Where to save the weight?
Where to save the weight?
Author
Discussion

alolympic

Original Poster:

700 posts

226 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Maybe a bit of a daft question, but....
Where is it most beneficial to lose weight, the rider, or the bike?

If we work on that basis that the rider and bike combined are one riding package.

You have a rider, like me, at 75kgs, on a 10kg bike.
I should be at latest 2kgs leaner, and I could spend money on an 8kg bike.
If I was only to do one, I.e. Lose 2kgs from my love handles, or from my bike - would my speed on the bike, and effort required be equal either way, because my total rolling weight is now 73kgs.
(this Is assuming my fitness remained equal, as does aero etc.)

This question is of course in no way motivated by seeing guys with a big gut on an ultra lightweight carbon bikes and wondering if they are bankrolling their tummy roll.....

rs4al

954 posts

194 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Cheapest but hardest = get rid of fat

Expensive but most fun = new bike/parts

From what I've read, wheels/tyres is the first place to start to losing weight due to rotational mass.


anonymous-user

83 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
If you lose the weight from your body by training more on the bike you will get most benefit in cycling terms

Starving yourself but not riding a bike is of little help

Buying new bike bits to help motivate your training / weight loss is no bad thing

anonymous-user

83 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Use the idea of buying a new bike as an incentive to lose weight.
The fitter you get, the faster you will ride. A fat bloke on a carbon super bike will be only very marginally quicker than were he riding a hybrid, it's his cardiovascular capacity that's ultimately the limiting factor.

Or in other words, losing 2kg in weight from your bike does not equate to the same performance gains were you to lose 2kgs from your body weight.

WinstonWolf

72,863 posts

268 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
My weight varies by a couple of stone, definitely the rider biggrin

944fan

4,962 posts

214 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
2kgs is a massive st (maybe two). Could you lose more than that? The buy the new bike.

PorkRind

3,053 posts

234 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
rs4al said:
Cheapest but hardest = get rid of fat

Youre telling me !!!! I could lose weight easy in my mid 20's now im mid 30's im either mentally more weak or just less physically able to drop the lard !

WinstonWolf

72,863 posts

268 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
PorkRind said:
rs4al said:
Cheapest but hardest = get rid of fat

Youre telling me !!!! I could lose weight easy in my mid 20's now im mid 30's im either mentally more weak or just less physically able to drop the lard !
Wait till you're in your fifties. If I get my six pack back I look like I've got cancer frown

Kawasicki

14,355 posts

264 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Lose it from your body.

2kg will just melt away...hardly any effort.

I was a skinny looking 71 kg. My bike weighs 7.9 kg with pedals...a cheap to buy aluminium Rose.

In just over a year I weighed 61,5 kg, so I lost almost 10 kg...or more than the weight of the bike with full water bottles and tools/spares. It cost be nothing, in fact I saved a pile of money by not eating anything sweet.

The first five kg were really easy to get rid of and brought the biggest gains from speed/power/fitness. I would recommend nit going too far. I think I did, my power started to drop, and the recovery seemed to take longer. Still good on the hills, mind.

I'm back to 63kg...and intentionally spinning at a lower cadence...the aim is to build muscle....

I was much better with hot days after I lost the blubber too...but I'm not sure that wasn't just down to being fitter.

Edited by Kawasicki on Saturday 20th August 16:04

yellowjack

18,409 posts

195 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
PorkRind said:
rs4al said:
Cheapest but hardest = get rid of fat

Youre telling me !!!! I could lose weight easy in my mid 20's now im mid 30's im either mentally more weak or just less physically able to drop the lard !
I'm 45 and finding it hard to shift weight these days. I know how much I weighed in my mid to late teens because I boxed and did Judo. 54kg to 58kg was my boxing weight, dependent on which (junior) division I was told to bulk up/slim down for. Judo I fought at under 55kg class.

