There is such an insane amount of variety available in the market when it comes to mountain bikes that you don’t know where to start. Every bike has its own special features, modified elements etc. What most people focus on is the weight of mountain bikes.
There is a lot of stigma around a certain type of mountain bike being too heavy or too light. So this article is curated specifically to bust the myths and answer whether or not the weight of mountain bikes is an important feature and if it is how much should a mountain bike weight.
Mountain bikes are designed specifically for off-roading and riding on dirt roads. This makes up for most of the design in the sense that almost all of the features, design, etc of the bike are engineered while keeping in mind the possible difficulties that one might face while going off of the normal concrete pavements and into the woods.
How heavy are mountain bikes supposed to be?
Like any other mode of transport designed to be out in the open, mountain bikes are made to be tougher and more durable to survive the bumps and rocky roads. Hence there is no definitive answer to the question other than averages and the fact that mountain bikes are justifiably going to be heavier than the bikes meant to be ridden on concrete pavements.
Bikes that you ride on concrete pavements do not have to face the wear that dirt, rocks and uphill exertion causes and can hence, be made with lighter, less durable materials. Mountain bikes on the other hand get pelted with rocks, are under constant uphill pressure and just in a broader sense are exerted a lot more than normal bikes are.
If we were to take an average, (of bikes that are beginner friendly and not top of the line) the numbers would come down to about thirty to thirty-two pounds. Again this is an average and the mountain bike that you choose might weigh more or less than this.
Coming to a bigger question:
Does the weight of mountain bikes really matter?
If you are a beginner and have not been riding bikes for too long, your answer to this question would indefinitely be “no”. What most beginners look into is the comfort of the bike, the speed and the safety.
While this is not an approach to be classified as wrong, as you start getting into riding more and spend more and more time with your bike, you realise that you really should have looked into the weight of the bike too. While this is extremely personal and some people might not care about the weight at all, the general consensus calls for the opposite side.
It all depends on how much you weigh and how much you can take on. The weight of the bike, for most people, does make quite a difference when it comes to comfort, strain and speed.
What you need to know about any sports equipment that you buy is that, any equipment that you buy right now will go on to affect all of the other equipment that you already own and/or your experience altogether.
Most people prefer lighter bike frames and rightfully so. It is quite simple actually, the more your bike weighs, the harder it is to ride it, in the sense of the amount of effort it takes to ride it. ‘The heavier the cargo, the slower the ship’ is a very commonly known fact and is applicable to almost every form of transport.
In the beginning, it is hard to recognise how heavy your bike will feel in the future as most bikers as they advance in their riding, start making modifications to their bike. These modifications add weight onto the bike. While it might not seem like a significant amount of weight when you add it, you start to feel the gradual strain that falls upon you when you start riding the modified bike.
The heavier the bike gets the more you struggle with maneuvering it. It’s specifically like that when your muscles are used to using a certain amount of force to take turns and suddenly they are supposed to use more of it.
This is why it is important that you think about the weight aspect from the very beginning so that you don’t end up regretting your decision and getting buyer’s remorse.
Why are certain bikes heavier than others?
Like I have been saying from the very beginning, the market of mountain bikes, alone, is very vast. It is impossible for two different companies to have similar makes in the incredibly dynamic industry. The components which influence the weight of the bike, the most, are:-
Metal used for the frame
What most people concur, pretty much without any prior research, is that most of the bike’s weight comes from the metal used for making the frame. And it does not take a genius to figure out that this is 100 percent true. This is because the biggest component of the bike is its frame.
There are various materials used to make the frame of the bike, metals include aluminum, steel, titanium etc, designed materials include carbon fibres etc. It is every company’s motive to use materials that make the lightest possible bike. Aluminum being the lightest metal among those used to make a bike, is often used to reduce the bike’s weight to its minimum.
Tubing
When all else fails, tubing is the way to go. This is the motto of a lot of big time companies and it is very evident why. Tubing is the easiest and most sustainable method to reduce weight from the bike while also not taking away from the durability of the bike.
Most steel bikes use butted tubing for reducing weight. What butted tubing essentially is, non-uniformed amount of tubing throughout the bike. The bike tubes are made thicker at the joints and hollow/skinner throughout the rest of the frame. This is the most efficient way to cut out on the weight of the bike without compromising on a lot. If you are looking for light bikes make sure to look for bikes with butted tubing.
Components and extra weight
Something as simple as heavy handlebars or a heavy saddle can add to the weight of your bike. I know switching parts out when you are a beginner might seem tedious and redundant but when you actually do it, you will realise how much of a difference is made to the actual quality of riding.
Avoidable components like mounts for carrying 1500 water bottles around, should be cut out. Nobody needs that kind of water. Don’t do that to yourself. Riding around with anything unnecessary will hinder your riding experience indefinitely and you are better off without it. So Chuck that extra water bottle mount out the window, your legs and your back will thank you for it.
Hardtail/Suspension
This is an age old debate between which bike is better and why. Most experienced bikers who frequently participate in bike races, vote in favour of hardtail bikes as they offer maximum control and lead to you learning so much more than just how to ride a bike like it is meant to. While this is a discussion for another day, when it comes to the weight aspect of it, hardtails seem to win again.
Hardtails drop some of the weight as they have less components as compared to suspension bikes. While two or three pounds might not seem like much weight when you look at it individually, when you look at it from the perspective of bikes weighing 30 pounds overall, it seems like a lot. This means that you drop ten percent of the bike’s total weight, just by choosing to have hardtail bikes instead of suspension bikes.
Gives you a lot to think about, doesn’t it?
Wheels
Mountain bikes have inherently chunky wheels for greater traction on bumpy terrains. While this is all for greater security, wheels contribute to a pretty big margin of the total weight of your bike.
Wheels are less expensive upgrades that you can make for your bike to reduce the weight of it. This could mean opting for a lighter wheel frame by switching the metal with which it is made or going for a slimmer tire. Whatever you choose to do, cutting weight becomes a lot easier when you start with the wheels of your bike.
Conclusion
Conclusively, while the weight of bikes is an important feature that could make or break your riding experience and win you a place in that race you have been planning to participate in, there is more than one way of eventually reducing the weight of your bike.
So if you are a beginner, do not stress much about the weight of your bike and how it might perpetually ruin your biking experience because more often than not, you won’t even notice. And even if you do, you can make modifications in your bike eventually to take some of that load off and give you a greater sense of satisfaction.