How Much Does Body Weight Affect Climbing Speed? GCN Does Science

[@ivandoe33]

hehe, I'm 105kg, my bike is 16kg, going steep uphills is almost mission impossible :D The good thing is, several months ago I was 118kg, and in few months I will achieve my goal of 90kg weight.

[@Pochopnie]

Good luck mate!

[@kwakakak]

how much are you now?

[@hugobci]

I wonder how fit did you get after a year!

[@benpar8120]

Why is your bike SO heavy? Get a lighter bike.

[@benpar8120]

@kirkoti 1.1G Do you live in The Netherlands?

[@neft16]

You could calculate the answer from the start. They said it was 5k @7% which means 350m elevation gain. The energy required to raise 5kg by 350m is m*g*h=5*9.81*350 = 17168Joules. For Dan, putting out 230W you would expect this to take an extra 17168/230=75 seconds if this calculation was correct. And what did their stop watch say? 76 seconds! So close!

[@gobybike99]

in the past 6 years I have gone from 215lbs/ 97.5kg to 169lbs/76kg. 46lbs makes a huge difference to my riding. I have also ridden more but I have found climbing much much easier with the less body weight.

[@gabkoost]

If you had kept 10kg but in muscle, you would be much better suited. Power to weight has a lot to do with how much of your body is muscle, Specially with amateurs as pros have no fat.

[@michaelhaney3388]

Very true in weight loss. I went from a Moser steel to trek madone, there's a difference.

[@godunovs65]

@@michaelhaney3388 2kg saved right there. The key phrase from the video was "too darn expensive". Get a lighter bike when you have no more of own weight to sacrifice. Did I follow that advice? No, I did not.

[@ukaszmroczynski8587]

I've lost 4.5kg since I came back to road cycling in late April. So far covered 1000 miles and my avs improved from 23km/h to 26km/h. At the beginning 25km was a good distance to cover and now I hit max of 98km.... 💪

[@samuelguillot96]

Thanks to you gcn, I lost 6kg already. I'm now 80 kg for 1m92. Continue your fantastic videos, you are such a great motivation! A french fan :)

[@gcn]

Great work Samuel, keep it up! Dan

[@LeroyBishop]

@marken When I was 18 my bodyweight at 1.98m was just 67.5kg. I had some blackouts from while to while while standing up, but was the fastest up the hill even at my size. But overall with 20 years and 10kg more I feel much better!

[@brianmessemer2973]

Hey good for you sir. This summer I’m riding a lot, losing weight, and staying motivated through these great GCN videos. I hope you kept the weight off and are enjoying riding this summer.

[@killuaHunter]

You mean DART

[@rileypoirier6060]

@@LeroyBishop 6 feet 8 or so and only 170lbs? I find that very hard to believe.

[@PackerBronco]

I told my wife that I need to spend some serious coin to get a lighter bike to climb better. She looked at my waist and told me there's a cheaper alternative.

[@jaywells6838]

Hahahahahahahahahahahhaha…...I know exactly what you mean.

[@juanhuttoe4517]

Right there with you.

[@shemarcus]

Wives don’t understand anything about cycling technology!!! If you get a lighter bike you climb more effective, so, you gonna loose body weight cause you’ll cycling more seriously...(will she believe on it?)

[@RachelMurrdererWolf]

marcus santos oh come on, as a woman it is a bit sad to hear that we do not understand anything about cycling technology. Seriously, it is not rocket science. Maybe better to find a wife with matching hobby, no? ^__^

[@shemarcus]

@@RachelMurrdererWolf not exactly, I wasn't talking about cycling technology, but my shape...

[@TheWaxChainFanClub]

Probably the most powerful hair game from Dan to date. Nice.

[@cipher.u.justice]

copying Wiggins hair style last year

[@ZoaStousDromous]

I've been there! I was 143Kg when i got my first road bike with 53-39/11-24 gears and i managed to drop down to 119Kg with the same gears. The difference was like crawling Vs flying, even in uphills!

