Gattonero wrote:No idea who Eddie Mercx is? Well, ok... put it this way, no other cyclist has won so many road races and he was so talented that would excell in grand tours, track racing, classic one-day races, hour record, and more.
Like may other in that day, he would keep the weight of his bike as low as possible. Given that materials and technologies weren't as good as today, weight reduction was done by drilling and reducing the parts. For his hour-record he had a special bike that, like pretty much all the others in that day, was made out of steel, and IIRC weighted less than 6kg.
What this has to do with touring?
The less weight you carry, the less effort you need -or the faster you go-, which means you arrive at the pub earlier and less tired
I don't see why should I cycle on a bike that weights nearly 20kgs when I can cycle with one that weights just over 10kgs. We're not splitting hairs and talking of a handful of grams here, when you have a bike that is at least 5kgs lighter, the difference is obvious.I view cycling as a mass transit solution for minor distances, as well as a useful piece of touring equipment.. Weigh therefore is not all important..how do you view cycling?
I view cycling on a 360º view, a bicycle can have many different tasks to do on different roads and different circumstances.
That's why I have mountain bikes, a folding bike, road bikes, and a light-touring bike. Had track bikes and BMx too. I don't really believe in "one does all", when you want the best, you need a dedicated tool
In which case may I ask you to consider Mr Francois Faire who in 1930 smashed the existing speed records for both the kilometre and mile, on a machine which was heavier but with much more improved aerodynamics.
Sadly, it is not how heavy your bicycle weighs which determines its speed, but rather the aerodynamics. To go twice as fast you need 8 times the power. A fact not lost on me, when I was riding my upwrong, and my brother was on his recumbent (which was heavier than my own bike).
The weight of any bicycle only comes into affect when accelerating, breaking, ascending or descending. All aerodynamics being equal, on level ground with only one stop and start, with two equally matched riders, one riding a heavier bike and one a lighter bike will actually see very little time difference.
The weight of a bicycle is purely relative, if I had been training on a bicycle weighing 30 KGS and ride a bicycle weighing 20 KGS, then I would notice a difference, similarly if I was training on a bicycle which weighed 10 KGS and then moved to a bicycle weighing 20kgs. The weight of the bicycle has not changed.
) one pair of Cinelli 64's were given to me in 1976 but the rest are fairly generic BBB or own brand stuff. All of the al bars weigh in between 330g and 280g (the 64's are 300g) The older '1"' bars tend to creak a bit but the oversize bars don't, a combination of stiffer bars and larger clamp areas with the front load stems. Interestingly, the 64's are clamped in a Shimano Dura Ace stem and donce suffer from the creaking of other similar bars i've got on bikes.
) rather than using a torque wrench?