having a few spare minutes this week, I looked at the performance/weight ratios
of my stable of 4 bikes. This will probably surprise no one, but there isn't
much difference between them. The bike that feels fastest, and the one I ride
when I want to "keep up" is actually third fastest, and so on. I weighed the
bikes as they are currently built up. (I've had the Ram lighter before but have
made some comfort based changes) Brass bells, leather saddles, racks, fenders,
saddle bags (emptied out though, pedals, bottle cages. No tools or frame pumps.
No carbon, no titanium anywhere. But real world weights. Relative speed is as
compared to the fastest bike. Shame about how slow "fastest" is precludes my
providing hard data points. There may be others who can relate.
Rambouillet - 23 1/2 lbs Fastest
Nashbar Mark III - 24 lbs +0.01 mph
Riv Road - 24 lbs +0.5 mph
Saluki - 29 lbs +0.82 mph
Less than 1 mph separates all of them. The Nashbar is probably the fastest if
all the miles were on the same course. I practice hills on it because I really
like its mustache bars for climbing. It was originally designed along the lines
of a crit racer, iirc. It's not my favorite for anything over 30 miles, as the
position is a bit aggressive. The Riv road is what I prefer on medium to long
rides at speed, and the Saluki for loaded longer hauls, or very steep grades
with the 26 low ring that its prior owner thoughtfully provided. So how come
the
fastest bike and the one with the most miles over the years is the
Ram? Because it's just about as perfect a fit as I can imagine and handles
really well. And its easy on the eyes as well.
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