[@grahamtibbot3329]

In the real world the difference may be more than in the video- All that extra weight in a person will be live metabolic tissue which has an oxygen demand (even if it is just stored fat) thus reducing the efficiency of the body, not quite the same as 5kg of dead weight on your back, but also another reason to shed mass from yourself rather than your bike.

[@michealwhite1091]

I've lost 30lbs so far, and I've noticed a huge difference even on the flats in Miami

[@bocskaicsaba4925]

My approach would be to measure energy expenditure (in Joules) needed to cover that distance. Then, I can say: with plus 5 kg the energy output must grow N % for every extra 5 kilos. Also, since the human body is not a linear system, I'd measure +10 and +15 and make that beautiful, nerdy logarithmic curve on a graph.

[@SurpriseMeJT]

Even then, body weight in the form of extra muscles is not the same as weights on the back of someone skinny.

[@andrewcorrie8936]

But additional weight in the form of excess fat - as is true for many middle-aged men in lycra - is not helpful.

[@andrewcorrie8936]

Calculate the energy required by (trivially) multiplying the time taken in seconds by the average power in watts. There are a number of interesting ways to plot the graph here, but following the time taken versus additional weight for constant power output seems as useful as any.

[@superfisto]

Living flesh is much more difficult to carry than an equal amount of inanimate weight. Your body must pump blood/oxygen to your flesh and remove waste; extra body mass saps limited resources. Dropping body weight will raise your FTP/V02max/etc, all else being equal.

[@AgencyEric]

I would love to see evidence for this. I have not experience this personally whilst dropping 20kg, nor have I seen any evidence that finds a notable increase in aerobic production as a result of weight loss.

[@superfisto]

I'm in a rush but this is the first that I found. I was looking for a different study but this came up: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20414740

[@superfisto]

any thoughts?

[@xiz]

I agree with you, ! I burned 20 kg in 1 year. Now I feel so much better on recovering, breathing and pedaling.

[@nonfictionone]

good on you. most people burn 20kg of cash trying to do the same thing.

[@laurentp89]

Great vids guys. Have you thought of making more track related content? I would love to see that(after the tour is over of course). Keep it up!

[@pord]

You know its bad when neither of them with their bag, bike etc still weigh less than you

[@xGshikamaru]

With my weight I could add my bike and still not match Dan nor Matt but I'm also shorter than they are. I could still shave about 2 or 3 kg to get back to my weight from 10 years ago though... It's kind of embarrassing when even a size small is a bit large for you...

[@thirdtrumpet4446]

haha

[@Schradermusic]

You know it's really bad when you weigh less than the bag.

[@PurPleMind100]

@@dsdf_fdp1858 i mean they are pretty slim guy

[@tylerstewart1169]

Its crazy. They say they are 5k overweight... I weigh 25k more than their total gear/bike/pack in this video.

[@experiment54]

Matt spent those 2 minutes clipping in

[@jamesfinn9838]

This is perhaps the best GCN does Science that you good chaps have done. Ever. Really useful info. Thanks.

[@MtBArN]

These videos are great! I just got into Road cycling as my body is a bit broken from MTB. You guys are really helpful!

[@nickbianchi]

That’s exactly what I needed to motivate me… Was 15.5 kg above my "fit" weight - Long break from riding, kids (finishing plates), computer work - and am currently getting back in the sport. Low Carb diet already made me lose 4.5 kg in two weeks! Hope to be back at around 72 kg within 2 months!

[@lewisjohn2597]

During the summer months I carry a 5kg bag to work and back and on my off days, I ditch the bag and there are huge improvements in time. I have also changed to my old Alan Carbonio to a 53/42 - 11/25 and I have increased my power output and lost weight. It is a great way to train and makes the 53/39 crankset on my other bike feel like a compact when I change bikes and lose the backpack.

[@Liofa73]

As someone that has dropped from 85kg to 77kg since I started riding I can tell you hill climbing is easier, even though I've obviously gained fitness over the years.

