the effect of 500 grams on performance over say 5 km up to 100km? Sorry but found the article a little superficial, but thats just the opinion of one.
Would more in depth information be better rather than broad generalisations?
FWIW.
I think the quickest and easiest way to drop a bit is in the wheels and tyres.
It's also very beneficial to get your shocks set up right and get the right tyres and pressures so they're rolling over/through things rather than hitting every bump and causing the bike and yourself to bounce upwards one every single bump you hit.
That's my "in depth report"
I'm sure someone like Ants will have a lot more detailed input?
I've often thought about shoe weight also. Imagine how many times you spin your legs round in a 100km race?
3kgs in the last 4 weeks as well, it has made a huge difference, that with bigger power numbers....
Agree with GAZZA about the best saving is in wheels and tyres. Due to the rotational forces of wheels, the amount of energy to move 1kg of wheel weight is approx twice that of the energy to move 1kg of non-rotating weight, ie bike, body, cycling gear. So if you are able to lose 200g of weight on each tyre or wheel through going tubeless, you are effectively reducing your overall energy to move your total bike and own self by 800g which isn't anything to sneeze at. Over a 100k race that makes up a significant amount of energy saved.
For the older riders (50+), the biggest problem you face is increasingly acidic blood which is basically stripping muscle and calcium etc out of you.
Every food you eat will increase or decrease this acidity.
The worst foods in general are dairy. Cheeses in particular.
The ONLY foods that reduce this acidity are fruits and veg. Raising and spinach rate the most alkaline.
Older riders can still have great endurance, but lack in strength. Year round weight training is essential.
Bike/body weight, as with anything, there is a law of diminishing returns. Both in the effect it has on performance, and the ease of which you can get rid of it. If you have a healthy BMI, and reasonable bike weight, I think improving skills will give you the most gain in performance AND enjoyment in MTB.
...agreed, as long as you don't spend 15 minutes at the side of the trail during the race trying to fix a torn sidewall in your lighter tyres. It is a fine balance and a fair bit of luck getting it right.
I also think that a lot of riders running tubeless have their pressure way to high..... old habits die hard. I have been running 22psi rear and 20 front for ages now. Gazza...what do you run?
Tune hubs, Sapim cx ray spokes and crests @ 1375g
Tires, Racing Ralphs TL, Snakeskin on the rear for a little more protection.
Both run at around 26psi
This is my favourite topic.
The absolute quickest way to increase performance is to reduce rotating weight - but its often at a cost. Once you have done tyres, and removed inner tubes, replacing wheels is darned expensive.
Very heavy things (that often get down-spec'd by manufacturers) are cassettes, and also chainsets.
For some reason you'll always get a high level rear mech, but a nightmare heavy cassette and chainset.
Pedals and shoes are a very good place to save rotating and 'accelerational' weight.
The weight vs power relative to performance issue is actually very interesting for mountain biking. I wont go into it here, unless there is a real demand to talk 'wattages' and watts / kg. Suffice it to say that the difference in the number of 'power based' accelerations in an MTB ride (i.e. where just to maintain speed, you need random surges in power) to a road ride is significant - i.e. to ride an mtb fast, you need a much broader range of power than merely a high aerobic threshold. Even for a marathon.