Cycling log - random events in the day of a cyclist II

[matt j]

Need a bit of advice from cycling fishes, I bought one of these second hand yesterday:

https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2014/Trek/7_2_fx#/us/en/2014/Trek/7_2_fx/details

It's in good condition and feels comfortable. However it's only one or two rings up the trek ladder and surprisingly, given its frame is aluminium, is quite heavy ( it has mudguards, lock and rack, all of which I need).

Any advise on a value for money improvement I can make? Either to save weight or to make it markedly better. I don't want to spend a lot for now but would be happy to spend a bit to make a difference.

I concur with the advice from others, it would take more money than is sensible to make an appreciable difference.

Plus unless you are doing some serious climbing then heavy ish bikes aren't the end of the world, I do fine on my old steel Claud Butler, it probably comes in at 13kg with a rack on and I can average 18/19mph on a good day and get up most things that aren't like the side of a house.

It's cheaper/easier for me to drop 5kg than chop it off the bike!

 

[SteveG]

Yes this is the other problem, I have stuff in L, XL and even a couple of XXL shirts.

@SteveG I'm surprised at Castelli, they are the most common I've seen for "order two sizes above, designed for short Italian racing snakes" type comments, I had my eye on a pair of their bibs but all the reviews put me off.

I've not got any of their bibs but I do have several of their jackets and windproofs and they fit fine as a large.

 

[roman]

I concur with the advice from others, it would take more money than is sensible to make an appreciable difference.

Plus unless you are doing some serious climbing then heavy ish bikes aren't the end of the world, I do fine on my old steel Claud Butler, it probably comes in at 13kg with a rack on and I can average 18/19mph on a good day and get up most things that isn't like the side of a house.

It's cheaper/easier for me to drop 5kg than chop it off the bike!

Fair enough.

I think I got carried away with getting an aluminium bike after years of riding a heavy steel unit. There seems to be little difference.

It doesn't help that I've recently been riding a borrowed bike that was a large (as opposed to XL) and much higher quality and lower weight than the one I've bought.

Oh well, you get what you pay for!

 

[sq225917]

I have a mixture of assos, castelli and endura stuff, I seldom get two seasons out of a pair of bibs and usually have three sets in rotation. I do ride in adverse conditions a lot though and use them on and off road.

I'm lrg in endura, xl in assos and xxl in some castelli stuff. 5"9, 82kg.

 

[cubastreet]

I think those frames are quite heavy. I recently borrowed my friend's specialized hybrid but $1000 spec with carbon fork and 1x11 gearing and I was surprised how heavy it was.

 

[SteveG]

I think those frames are quite heavy. I recently borrowed my friend's specialized hybrid but $1000 spec with carbon fork and 1x11 gearing and I was surprised how heavy it was.

That's possibly something like a Sirrus X, and those are reasonably light for a hybrid.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

I’ve just found an estimate on the weight of that Trek 7.2 FX, and they reckon 12.5kg, or 28lb.
My very large mtb is 35lb, and a good road bike is 19lb or less, ish.

So with either a keen eye on the classifieds for parts, or with a few hundred quid for new parts, you might get it down to, say, 25lb. I’ve done bigger poos than that 3lb saving, lol. And the food cost less...

 

[matt j]

Fair enough.

I think I got carried away with getting an aluminium bike after years of riding a heavy steel unit. There seems to be little difference.

It doesn't help that I've recently been riding a borrowed bike that was a large (as opposed to XL) and much higher quality and lower weight than the one I've bought.

Oh well, you get what you pay for!

I'd upgrade the engine before worrying about the machine!

Light bikes do feel nice though, even if the actual difference isn't much in the scheme of things.

 

[matt j]

I have a mixture of assos, castelli and endura stuff, I seldom get two seasons out of a pair of bibs and usually have three sets in rotation. I do ride in adverse conditions a lot though and use them on and off road.

I'm lrg in endura, xl in assos and xxl in some castelli stuff. 5"9, 82kg.

I was thinking of trying Lusso, it looks like decent stuff, made here as well.

The fact you take an XXL in Castelli is the reason I've hovered over the buy button and left it, I'm 5"10 and 84kg so I'd probably risk an XXL as well off the back of that.

 

[sean99]

I don't think frame weight makes a huge difference to the perception when riding - but rotating weight at the periphery of the wheels can - and reducing it can make a bike feel more lively (whether it impacts average speed is more open to debate).

Hybrids often come with wider, more puncture resistant tires. Changing these to 700x25 folding tires, with lightweight inner tubes (michelin ultralights) would likely make a noticeable difference, but would also increase the risk of puncturing - there's no free lunch. Punctures are more common on wet roads, and on the rear in my experience - so you could do something like a gatorskin on the back and a ultrasport up front (or sqxxxx recommends the planetX mile munchers).

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYPAJBMM/jack-brown-mile-muncher-700c-folding-tyre

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TUVTULTLT/vittoria-ultralite-inner-tube

I think these would make a noticeable difference to the feel of the hybrid bike, especially if it has some bulletproof commuter tires on it.

 

[SteveG]

I’ve just found an estimate on the weight of that Trek 7.2 FX, and they reckon 12.5kg, or 28lb.

