I was wondering what that smell was! They just closed the downtown and sent us home for the day. Thanks!
I’ve been thinking back to the days when I spent copious amounts of money to shave a few grams off my mountain bike here and there. Seems kind of silly in retrospect. Although I think my current bike is a little on the heavy side for me and my style of riding, I fail to understand the importance of superlight mountain bikes anymore. Has being a weight weenie gone the way of the Flexstem or do people still really care about how heavy their rides are? I’m starting to believe that lightening up the body is more important than lightening up the bike. Do grams really matter?
There was a time when I was racing that weight was an issue. Trying to get the bike below 21lbs seemed like the thing to do. It cost about a $1000. per pound to do it. Now I am riding a 26lb, 5" travel bike and I love it. I suppose I could stop drinking beer and eating whatever I want. You know, lose 20 lbs. Screw that… I will eat, drink and ride a squishy bike. HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY.
Peace
I suppose they might matter if you are sponsored, and your food on the table depends upon winning 
I’ve found that weight weenies seem to be the same peopel that do things like water cool their computers, or put fartpipes on their cars. No wait. people that do the later are morons. Anyways…
Also I think alot of us adopt a mentality that reliability trumps everything. At least for me I know that my preferences for both computing and cycling have focused in that direction. My bikes are both ultra reliable, and very comfortable. Both of which promote use for me.
“2 cents”
OH and yeah, its much cheaper, much more fun and better for us all to just lighten the engine. I can’t remove 10 or 15 pounds in a season from the engine… good luck doing that with the chassis.
I’m not usually much of a weight weenie - I’m hard on gear, and reliability is more important to me than weight. However, I need new wheels for my bike, and this time I’m being a little particular about weight. I feel a bit silly, because I have lots of weight that could relatively easily be shed from my frame, instead of the bike.
I feel that weight on the wheels is bad for stopping and going, but if you have a heavy bike/rider combo that gets ridden hard, beefy wheels are worth their weight in gold. Or you can spend a lot of bucks to get strong AND lighter wheels.
Personally I chose reliability and strength/lack of maintenance over weight everytime now. My RIGID bike weighs more than a few duallies. But, I ride it hard, put it away wet and it’s always ready for more the next time. I went from 215Lbs to 185 Lbs last summer, and it was free. All thanks to biking.
I take care to choose the lightest tires possibile that can still maintain good traction. For a few people, weight is an issue. The weight weenie-fart tip comparison is valid, but those people have mostly gone away, though sue will be happy to hear that Stinger has resurfaced and visited us twice in the past few weeks… I bet every shop has one or two customers who are like this, but no, it doesn’t compare to back in the day…
I dealt with a guy in a Montreal shop who had a 58cm Specialized Tarmac. He removed the paint, refitted all metal parts with Ti, and assembled his cassette out of increasingly weaker/lighter metals, since the larger gears don’t need as much strength.
Thing came out to 12 pounds. I should mention he also water cooled his computer, and hardly rode his bike.
Ahhh, Stinger! Is he still working on that crazy light bike of his?
I wonder if the whole lack of interest in utralight has any correlation to aging? When I was younger I was more concerned with looks and other people’s opinions than with being practical and comfortable (I remember waiting for the bus in grade 8 in minus 30 weather with no hat or mitts and my coat undone.) Now comfort is a number 1 priority. I suspect that translates to bikes for many people as well.
Yes, I think age and maturity has everything to do with it. We get old, we get families we get responsiblities. Sometimes it so nice to just grab a bike, go for a ride and only care that it gets you home
I don’t think I’ll ever be on a close to 40 puond bike again but I don’t need an ultralight 23 pound full suspension either.
I’m a bigger dude at over 200 pounds and I like knowing my ride is solid enough that if I hack it up Im’ not gonna destroy my bike.
Racing for me is fun… like a hard group ride with a podium.
it’ll never put food on my table or get me a free bike and I’m a firm believer that if I’m gonna be a weitht weenie with my bike I need to be a weight weenie with my body first
So where’s the cut off point for a trail bike? How heavy is TOO heavy?
Hardtail sub 30 pound bike without even trying for life … “yo”
Weight isn’t as big an issue as it used to be now that there are so many suspension / efficiency options available. At a limited budget, you’ll usually get more performance out of a 4" travel dual suspension XC rig than a super light hardtail… especially around here! In places where the riding is ultra smooth it’s a bit different.
This year I made the difficult decision to switch from my super light hardtail to a heavier Spec. Epic. I’m pleased with the decision, even on the adventure races where I need to ride the thing for hours on end and occasionally carry it on my back.
But at the end of the day, when two equal riders are racing, the one with a lighter bike will have an advantage… the cost analysis of that advantage is personal for everyone.
And don’t hate the weight weenies!
09man, how would you compare a StumpJumper to an epic?
09Man - and I mean the Stumpjumper FSR, not the HT. I guess the Stumpy is more of a “trail” bike versus XC.
Would “trail” be stuff like whopper and whatnot?
The Epic is built as a XC machine, fast riding, less travel a more agressive cockpit. The Stumpy would have more travel and a more upright ridea a tad more weight.
Both are excellent choices for the riding around here. If it were me, I’d go with an Epic if I tended to race a few races, or a Stumpy if I liked to do drops.
Cool, pretty much what I thought. I’m on a rock hopper pro right now, and suspect I will be for some time.
Somedays, I want the cush of a Stumpy FSR, somedays I want the novelty factor of a Karate Monkey 29er… so many bikes. So much love.
Actually, for an XC racer I find the Epic relatively relaxed in the cockpit.
I’ve only ever been on the Stumpy HT so I can’t comment on the FSR. Though if I wanted a trail bike from the Specialized quiver for Whopper-like stuff I’d go Enduro. I’ve always really liked the Enduro, and the latest generation was a beautiful bike… very sexe.