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The best climbing bikes, of course, boast light weight. But a modern lightweight bike has to prove itself not solely through a lack of grams on the scales, but also by having the aerodynamics to up your ride speed. In fact, for most riding conditions, aerodynamics is more important than weight, although there’s a definite buzz in riding a fast, flyweight machine.
Even if a lack of grams helps you get to the top of a hill quicker, you’ve still usually got to get down the other side, where those watts saved will come into their own. Aerodynamics will help you on the flat too. Related reading
Best climbing bikes: what to look for
Weight
It perhaps goes without saying, but when you’re riding uphill, gravity is always trying to pull you back down.
Reducing the total rider plus bike system weight means less energy (or power , in cycling parlance) is required to maintain a given speed while climbing.Therefore, if you want to ride uphill faster, or simply make the hills a little easier, a lightweight bike is an obvious move.It’s for this reason we see hill-climb obsessives chopping and changing practically every component to bring their overall bike weight down to its lowest possible limit.The only issues are that high-end, lightweight bikes and parts […]
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