[@future62]

Yea dropping weight for me has helped with my climbing too, which helps a ton even on mild climbs. Definitely adds up

[@ElGranCoati]

it's not easier, it's faster

[@SSEF15]

He is a bit jaded with scientific cyclists from dealing with that Pharmstrong bloke

[@nonfictionone]

what do you think about lemond now? You may not like what lemond says but he speaks truth to power. And sky is coming out now as the drug team they are. Once you see climbing speeds graphed and froome is at the top right hand corner with the fastest all time climbers (all busted for drugs)... If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Notice how sky ride on the front of the TdF, at such a pace the worlds best can not get away from the sky domestiques?!?!?!?!? All the evidence is staring you right in the face. Mark Twain said it is easier to fool someone than to convince then they have been fooled.

[@zeragus707]

@@ElGranCoati easier for the body because less calories used. Less muscle to fuel with water, oxygen, carbs. For the mind it's just as difficult but for the body it is easier.

[@ericdurace9755]

Could you do a video comparing bike weight and body weight to see if there is a difference, on a climb but also a descent.

[@VideoNOLA]

Clydesdale here, weighing in (bike, accessories, togs, rider) at 163.6 kg. This explains why it's such a challenge for me to climb anything at all. Grateful to live in a flat urban area!!

[@austinurias]

Great video! This is the sort of material I like to see.

[@philg6757]

Thanks team,I`m just about to make my first PM purchase and found this helpful. I dont race but I do like to pack the bike in the camper and heads to the hills for a challenge .

[@Fabio-ns4ql]

Power is Force multiplied by vertical displacement divided by time. P = (F x s) / t. Within rounding off errors both Matt and Dan climbed about 416 metres on that ride. Lose 5 kg in weight and keeping the same power means the elapsed time must decrease. Physics 101. What would be really interesting to do would be to keep the same overall weight for both runs but one is done with a set of lightweight carbon wheels and the other with heavier aluminium rims. Would you see a difference if you maintained a constant power output? Or does the advantage only manifest itself if you are constantly accelerating/decelerating?

[@paolo192]

This means that bicycle weight is the least important of all, and you can save a lot of money. Thanks

[@RACEMASTERyEAH]

Well, not exactly, of course :D A fit guy would achieve better results with a lighter bike vs a heavier one :)

[@thelmaviaduct]

Zahari Stoyanov it is exactly. You can lose a max of say 2 kg from a bike. I could lose 25kg from my fat carcass.

[@nonfictionone]

yeah I always laugh when a guy who is 10Kg overweight is talking in the coffee shop about he's shopping for wheels and so and so wheels are 100gm lighter than so and so wheels. This is a JOKE. And the industry is largely built on this joke. pedals, helmets, saddles, frames, you name it, a few grams lighter. What a complete misdirection of effort and spend. You want to go faster? Maintain your power (which you will easily) and lose 3kg of the 10kg you are overweight. You will be noticeably faster. Unlike getting the wheels that save you 100gm's for an extra $1,000 and you won't notice a thing. And lets not talk about aerodynamics being waaay more important than weight almost all the time you're riding. In short, lose weight off your body, and go aero.

[@charlesgould8047]

totally agree. I have a nice Titanium bike that weighs about one full water bottle more than the UCI minimum weight. But my frame is guaranteed for life. Cant say that about the new super light carbon bikes.

[@markconnelly1806]

Wheels do make a difference since it is rotational weight. Lose as much body weight as is healthy while exercising then have a good pair of wheels and tires if your riding is speed focused.

[@crack24able]

i lost almost 20 kg since christmas, and i can really feel an improvement in my climbing, i'm starting to challenge my friends that used to smoke me easily!

[@selvestravicius]

I think the good question to answer would be if adding weights on body for training is equal (or better, or worse) to training in high gears. Curious what is the difference between these training styles. Only could find info in old forums with two opinions: 1) I do the training with weights and I feel/see results; 2) better go incline faster or in higher gears.

[@TheClassicWorld]

I just did my first 7% short climb, and it was difficult in a very low gear. The weight was my bike and me for a total of around 76kg (I am about 63kg and the bike is quite heavy at 13kg). I'm 25 and 5'10. I won't be losing weight, just need to get stronger, and get a lighter bike (around 10kg). As such, I think that will end up making the same climb quite easy.

[@joahsprenger]

Would love to see a video on the difference between weight on your body vs weight on your bike.