That isn't crazy heavy although it'll be a lot more by the time you add racks and the like.

My very large mtb is 35lb, and a good road bike is 19lb or less, ish.

35lb is pretty heavy for a mountain bike! I really wouldn't fancy riding that uphill.

So with either a keen eye on the classifieds for parts, or with a few hundred quid for new parts, you might get it down to, say, 25lb. I’ve done bigger poos than that 3lb saving, lol. And the food cost less...

With my mountain bikes I do find the difference between 28lb and 25lb quite noticeable, especially if a lot of the weight loss has been in the wheels and tyres. For a hybrid I'm not so sure it'd be as noticeable and also probably not worth the cost, especially as that's just the base bike weight and it sounds like there will be another 10lb of stuff on top of that.

 

[SteveG]

I was thinking of trying Lusso, it looks like decent stuff, made here as well.

The fact you take an XXL in Castelli is the reason I've hovered over the buy button and left it, I'm 5"10 and 84kg so I'd probably risk an XXL as well off the back of that.

I'm somewhere between 5'9" and 5'10" and pretty sure I still weigh more than 84kg (I'd guess I'm about 87kg at the moment). All my Castelli kit is size L but while the 2 jackets I use regularly (one is a windproof and the other a waterproof) are a nice fit the other jacket (another rain jacket) and the two jersey's (one long sleeve and one short) are quite a tight fit at the moment. Tight enough that I wouldn't want to wear them until I've shed another pound or two. It might also explain why all 3 of those still have the labels on.

So sounds like their sizing might be a bit variable.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

35lb is pretty heavy for a mountain bike! I really wouldn't fancy riding that uphill.

I’m a bit over with my estimate. Over 31lb for the medium frame, mine is much bigger. Quite intimidating on the roads and trails. And yes, it’s draining hauling it up the hills. One reason I bought the road bike three weeks ago lol.

 

[roman]

I'd upgrade the engine before worrying about the machine!

Light bikes do feel nice though, even if the actual difference isn't much in the scheme of things.

The engine is shot! I'd trade it in for a newer model if I could.

 

[cubastreet]

That's possibly something like a Sirrus X, and those are reasonably light for a hybrid.

Yeah it was a sirrus. It wasn't super heavy but heavier than it looked.
I had an OCR1 a few years ago. Like yours but 105 double group and upgraded wheels that had hardly any spokes. It was quite light and fast but I never got used to the buzz over coarse chip seal.

 

[SteveG]

Yeah it was a sirrus. It wasn't super heavy but heavier than it looked.
I had an OCR1 a few years ago. Like yours but 105 double group and upgraded wheels that had hardly any spokes. It was quite light and fast but I never got used to the buzz over coarse chip seal.

Compared to the mountain bikes I had at the time that OCR felt fast but it was very low end and a little crude - probably a lot being down to wheels and the alloy forks. It was replaced by a Boardman Team Carbon (which I sold recently) and perhaps the biggest surprise with that was how comfortable it was compared to the OCR, as I think the Carbon frame and forks removed a lot of the road buzz. The Roubaix I got shortly afterwards and that was as big an improvement again, which is probably why it's still my most used bike 10 years on. Despite being fairly old now it's still a remarkably nice bike to ride, especially after I upgraded it with nicer wheels and a more modern groupset a few years back.

I've still got an OCR although not sure what model exactly. It's set-up as a TT bike but I think I'm going to stick road bars and shifters on it (I've several sets of brifters including a couple of 10-speed 105 ones) and sell it.

 

[Jono_13]

I was thinking of trying Lusso, it looks like decent stuff, made here as well.

The fact you take an XXL in Castelli is the reason I've hovered over the buy button and left it, I'm 5"10 and 84kg so I'd probably risk an XXL as well off the back of that.

Have a look at Gore cycling kit, very nicely made, good sizing - I'm 5'9"/80Kg and take medium, lots of interesting colour ways and speedy delivery. I go for G5 range items, plus the wind stopper jackets are superb!

 

[Jono_13]

Have a look at Gore cycling kit, very nicely made, good sizing - I'm 5'9"/80Kg and take medium, lots of interesting colour ways and speedy delivery. I go for G5 range items, plus the wind stopper jackets are superb!

And not too expensive!

 

[SteveG]

I decided I hadn't suffered enough recently so, despite the heat etc., I dug out my Transition and give it a bit of a test ride tonight. I've not ridden a TT bike at all since 2017 and never since returning to Edinburgh so I was glad to see it had a decent range of gears on it (52:36 on the front and an 11-32 cassette on the back) as it's a bit hillier round here. I barely used the aero bars at all as I was very wobbly on them so it didn't feel safe with traffic around, so it wasn't particularly fast although I wasn't quite as bad on the climbs as I feared I might be.

My other TT bike has a less radical riding position so I think I'm going to have to dig that one for some practice before it'd be worth riding the Transition again. At least the drivetrain (which is a wierd mix of Dura-Ace, Ultegra and 105) was working fine and I enjoyed hearing the sound from the aero wheels as well.

 

[Woodface]

I had a lovely ride earlier with a couple of pals, very hot so we just tapped along. Happy days.