FFwd to my thirties and I had a serious neck injury and got fat - 96kg fat!! eek But I lost a lot of that after acupuncture sorted my neck/back out, and then I took up hockey.

Since I got out of the army, my weight has yo-yo'd a bit. Late 2012 I was 76.2kg. By Oct 2013 I was up to 78.0kg after a period of depression, but injury (again) kept me off my bike and I went up to 79.2kg by Apr 2014. I got that down to 74.2kg by Sep 2015, and down again to 71.7kg two weeks ago. A BMI of 26.0 still says I'm 'overweight' and could do with losing nearly 3kg. I've no idea how I can do that, especially not quickly. Yet I could go up (and down) by that much almost to order when I had a boxing coach who was also my training instructor, beasting me in the gym most nights, and supervising the boxing team at mealtimes. I seriously lack the discipline required to lose that sort of weight now. Just a function of getting older?

Having said all that, I've never been particularly fussed about shedding weight from my bikes. They tend to run 'stock' wheels, etc, until wear and tear forces a replacement. The only components I've ever swapped out before they've worn out have been tyres and brake blocks, and then for better performing (but not necessarily lighter) items.

Herman Toothrot

6,702 posts

227 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
Lose it from your body.

2kg will just melt away...hardly any effort.

I was a skinny looking 71 kg. My bike weighs 7.9 kg with pedals...a cheap to buy aluminium Rose.

In just over a year I weighed 61,5 kg, so I lost almost 10 kg...or more than the weight of the bike with full water bottles and tools/spares. It cost be nothing, in fact I saved a pile of money by not eating anything sweet.

The first five kg were really easy to get rid of and brought the biggest gains from speed/power/fitness. I would recommend nit going too far. I think I did, my power started to drop, and the recovery seemed to take longer. Still good on the hills, mind.

I'm back to 63kg...and intentionally spinning at a lower cadence...the aim is to build muscle....

I was much better with hot days after I lost the blubber too...but I'm not sure that wasn't just down to being fitter.

Edited by Kawasicki on Saturday 20th August 16:04
What's your age and height, at 39 I certainly don't find any weight easy to drop I'd need to eat hardly ever and increase exercise to loose and keep off a few Kg, I vary daily anywhere between 72 & 73 kg and my height is 178cm, in an ideal world I'd get to and stay at 69kg, got to 71kg once for a few weeks but it took 100 odd press ups a day, running very other lunch time and cycling several times a week while watching what I ate, that life styles just st. Any less than 68kg and I'd look sick.

Kawasicki

14,355 posts

264 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Herman Toothrot said:
What's your age and height, at 39 I certainly don't find any weight easy to drop I'd need to eat hardly ever and increase exercise to loose and keep off a few Kg, I vary daily anywhere between 72 & 73 kg and my height is 178cm, in an ideal world I'd get to and stay at 69kg, got to 71kg once for a few weeks but it took 100 odd press ups a day, running very other lunch time and cycling several times a week while watching what I ate, that life styles just st. Any less than 68kg and I'd look sick.
42, 1.75m (5'9")

Yep, I look sick.

egor110

17,674 posts

232 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Herman Toothrot said:
Kawasicki said:
Lose it from your body.

2kg will just melt away...hardly any effort.

I was a skinny looking 71 kg. My bike weighs 7.9 kg with pedals...a cheap to buy aluminium Rose.

In just over a year I weighed 61,5 kg, so I lost almost 10 kg...or more than the weight of the bike with full water bottles and tools/spares. It cost be nothing, in fact I saved a pile of money by not eating anything sweet.

The first five kg were really easy to get rid of and brought the biggest gains from speed/power/fitness. I would recommend nit going too far. I think I did, my power started to drop, and the recovery seemed to take longer. Still good on the hills, mind.

I'm back to 63kg...and intentionally spinning at a lower cadence...the aim is to build muscle....

I was much better with hot days after I lost the blubber too...but I'm not sure that wasn't just down to being fitter.