[@warwingsenthusiast5672]

I weigh about 98kg and my bike is around 10kg (Steel frame) On average, I climb about 10,000ft(3,000Meters)a week. Once I reach my goal weight, And switch to a slightly lighter bike, It’s game over. I’ll be climbing at a steady 15mph average speed at least! FollowMyIG: RidesandRoxy

[@10ktube]

Another great video! You guys even account for sweat loss and get your body weights back on par. Awesome, yet simple, data driven approach.

[@Davide_sd]

@GCN: I've run the math with the power equation using the data you provided (in case anyone is interested, I've used the following assumptions for both bikes and riders: rolling resistance coefficient: 0.003, head wind speed: 1m/s, drag coefficient: 0.3). The last assumption is obviusly wrong because the backpack is going to slightly increase the air drag, but since the climbing speed is supposed to be a small value, we can very well use the same air drag coefficient for both rides, keeping in mind the backpack migth add something like 4-6s to the time difference. Dan, your times are very close to what has been predicted by the power equation. The computed time difference is about +1:11. Matt: the time with no backpack has been correctly predicted, but something must have gone wrong with your backpack run. The computed time difference is about +57s, which is very far from your test result. Would be interesting to know if that climb presented section where sporadic head-wind (or tail-wind) was present, it might explain all these seconds. One last thing: you proved that the best way to improve climbing (at least for the majority of us viewers) is not to sell a kidney to get the bike 0.05kg lighter, but to improve fitness! :)

[@Roq-stone]

I realized that although I started cycle commuting during the lockdown with a body weight of 110kg (I’m 6’2” or 189 cm tall) I am now at 98kg, at most. But I’m still heavier than most pro cyclist plus their gear and tool bag and water bottles. And I’m riding a steel frame everyday. (Bike weight 34 lbs//16 kg). The heavier bike works out for me because I build both strength and endurance at the same time.

[@agentlemanscraft9]

Great to see! Started cycling at 128kg as it would not neg effect my knees. I am now 117kg with a goal of 80kg.. Let's see how it goes!

[@onezweithree]

AGentlemansCraft I went from 123kg to 93kg over the last year. At 193cm, I want to get to around 85-90kg. Hang in there, bud!

[@agentlemanscraft9]

@@onezweithree good work dude!!! Very nice! Have you felt the improvements from weight loss?

[@onezweithree]

AGentlemansCraft oh absolutely! There is this one climb near me, which I couldn’t get up without taking a break. It took me 15:29 minutes on May 5th 2018. a week ago I „flew“ up the hill in 5:38minutes. The KOM is 4:00, so this is my goal ;)

[@agentlemanscraft9]

@@onezweithree oh my days!!!! That's savage improvement!!!!

[@alexardila6289]

I lost 3 kg (now at 59 kg) in the past couple of weeks because of biking and I can already notice a significant improvement when going uphill even though I am light and a descent climber for Colombian standards. A few kilos lighter do make a difference for sure. As you train and lose weight you also get stronger, so one can really improve power/weight ratio considerably with a bit of dedication and in a relatively short period of time. It is painful at the beginning but sooner than you think biking becomes a lot more fun.

[@lylewalker5681]

The backpack test is even more accurate comparing it, because usually most people's experience with 5kg up or down is that when they are down at the lowest weight they can get to, it usually also means they are in way better shape/training much more... especially for people who waffle up and down 10 lbs here and there like me.

[@papachung6639]

I wonder how much faster Froome went up that climb with a weight savings of about 6.8 kg?

[@phildurre9492]

Zach Bonte skeletons dont ride bikes haha

[@swites]

This is interesting I have a 15 and 20minute climb on my commute. Usually my bag weighs around 2.5kgs. Love how in the weekend when I go up the same climbs in my cycling kit I feel so much fitter, just because the climbs feel so much easier.

[@bigtenpochet]

A year ago, i was 325 lbs (147 kg)....and hills were impossible. I am now under 300 lbs (135 kg)...through lifestyle changes and tons of biking these days.... but Hills are still tough for me. I just completed a very hilly, 150 mile weekend charity ride, and was the slowest out there because of the hills. I can hold my own with most folks on the flats, but get smoked on the hills. Working toward an additional 50 lb (25 kg) weight loss to be able to hang with friends on hillier terrain!

