Weight, Weight, don't tell me (that it matters that much)!?

Ok, I guess you'd have to be an NPR listener to get the title spoof.  Anyway, my point is I rode my light weight bike today.  No real reason, just was bumbling around the house last night and felt bad that it was dusty.  Now light is a relative term....my road bike is a Cannondale Synapse from 2008(?) (back when they were made in the USA), so it probably weights sub-20 lbs.  However, when compared to the Salsa Fargo loaded with fenders, frame bag, seat bag, rack, etc......it's light.

 vs.

My question is how much of a difference does it make.  So here's the two rides (just going to work...aka downhill).  Not really that different.  If you look at the moving speed...the road bike is just 1.7 mph faster (moving speed).  And you could argue I knew I was doing this comparison....so I might have been going for it a bit.

The real test is really how the weight will affect the climbing performance on the way home.  There's no doubt its easier to roll less weight up a hill (darn physics).  My question is does it really matter on a 11 mile round trip commute in terms of time / effort.  I don't think so, but we'll have to see what the numbers say tomorrow.

Cannondale Synapse (light)

Salsa Fargo (heavy)

Grocery run....

Saturday morning the Cuter Commuter planned a little group ride starting from Swill Coffee (Lakeside area) down to Trader Joe's for a grocery run / excuse to ride bikes.  Given the completely empty nature of my social calendar, I figured I might as well tag along!  Also Trader Joe's isn't convenient for my normal riding so it was an excuse to get down there.

The route.

I don't know why, but I didn't take any pictures....which is a shame because while the Cuter Commuter made some selective and smart purchases, I bought half the store.  So I had some massively bulging panniers that would have made for an impressive example of how much stuff can be jammed into them (or perhaps how not to pack depending on your perspective)!

By the time coffee was done, groceries were purchased, and we were riding towards home....it was lunch time, so of course we decided to stop in Mid-town.  We settled on Laughing Planet since they have nice outside seating and it was already about 70 degrees!

Full bike racks, including a sweet tandem!  Mid-town is definitely the bikey hub of Reno!

And the food and beer certainly isn't second rate!

You know biking is rolling in your city when families are riding!

A little side story that I thought was funny.  While we were hanging out at Laughing Planet, Cuter Commuter's husband (we'll call him the racer) joined us with a friend.  They had been out for about 8 hours on a rather brutal training ride and were pretty much bonked out and in need of real food and beer.  They both weight about 150 pounds (at 6 ft tall) and ride bikes that probably weigh in at 14 lbs.  They are what many folks think of when talking about cyclists. 

As we were all leaving we were (shocking) talking about bikes.  As the racer's friend was checking out my Fargo...he commented on the stuffed panniers.  He followed up with trying to pick up the bike....which with his first attempt didn't even come off the ground!  With mild disbelief he tried a second lift and did manage to get it barely off the ground.  His comment that he only weighted a 148 lbs indicated he thought the loaded bike might outweigh him!  Which is probably a bit overstated but not by much!  Anyway....for some reason I found it pretty amusing!