Edited by Kawasicki on Saturday 20th August 16:04
What's your age and height, at 39 I certainly don't find any weight easy to drop I'd need to eat hardly ever and increase exercise to loose and keep off a few Kg, I vary daily anywhere between 72 & 73 kg and my height is 178cm, in an ideal world I'd get to and stay at 69kg, got to 71kg once for a few weeks but it took 100 odd press ups a day, running very other lunch time and cycling several times a week while watching what I ate, that life styles just st. Any less than 68kg and I'd look sick.
It's not how much you eat it's more what you eat.

Obviously crisp,biscuits, fizzy drinks , alcohol are bad news but too much bread and potato also all adds up.

Try little things like only having potato with half your meals and ditching the toast at breakfast, you can eat loads of meat if you have it with salad rather than potatoes .

Kawasicki

14,355 posts

264 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
egor110 said:
It's not how much you eat it's more what you eat.

Obviously crisp,biscuits, fizzy drinks , alcohol are bad news but too much bread and potato also all adds up.

Try little things like only having potato with half your meals and ditching the toast at breakfast, you can eat loads of meat if you have it with salad rather than potatoes .
That's what I did. Halved the amount of bread, pasta, rice, spuds, etc. Cut out most of the sweet stuff, no alcohol too.

Wasn't that hard, I got used to hunger.

egor110

17,674 posts

232 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
egor110 said:
It's not how much you eat it's more what you eat.

Obviously crisp,biscuits, fizzy drinks , alcohol are bad news but too much bread and potato also all adds up.

Try little things like only having potato with half your meals and ditching the toast at breakfast, you can eat loads of meat if you have it with salad rather than potatoes .
That's what I did. Halved the amount of bread, pasta, rice, spuds, etc. Cut out most of the sweet stuff, no alcohol too.

Wasn't that hard, I got used to hunger.
Surely it was cravings not hunger ?

You could eat loads of porridge , meat , salad so no need to be hungry.

Kawasicki

14,355 posts

264 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
egor110 said:
Surely it was cravings not hunger ?

You could eat loads of porridge , meat , salad so no need to be hungry.
I'm pretty sure it is hard to lose weight fairly quickly without being hungry.

If i ate a lot of porridge then why would my body need to burn fat?

richardxjr

7,561 posts

239 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
I find early fasted rides and then eating normally pretty good for dropping weight. If I can be arsed hehe

TwistingMyMelon

6,506 posts

234 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
If you wanna loose weight :

quit booze
quit takeaways
Cut down on crisps cake n chocolate
Ride as much as you can 100-200 + miles a week o

Job jobbed

Booze is the killer for me , can see the difference in photos during periods where I drink and periods I dont , plus I only drink moderately

egor110

17,674 posts

232 months

Saturday 20th August 2016
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
If you wanna loose weight :

quit booze
quit takeaways
Cut down on crisps cake n chocolate
Ride as much as you can 100-200 + miles a week o

Job jobbed

Booze is the killer for me , can see the difference in photos during periods where I drink and periods I dont , plus I only drink moderately
crisps and biscuits for me , i barely ever eat them but i'd love to eat a couple of big bags of dorritos or a big bag of rip off frazzles.

rdjohn

7,156 posts

224 months

Sunday 21st August 2016
quotequote all
rs4al said:
From what I've read, wheels/tyres is the first place to start to losing weight due to rotational mass.
This is what I have also been told, however I would have thought that the "Flywheel effect" on the level, or downhill, would be a good advantage, sure uphill and starting; it's an impediment. I would love this point to be argued based on Physics.

Interesting that your's was the only post that addressed the OP's question. The mass of a fat bloke will be advantageous going downhill and a huge detriment uphill. The mass of a fat bloke will be an impediment against the wind and a benefit in a following wind.

Ultimately the motive force powering a bike is the rider. Chris Hoy has huge mass, but is powerful. Chris Froome has much less mass, but can maintain power for longer periods of time. The key thing is they are both incredibly fit.