[@cicerosincero8619]

It does make a huge difference! I went really out of shape and climbing became a torment, now with 17kg less (81kg-1,83m) life is much easier going up. I'm not sure how it goes in the physiological aspect, but I started training again with 98kg and I believe my legs got use to produce more power...

[@timbirtin8300]

how often have you taken the shot where matt can clip in at the first time?

[@gcn]

+tim birtin once a day for three years.

[@loopie007]

Gotta get Matt some SpeedPlay pedals. :-)

[@br1960boubou]

+Global Cycling NetworMaybe that's the solution to his cliping problem; gaining 5 kg

[@jesperwergeland6008]

loopie007 or flats

[@stormbass1964]

tim birtin nnnn

[@flpsan3567]

Congratulations for all the videos, the way you plan the tests and especially for the introduction of watt-meter measurements and the real world conclusions we can extract from the tests in a world (amateur cyclists) where speculation was taken as truth.

[@joshmagrum3552]

then there's that moment I realize I weigh about as much as Dan. Plus his bike, bottle, and rucksack.

[@williamb4652]

Plus Matt.

[@curtisoverton5763]

is it Matt's inability to clip in rubbing off on Dan or is it the beers?

[@peter_smyth]

*mineral waters

[@levihoward4470]

Curtis Overton try 5 kg 24/7 Monday to Sunday and back again plus carry those 5 kg to work and home

[@ericlehman53]

I currently race at 65 kg, and I am targeting 63 kg as my ideal race weight. I have noticed that with weight loss you can lose power, especially high-end. A key strategy for me is focusing on fat loss rather than weight loss because lost muscle can hurt power output.

[@webstaa5191]

Great video! Losing a little bit of weight helps a little, but loosing a lot helps even more! Here's some ideas for you guys to toss around: Light wheels vs heavy wheels (you'd need similar aero profile for both,) or heavy vs light (like this video) on flat terrain.

[@erkinkalender9434]

So,i have a 1.55 cm friend and he is using 46cm frame (we both have the same bikes but his bike is about 400 grams lighter than mine because of frame).And he is 45 kilograms without bike,51 kilograms with bike. i am 1.87 cm and 84 kilograms,with bike arround 90.5 kilograms.But my body fat is %9.And my muscles are much bigger.So i'm quite faster than him. We both have same bikes,and both not smoking training together everyday.Eating healthy.So guys,you need to found a big guy,not a back pack with full of rocks !

[@duct.q.4402]

Thats because u are stronger than ur friend. If u were to keep everything the same but both limit ur watts to lets say 230 watts, he should climb faster than u bc he is lighter (at least in theory). I mean in cycling everyone talks about >power to weight ratio< and not >weight< alone. So even if u weigh more but u can output more watts u will go faster. But im just a random person on the internet with no real test done myself to back it up.. so ye just adding my two cents

[@willnettles2051]

I love this stuff. Well done. Slightly off the deep end to this... a video on E-bike brake energy recovery concluded that it wouldn't extend your range more than a few percent. I live in Los Angeles where a 19 mile run (La Canada to Mt Wilson) gains 5200 feet in altitude (sorry for the primitive American units. 30.6km & 1550m). A bicyclist exerts a higher percentage of his/her energy pushing against the wind than does a car (correct me if I'm wrong)-so I thought that the climb wouldn't significantly impact the E-bike range. (Cars improve mileage going up and down mountains). I was totally wrong. I had this grand scheme of getting an E-bike, peddling up this route with assistance, then on the way down recharging the battery. (This doesn't violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics because I would be peddling). Well, the formula for Potential Energy is g*h*m ( 9.8*1550 meters * mass let's say 100 kg= 1.519 million Joules. That is just the added energy required for just the altitude gain. A typical E-Bike battery has about 1.1 million joules. If you are interested I'll check my numbers.) Anyway I concluded that one, I wouldn't make it all the way up unless I could peddle the last and steepest part without motor assist, and it wouldn't charge the battery on the way down..... But then I had the thought: What if you loaded say 50 kg of rocks (plenty loose rocks up there) and then rode down you could conceivably recover significantly more energy. By loading the rocks you'd increase PE 50percent or to about 2.2 million joules. I don't think this would be of any benefit in the Tour de France, unless the chase vehicle was a Tesla and it's battery was flat at the top of the climb. I have this Walter Mitty daydream of a growing pile of rocks at the base of this climb.....

