Weight and Cycling:
The Relationship Between Total Weight and Climbing Speed?
So it's pretty common knowledge that the less you weigh, the easier it is to climb hills on your bicycle. The only problem, is that athletes rarely know how much weight is appropriate. As a coach, I am often asked, how much should I weigh? This is really a more complex issue than most people realize. It involves a series of body fat tests, power tests, nutrition alteration, and body weight manipulation. All of this is done over a course of time to find the optimal balance of power and weight. This is referred to as your optimal power to weight ratio.
The bike often plays a key roll in climbing efficiency, but body weight is the real player. Many athletes will spend thousands of dollars to shave a few grams off of their bike, but continue to over eat creating excess baggage on the bike course.
Working with a coach can help simplify and streamline this process for you. In order to determine your ideal power to weight ratio, speak with your coach. In the meantime, click on the link below. This physics calculator will help you understand how weight could affect your climbing ability given a set of parameters.
As an example: A bike and rider weighing 75 kilograms producing 270 watts over a 5k climb at 5%, could save almost 16 seconds by losing 2 kilograms. This means by losing 4.4 pounds, this rider could be 94 meters ahead of his older and heavier self. That's pretty substantial.
The one big caveat is at some point, less body weight means reduced power. This is why you should consult with your coach to help determine your optimal power to weight ratio.