We all get tried of the constant bombardment of unproven and unsubstantiated marketing hype. The bicycle industry is flooded with an abundance of lightweight components to reduce the weight of your bicycle. There is also a number of aerodynamic wheels and handlebar available to reduce your aerodynamic drag. Lastly there's the mystical term of bicycle stiffness. It really gets confusing when you're in the market to either improve your current ride or you're looking for some thing new. The following write up will give you insight to the importance of both the aerodynamics, weight and stiffness of the bicycle and its elements based on physics and math not a bunch of marketing hype.

Riding a bicycle can be expressed in a simplified power equation and an energy balance. Understanding the variables in the power equation and the energy equation will help you to make sound purchasing judgments.

The simplified governing equation for the power expended to move the bicycle forward is as follows:

Power = (static resistance +rolling resistance + aerodynamic resistance) * velocity

P = Power

V = Velocity

D = sum of the drag

The variables of the bicycle power equation which can reasonable be optimized are weight, and the coefficient of aerodynamic drag. Your bicycling energy to overcome the aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance determines your speed. Rolling resistance is made up of two components, tire to ground and the wheel bearing resistance. We believe tire to ground rolling resistance isn't a big factor in the equation if one is riding with high quality tires. You need to check the wheel bearing rolling resistance, with a simple spin count test to find the one with the least rolling resistance. Some wheel bearings are better than others.

There is a general understanding in the bicycle industry that it is advantageous to have the lightest bike. Actually, there is more to it than just weight. Bicycle weight is only an issue if all you are doing is hill climbs, like say Mount Evans, Mt. Washington, or any of the major climbs encountered in the Tour De France. Your typical road race will encompass about 20% climbing, circuit races have a short hill every lap and citeriums and track events are flat. We can not escape the physics of the real world.

The bicycle weight is about 10 to 12 % of your total riding weight (or the rider is 90 to 88% of the total riding weight). If you save say 227 grams (1/2 pound) by tricking out your bike you saved about 2.5 % of that 10 to 12%. It's really not that much, but you feel good about it. The static and rolling resistance is about 181 to 227 grams (0.4 to 0.5 pounds) and reducing weight on the bike really doesn't change rolling resistance that much. Unfortunately, if you're not at 10% body fat reducing weight on the bike isn't going to help optimize your energy output.

Weight is a linear function of your energy expenditure and aerodynamic drag is a squared function! A 227 gram (1/2 pound) weight saving on any element of the bicycle isn't a big factor if the energy saved is only a linear function of the weight. The biggest bang for the buck is what you save in aerodynamics because it’s a squared function of speed. Remember when Greg Lemond beat Lauren Figgon in the last time trail of the Tour De France. Here you have two athletes at peak physical performance going head to head on conventional bicycles. One rider used advanced aerodynamics handlebars the other did not.