[@robbchastain3036]

I enjoyed this video and it is interesting to see at least a minute of difference in each rider's time between laden and unladen. I add weight to my morning commute by placing big bottles of frozen water into my panniers and I do that for training purposes, to get the most out of my rides on my Lead Sled, as I like to call my steel-framed commuter. And after rockin' those fifteen miles, that icy water is so refreshing.

[@chiwanau]

adding weight doesn't improve the workout it just slows down the speed

[@Hexsense]

which is good if you want a safer slower ride while doing same hard work or the route is short and you don't want to repeat.

[@OttoFazzl]

Lol, your math skills are awesome at 6:49.

[@Sionnach1601]

I just LOVE Matt!! He's an awful loss to GCN. What wit! What a character!!

[@charlieharty3105]

The videos are always interesting, presenting useful information in an entertaining manner..thanks GCN

[@richardrogers229]

Losing weight will enable you to go uphill faster, at the same power wattage. What is not discussed is that if you can stay with the group you are climbing with, and draft with them once you are on level ground, you will save more energy and finish faster.

[@missionmarkone7484]

Power = Work / Time Or as you demonstrated, T= Work /Power Shorter time due to lower Work requirement and same Power Output... Thank you High school Physics. More mass can mean higher power as well... Sprinters are noticeably higher in weight than enduros and they can put out more instantaneous power. Which is where I thought this would've gone...

[@JensFredeRasmussen]

"He is in first time, look at that!" She said that yesterday also.

[@RACEMASTERyEAH]

Just a quick mention - this is about body fat, not body weight in general. Because, if this weight was in your muscles, you'd actually have the strength to propel yourselves in the same manner as you did without the bags :)

[@marcus_velo_9970]

excellent demonstration guys and most importantly on a long ride with climbs the extras kgs being pushed over time, distance and elevation creates greater fatigue resulting in performance decline overall compared to the rider with a better power to weight ratio.

[@duncetodoctor]

That uncentered headunit on Dan's bike gets me every time. But my god does that perfectly centered hair on Dan's head (unit) make up for it!!

[@calladanalgate8262]

I love cycling and you are the perfect channel for anyone else who does

[@adventureadventure8796]

In the last 11 months I have lost 20kgs in weight and my watts have increased by 14%. FTP now is 277. This week I have been riding outside (turbo trainer has been put away) and wow the difference is so noticeable. Strava (segments) don't lie! Best bit, I don't ride an expensive carbon bike and I haven't spent any money upgrading my 2005 bike I bought for £250 off ebay @gcntweet #increasewattsdecreaseweight

[@DARDKOPF]

Hi I have a question for you guys: I rode a small hill climb today : 11km long, 530m ascent time : 38min (mountainbike in the wood) my weight is 59kg +8kg MTB + ca. 1,5kg helmet, shoes and lycra = 68,5kg total weight What would I save with 1kg less? 10-15 sek ? haha I have to train

[@joelberman5981]

This works out to about a kilometer per hour slower for each 10 pounds gained. It would be great to see you guys do this again but on flat terrain.

[@digisuboob]

ive started cycling at 160kg with a 25kg bike, and i can bloody tell you. its hard work.

[@andrewperillo3446]

i really have loved watching all of you guys

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

If you have legs like Robert Förstemann. I dont think it matters how heavy you are. The amount of torque you impart on the earth every time you push your pedals down to accelerate is enough to slow the earth and put the earth out of sync with time as your tyres dig in and you get propelled forward like fighter jet off an old aircraft carrier as the earth tries to re-sync itself within the space and time continuum.

