Are Light Mountain Bikes Best?

Does weight matter and are light mountain bikes the best? It's a tricky question and what I'm going to do my best to answer today. Sit back, relax, and let's get going. So then, as mountain bikers, we tend to obsess over the weight from the entirety of our bikes down to the smallest of the parts, constantly looking to shave grams off where we can, but does it really matter and is building a bike up to be as light as it can be the best thing to Let's take a look first at weight as a bit of a concept. At one end of the scale, you've got the cross-country bike, the thoroughbred of the mountain bike world, built to be light, fast, efficient. This thing is an absolute speed machine, as are the parts that are on it. Carbon frame, carbon seatpost, carbon wheels, carbon bars, carbon cranks. On the other end of the scale, we've got the enduro bike, tough, sturdy, reliable, built to take on the roughest, gnarliest terrain out there. Whilst carbon frames are still commonplace here, strength is prioritized. We have aluminum bars, aluminum wheels, aluminum cranks. All in all then, bikes like this can weigh as little as nine kilograms on the XC side of things. On the enduro side, you're probably looking at about 15 to 16 kilograms. Let's think about that a little bit more. In cross-country, sub-nine kilograms is considered insanely light, like crazy light. In reality, most racers' bikes are going to be the 10, maybe up to 11-kilogram kind of muck. To get to that point, it costs a lot of money. Take a look at the super light build I did. That was a 9.71-kilogram, 120-mil, full-sus, size large cross-country bike. To get it to that kind of weight, it costs a whopping 14,000 pounds. Yes, it was an insane build and yes, it was really fun to ride. Is it realistic for most people out there? Hell no, it's not. It is a lot of money and is just not very practical for a lot of people. In reality, most people's bikes are still going to be around 12 kilograms at a fraction of the cost. What about the other practicalities of a super light bike? To achieve such light weight, manufacturers are, shall we say, optimizing where material is and isn't used. On frames, they might use less material in the middle of the frames compared to the layup and the carbon used around the joints and stuff to get weight but still save it where it's not needed. Manufacturers are even ditching pivots in favor of flex days, letting the flex in the frame do the work to save weight on bushings, bearings, and anything else that might be needed. Luckily though, with manufacturing R&D and materials improved, it does mean that quality and strength isn't really compromised and an XC bike can actually do almost anything that you can throw at it. To counteract all this gram shaving and weight saving, we get onto this, the mighty Enduro bike, where because it needs to be built tough and ready to go, 15, 16 kilograms, well, it doesn't seem to worry us as much. If an Enduro bike isn't classed as particularly lightweight at 15, 16 kilograms, what if I built one up at 14? Do we then suddenly class that as a lightweight bike or is that lightweight within its class? What kind of cost and effort is it going to take to get it to that point? Is it going to be something similar to what I'd have to do to an XC bike? If so, it's probably not going to be worth it or fit for purpose. Does a light bike affect ride quality? Well, without a doubt, yes, it does. A lighter bike is going to be a little bit more skittish, a bit livelier underfoot, shall we say, but what it may lack on the downs, it makes for on the up in quickness and efficiency. An Enduro bike, on the other hand, well, you'll be able to winch yourself up the same hills that the XC bike can do up. It's just going to be slower, but hey, when it comes to pointing it back down, well, that is when it gets a whole lot more fun and the weight side really doesn't matter as much. Big hole. Right, is all weight equal? If you're looking to save it, where should you or shouldn't you do that? Wheels and tires are an area where you jump to quite quickly to save a lot of weight and rightly so, wheels and tires can play a huge role. However, they can also dramatically change the ride characteristics of your bike. This Enduro bike with these cross-country wheels and tires, they ain't really made for each other. They're going to be a limiting factor. If you were to put them onto this, especially the tires, you're not going to get the full range of use out of this bike. You're not going to get the grip. You're not going to have the puncture protection and vice versa. If I was to put these wheels and tires, the ride characteristics and dynamics of this bike, what it's made to do, well, it's going to be held back. It's just not going to work as well. On an Enduro bike, if you're a few grams, 500 a kilo, shall we say, over what you think it should be, well, it's not the end of the world, meaning that a Superlite bike maybe isn't the way to go on this kind of thing. However, if you're an XC racer, well, yes, you're obviously not going to put a big Enduro casing tire on there or a big burly aluminum wheel because you just don't need it. The bike isn't designed to be pushed that hard. Therefore, the parts that it's equipped with, shall we say, don't need to be that bomb-proofness that they do on this end of the scale. Here's my final thought and conclusion on does weight matter and are Superlite mountain bikes the best? Well, yes, but not to the detriment of the bike or the ride as well. You have to think carefully about what kind of bike you have and the type of riding you're going to do on it. We as riders then need to accept that some bikes are meant to be Superlite and some are meant to carry a little bit of weight behind them. An Enduro bike is no good if it weighs the same as an XC bike. You're just going to break it and the same with an XC bike if it weighs the same as an Enduro bike, let's say. Well, it's not going to be competitive. That being said though, they're still going to be really fun to ride. Of course, weight isn't the be-all and end-all of what a mountain bike should be. Do you think that is the case? Do you think Superlite bikes are the way forward or is that something you're interested in building? Let me know in the comments down below. I'm out of here to get a cup of tea. Thanks for watching and I'll catch you next time.