Poll: Once and For All, How Much Should a Mountain Bike Weigh?
Bikes have changed a lot in the last 5 years. They're undoubtedly better, but also often heavier. So, how much should a bike weigh? And what constitutes being heavy, and what is considered lightweight? Well, it's time we all decided and finally drew a line in the sand which can act as a yardstick in the future.
This isn't How much does your bike weigh? or How little could a bike weigh? but rather how much should a new, middle-of-the-road and off the shelf bike tip the scales at in 2021?
I've divided this into four sections, each with its own brief description. I've even included my own estimate of what I consider a fair example.
Right then, let's settle this - where does the line lie between light and heavy? How much should a bike weigh?
![photo]()
Enduro
A bike that is meant to be ridden hard. This bike should be able to ride an EWS course one day and then a 5,000 ft day of climbing the next. I'm thinking thick tires, big brakes and a burly build. My estimate: 35lb / 15.9kg.
![photo]()
Downhill
A bike that is never intended to go uphill, but does that mean that weight doesn't matter? Inserts, downhill tires and maybe even a coil shock. My estimate: 37lb / 16.8kg.
![Tom Richards photo]()
Trail
Maybe the hardest idea to nail down. For this experiment, a trail bike is 140mm of travel with Exo+ style tires and is designed to be ridden hard, if only not quite as hard as an enduro bike. My estimate: 32lb / 14.5kg.
![photo]()
XC
Gone are the days of 26" hardtails, so how much should an XC race bike weigh today? 29" wheels are almost universal and dropper posts aren't uncommon. My estimate: 24lb / 10.9kg
This isn't How much does your bike weigh? or How little could a bike weigh? but rather how much should a new, middle-of-the-road and off the shelf bike tip the scales at in 2021?
I've divided this into four sections, each with its own brief description. I've even included my own estimate of what I consider a fair example.
Right then, let's settle this - where does the line lie between light and heavy? How much should a bike weigh?
Andréane Lanthier Nadeau's coil-sprung race bike.
Enduro
A bike that is meant to be ridden hard. This bike should be able to ride an EWS course one day and then a 5,000 ft day of climbing the next. I'm thinking thick tires, big brakes and a burly build. My estimate: 35lb / 15.9kg.
How much should an enduro bike weigh?
Rounded to one decimal place.
Greg Minnaar's V10 with all the trimmings.
Downhill
A bike that is never intended to go uphill, but does that mean that weight doesn't matter? Inserts, downhill tires and maybe even a coil shock. My estimate: 37lb / 16.8kg.
How much should a downhill bike weigh?
Rounded to one decimal place.
I think this 14.5kg Salsa Blackthorn is a good example of how I would build a trail bike.
Trail
Maybe the hardest idea to nail down. For this experiment, a trail bike is 140mm of travel with Exo+ style tires and is designed to be ridden hard, if only not quite as hard as an enduro bike. My estimate: 32lb / 14.5kg.
How much should a trail bike weigh?
Rounded to one decimal place.
Jofre Cullell's Olympic race bike, including dropper post.
XC
Gone are the days of 26" hardtails, so how much should an XC race bike weigh today? 29" wheels are almost universal and dropper posts aren't uncommon. My estimate: 24lb / 10.9kg
How much should a XC bike weigh?
Rounded to one decimal place.
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WWDD?
I have my opinion, but it's a genuine question
Heavy doesn't equal strong, but there's definitely a correlation.
The really question is. With all the talk of lighter and stronger. Why does almost every trail bike frame on the market today weigh more than the first aluminum full suspension Trail bike frame I bought over 20 years ago? It was a Foes FXR with a Ti Curnutt coil spring shock. 27.54 pounds. In case you cared. Bikes have gotten FAT! Thanks to bikes I still weigh the same as I did in high school.
I jest. Look I understand your point but I think actually what I'm saying still stands. Generally it is possible to ride a 25lb trail bike on most trails without issue and if it's that serious a trail then it probably isn't for a "trail bike".
Fixed it
I won’t own an ebike until I’m super duper old, but one definitely cycles their legs, while riding on two wheels, on an ebike, so pedantically, it’s a bicycle.
I’m 6’3 and my XL enduro bike weighing 33 pounds is pretty damn good .
That same weight on a medium is not so good.
