I have a LOOK 795 Blade RS aero bike. It is an amazing bike for pushing watts and going fast!
I live in Houston (all flat) so this bike is great riding around here.
However, it weighs around 18.5 lbs.
I am planning on doing more mountain rides, such as GFNY, Triple Bypass, GF Hincapie, and even looking at TdF cycle tours… etc…
Is it worth investing in a more “climbing specific” bike? Something around 15 lbs?
Will a lighter bike make a big difference?
Being from Houston, I do not have much experience with hills, and these types of long steady climbs.
Thats why I would like to insight… thanks.
Let’s keep my weight and physical ability as a constant. I just want to know about the bike itself.
Thanks.
There aren’t many modern climbing bikes that are 15.5 lbs. Probably the Aethos is the only thing that is close without going full weight weenie and even then you have to go pretty top end spec before you are below 16lbs (I found an article for their Rival spec bike and it was 17.2 lbs).
One way to look at it is calculate your current watts/kilo. If you can sustain 4W/kg, than a bike that is 1 kg lighter should save you 4 watts. If you are more of an average rider putting out 3w/kg the saving are smaller, so the savings aren’t huge. On the other hand, the Aethos with floppy cables and round tubes is going to be a watt eater on the flats and downhills unless you are in a big group and don’t see the front. I would guess at least 10 watts in aero losses.
If it were me I would spend some cash on a really light set of 40mm deep aero wheels and go with a lighter tire. I do some hilly Merckx TTs and I rode Corsa Speeds all summer with the Silca sealant and never flatted. Super low Crr tires will save more than a weight weenie bike with a less than optimal tire choice.
Without knowing what your current gearing is, you’re probably better off investing in easier gearing for steep climbs than you are investing in a lighter bike. Something like a mid-compact or a compact crank and an 11-32 cassette. You might feel different on a lighter bike because it’s easier to throw it around beneath you, but unlikely you’ll actuality be much faster.
I am not looking to be faster, as much as I want to be able to get through the climbs without killing myself.
I am a bigger athlete (around 200 lbs), and from the flatlands…
My current bike has Sram eTap AXS 48/35 chainrings w/ 33 or 36 cassette.
If I were to get a climbing bike, it would most likely have Sram eTap AXS compact chainrings (46/33).
Find a calculator like bestbikesplit, then load any hill route and play with weight numbers, you will see a time difference and then you can decide if it worth. I recently thought about to build ultralightweght bike something like 10-9 LBS total weight, I have Sworks Venge Disc, but I want something really light for climb races.
Haha can relate. I’m also ~200 lb and since I live around salt lake city I regularly ride category HC climbs in the summers. Definitely can be challenging. Sounds like you’ll be fairly well off with your current gearing tbh.
Sometimes faster does keep you from killing yourself because it’s done earlier. Other times gear that makes you go faster means you can also go the same speed with the same effort. Two sides of the same coin really.
I am actually looking at the new Colnago V4Rs and going full weight weenie on it… expensive but i figure it will be a totally different ride and feel from my LOOK.
And perhaps eventually I would get rid of the LOOK at have the V4Rs as my only “do it all” road bike…
Is it worth it to buy a new bike? That’s the craziest question ever! If the rent is paid and the food’s on the table then you can never have too many bikes, especially if it has the potential to psych out your friends and beat them up the climb.
I am actually looking at the new Colnago V4Rs and going full weight weenie on it… expensive but i figure it will be a totally different ride and feel from my LOOK.
And perhaps eventually I would get rid of the LOOK at have the V4Rs as my only “do it all” road bike…
If you’re spending top dollar anyway, the new Giant Propel looks pretty sweet. Still aero but reportedly around 15 lbs in the top build.
I am actually looking at the new Colnago V4Rs and going full weight weenie on it… expensive but i figure it will be a totally different ride and feel from my LOOK.
And perhaps eventually I would get rid of the LOOK at have the V4Rs as my only “do it all” road bike…
Quite honestly, that’s the last bike of the new releases I’d go for. On any rolling kind of terrain, a SL7 or a Propel will be faster. 2 pounds is really nothing in the long end. But I say that because I lost 100 pounds off my body
Being a heavier rider makes the weight of the bike less important, simply because it’s a smaller percentage of the system weight. It also makes the aerodynamics of the bike less important relative to the position of the rider because of the larger frontal area.
For actual numbers from bikecalculator.com, a Alpe d’Huez at 250watts with 200 lb rider, 8.5 miles at 8%:
On the hardest climb I can think of you are gaining 75 seconds over the span of 80 minutes, or ~1.5%. In my opinion the non-aero climbing bike is fastest only in very limited scenarios, such as a hill climb TT, a race that features only climbs and technical descents, a race where you can sit in the pack and plan to attack the final climb.
Lastly, the kJ differences on the heavy v. light bike climbs are in the order of 10-15kJ/hr. 1 watt/hr=3.6kJ, so you only need to find a bike that has 3-4 watts of aero savings to make up the difference on 1hr of flat riding. Even at slower speeds there are not super-light bikes that come within 10watts of of aero bikes like your LOOK.
One of the big things that makes aero bikes faster is the head tube height stack height combo. You’re simply routinely lower over the bars. Any aero shaped frameset goodies be damned.
In terms of those things you plan to do, even if the bikes are the same weight as the aero bike…for longer rides with routine climbing, I would prefer a little more comfy geometry.
I use my aero road bike in Zwift with a Kickr Climb, and I can say that the steeper and longer climbs are well…tougher and more awkward to do on something like my Propel. Meanwhile my cross bike’s higher stack and more relaxed feel when I’m climbing gravel outdoors is much more comfy. But the Kickr doesn’t have an AXS hub on it, so it has to be the road bike on there.
One thing to think about if you’re trying to do well and not just tour and finish, a lot of the fondos are moving to timed uphill segments. Not overall times. This is because too many freds were doing dumb stuff downhill to make up time I suppose. Which would mean an aero bike would not gain you anything.
Thats a good point about comfy geometry.
My aero bike is set up very aggressively, with the stem slammed very low. All about going fast!
The idea of having the other, climbing specific bike, would definitely include a more comfortable, and upright position, geared to those very long rides.
Thats a good point about comfy geometry.
My aero bike is set up very aggressively, with the stem very low. All about going fast!
The idea of having the other, climbing specific bike, would definitely include a more comfortable, and upright position, geared to those very long rides.
Not the coolest, but you could get very close to that with one bike.
Yeah they’re not great but can be very useful. I have a 110mm and a 130mm that I use and lend to friends with new bikes. Good for fitting but a little flexy for sprints. IMO the fixed, integrated aero setups for handlebars are faster in a vacuum, but the loss of adjustably almost always makes the total package slower.
All that to say I’ve raced them a few times in TTs to get the bars in the right spot and got my fair share of ridicule. They are very dorky sand go 100% against Velominati rules, but at the end of the day of you’re winning then whatever you’re doing becomes cool.