[@kevingillas9469]

What is the maximum efficiency for climbing a hill? If Potential Energy = mass * gravity * elevation. Now ride a 1000 feet on a ~6% grade and take your power meter energy reading. Potential Energy / Power Meter Reading * 100! Witch GCN rider is the most efficient and do bikes make a difference?

[@jimbo1858]

171cm 82kg bodyweight. Bike 10.2kg. Extra 3/4kg including my gear. Looking to shift around 10kgs and hoping that makes a difference climbing

[@racamon]

I was testing this with my buddy. He is 75kg and I am 95kg. He is 177cm tall, and I am 193cm. Now, we both kept same tempo, riding 50km, and in the end the app said I lost 2200 ish calories, and he was on 1300cal. So, I might kept the speed and tempo, but I had to use almost the double the power. I can imagine that if we were climbing, I could not follow him.

[@AnthonyJ101-d8q]

What you guys aren't measuring is acceleration. In the real world we don't ride at constant power. Accelerating with extra weight would be an interesting test to see. For example, what's the difference in change in speed when jumping from 250 watts to 700 watts when you're carrying say, an extra 5kg. This is a more likely scenario, whether it be racing or going against your mates. Good vid though, would like to see more of this.

[@chrismorrow8697]

What about potentially lost power from losing body weight? Depending on the weight range, you may have a higher potential power output at a higher bodyweight.

[@HeatherSpoonheim]

Thanks for this video - great information. I know I need to cut some KGs and that I also need to increase my strength/endurance. This is my first season as a 'cyclist' (as opposed to young recreational bike rider), and I'm already seeing some great improvements all-round. I've got my next bike selected for next year - higher end, but not carbon - and plan to incorporate a garmin to display more real-time data.

[@jimcolegrove5442]

Best climbing workout is with a heavy bike. Save your lite bike for competition. How else can you build muscle mass?

[@sundown005]

The ONLY video in fifteen years of browsing youtube where the CORRECT inserts are ACTUALLY where the presenter is pointing towards. You lads earned my undying respect.

[@DMGx1993]

Did you guys know that Dan was on the Cervelo Test Team?

[@lucianonarno1408]

never heard of it :)

[@danfuerthgillis4483]

You mean the Giant bike test team lol, Giant is the OEM for Cervelo, Colnago, Trek even some Canondales.

[@BFinesilver2]

No. The OEM Cervello is Pardus, which is made in the same factory by Taiyuan Sports.

[@johncrowley9151]

What happened the normal vector pedals? new sponsorship? which do you find are better garmin vector or powertap?

[@zebulator1992]

So one question: is it better to put the stuff you have to carry on your bike or on your back?

[@rogthewookiee]

I'd also like to see the numbers compared with the other video they (Simon?) did with a heavy versus light bike.

[@specializd08]

Matt, why don't you USD Speedplay pedals? It hurts when I see you batteling getting on your bike

[@TomEnduro]

Can you do this test again?? I know it has been a while, but interested to know how you would do with my own weight.. My bike weighs 9.1kg without bottle and I weigh 98kg's fully kitted. I'm curious to know two things: 1. How much slower would I really be up that climb (you didn't give enough info to extrapolate) 2. How you would feel going up that climb and if that helped you better understand what us normal people have to deal with when anyone mentions just 7% incline!!

[@GilletNickOrme]

Dan was covered in sweat!...i think not, see this quote from Andy Blow for Bikeradar “We tested Daniel Lloyd a few years back when he was racing for the Cervélo TestTeam because he’d actually gained weight during a Grand Tour. Because the race was hot, the nutritionist gave the riders more salt than normal. Broadly speaking, that’s sensible advice, but Lloyd was a low sweater so retained electrolytes easily. The extra salt just retained more fluid, meaning extra weight.” ........good news for Si though, take all the salt you need mate, no probs

[@michaeljobson178]

I would be interested to see how much of a difference it makes out of the saddle, admittedly I would accept the results are likley to go the same way, however for around the UK many climbs are shorter and can be completed out of the saddle. You spoke to a pro who trains doing 20 minutes out of the saddle, though of course this isnt the norm, with practice this could potentially reduce the 'excuse' of being a heavier rider.

[@sf4529]

Hi guys. that is a great video and quite interesting for weekend bikers like myself. it really worth to see how body weight interferes in performance. Matt, that was a tricky math isn't it? Cheers!

[@Juzupuh]

The question is not only about going up but also coming down. Dan showed that 300g of extra weigh from dropper seat post helped 30s in 4 km.

[@ldmitruk]

Based on my own experience, greatly. I can downhill faster than Wile E. Coyote holding onto an anvil, but getting to the top...

[@asyraafal-taff5240]

My tall 168cm, weight 46kg = BMI 16.3.. when me pedalling at flat road i can maintain (solo) max about 38-40kmh at flat road just about 1km to 2km long,. and my maximum speed when sprint at a flat road just only 56.4kmh. My roadbike is 8.4kg. my question is, did my bodywheight just only can produce this speed? or can get more higher? and the highest i can go is how much speed? i test that when me fresh and full of gas. me is skinny people. 23years old.

[@arthurstreet2811]

@GCN, you need to revisit this. I challenge you to ride up one of these at my weight--115+kg!

[@richjlaw]

That does mean though that 5kg (11lbs) weight loss is equivalent to ~12W average power output difference. That's not a huge amount (although it would add up over a long ride). But worth realising that it's important to maintain your power while losing weight and that an average fitness rider would probably gain power from proper training faster than they'd lose weight.

[@punkandprovocation]

The most telling part of the video is at 5:10 when Dan has to look super hard at the awful display on the PowerTap head unit to see his results. Truly damning.

[@gcgizbourn]

Fun video as always. It's pretty hard to lose weight and increase FTP due to one needing an increased intake of Carb and Kcal'S surely. Which means I guess Lose weight, then when you at around a race weight start looking at FTP. I did some fasting day's and fasting rides and ended up causing damage that then needed a phsyio.

[@tonkuipers]

The way you will lose weight if you train will be loosing fat tissue, not muscle. Fat is just like dead weight, no gain to expect from, no oxygen consumption, nothing wat so ever. So losing it will not diminish your power, it will improve your weight to power ratio. So yes, better loose weight then spending lots of money on a bike thats weighing 2 or 3 kilos less.

[@kingzarse2828]

The two of you presenting is pure gold

[@D.Eldon_]

Great job guys!

[@Ace6195]

Kinda lost track, but can you guys do a video of how many bikes does each of the presenters have? And maybe also bike everyone has ridden.

[@ianrice1778]

I have a diamondback hanjo metro flatbar road bike with racing slicks and shimano hydrolic disk breaks. I'm digging the road bikes cuz of the speed and ride on rails feel. What would be a decent road bike that wouldn't break the bank?

[@242tdryan]

what about using these bikes versus other bikes that way 2 or 3 kilo more? like riding an entry level bike like a Trek 1.2 versus an emonda slr 8. to compare if weight lost from body or bike has an more or less affect

[@AR1G3]

Power to weight ratio. In real life, when you drop 5kg you will also lose some power, so you will need specific training to offset this effect.

[@AR1G3]

@Randy Barat The weight loss is never only fat, you always lose some muscle.

[@jamesmcguckin6288]

It’s power to weight ratio that’s important in my opinion. You can be heavy and weak or heavy and strong. There’s no magic formula. All Depends on your stamina. It’s a conundrum.

[@petercraig6990]

The extra weight should have been placed at the chest and belly. I'm one of these guys going jojo between fit and overweight and beside the extra weight, the belly fat hinder your legs to move properly and it also takes away space inside your body reducing the lungs to expand freely when breathing heavy. That said a rucksack is much easier than a real overweight. I also did this experiment during one of my fit periods and I would say on a height of 180cm the difference between 80kg and 90kg bodyweight is 15-20% on a 1km climb. The difference if 80kg bodyweight and then an extra 10kg rucksack is only about 10%. Thanks for a good video, very professional packaging.

[@wesw6787]

Which power measure do you guys look the most at to keep a steady power output? 3s power AVG, 10s power AVG?