As a taller rider you also have a longer dropper, longer cranks, maybe wider tyres, wider bars, larger rotors and so on. While these parts don't weigh that much more on their own they eventually add up. I guess a more realistic difference between a S and XL bike is about 800g to 1000g
Do 120 lb DH racers need DH carcass tires?
Does a 140 lb Enduro racer need a Zeb or 38 fork, or would a Pike or 34 be the best fork for them and plenty stiff. If that 140lb rider needs a Zeb, what should a 225lb person run on their Enduro bike?
The Fox 38 is sexy, the Fox 34 is seen as boring and soft. 35mm handlebars look cool, we all want what looks cool. Fat tubes. Moar travel! Moar diameter! Moar carbon!
Sometimes when I watch women's DH it just looks like some of the smaller ladies are getting just tossed around and getting hung up, in the rough sections, then I wonder how much lighter, if any, their unsprung mass is than what is being run by heavier riders. It does come down to other factors though sometimes, like I don't think most tire manufacturers, make DH rubber compounds and then put them on heavier trail casings.
an·ec·do·talˌ adjective
not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
None of those factors are anecdotal, they do absolutely play into how heavy a bike should be. Like for instance I am quite heavy, but can run EXO casing tires with a light insert in the rear only, because I'm generally pretty smooth, and the terrain were I live isn't super abusive to tires. So of course my ideal weights for a trail bike would differ from others. Nobody is making any decisions for the market with these polls, so no interviews are needed through the poll.
If someone is building a bike from parts, the interview you are talking about, should definitely take place, since not doing so would result in the rider not having the best bike for their money.
Then if your tall AND a bigger rider you have component spec issues. Granted its a whole world of difference nowadays. But back in the day you had to either constantly replace shit breaking on your bike or buy heavier DH spec components for your xc/ trail bike.
Enduro racing was kind of a godsend for big n tall mountain bikers. We finally got parts, wheels, forks that didn't suck at decent prices AND steeper seat tube angles...
Two riders weighing 250lbs do not have the same needs, two riders weighing 170lbs do not have the same needs. There are 170lb riders who can ride Exo casings without issues and 170lb riders who shred DD casings, ditto for 250lb riders. I'm a heavy rider and I'm hard on suspension, but easy on tires. I have friends who are much lighter and ride the same trails... I can't ride a 34 and need a 36, but they can get by on a 34... I can ride Exo's without issues, they'll tear up Exo's and need DD. These factors are the literal definition of anecdotal variables.
If you just wanna argue, there's way more fun shit we can argue about but, in this case, you're wrong so let's just move on.
My main point is that ideal weight of a bike is based off a ton of factors that should, but often don't account for any of these factors. If a 115# person is getting an Enduro bike, they should probably be running lighter everything than I was running on my favorite short travel trail bike, which weighed about 29 lbs, or my current mid travel trail bike which weighs in around 32 lbs.
Heavier riders who ride fast and smash into things will need a stiffer fork, heavier tires / rims, bigger rotors, and tire inserts. Frame weight changes from sm-xl are small compared to the cumulative difference of these other changes.
Since you don't seem to be able to comprehend whole posts and get totally hung up on one word, I have no need to say more to you.
Bro, the only person hung up on one word here is you. Since I said that it wasn't worth considering a bunch of anecdotal variables into the discussion about weight vis a vis frame sizes, you've been running on about how those variables aren't anecdotal. The bottom line is that frame size doesn't drive bike weight significantly and it's a flawed assumption to pretend that every rider on a medium frame needs less heavy duty components than a rider on an XL frame so those variables, anecdotal or otherwise, aren't really a consideration in this conversation. Ultimately, frame size accounts for a couple hundred grams of weight and it's the difference between a 32lb bike and a 35lb bike.
But sure, we can stop now like I said several posts ago.
The real question is, what weight should I weigh to make myself go faster……
Answers:
1- A teenager who’s not yet discovered beer!
2- An early 20’s rider who’s discovered beer but has the metabolism of a teenager.
3- An Early 30’s rider who’s single, living life and somehow fighting off the weight gain.
4- an early 30’s rider who’s in a long term relationship and struggling to fight the weight gain.
5- aged above all the above with a dadbod.
6- dadbod: the only time you get to ride is when you make out you’ve gone to work just to get a ride in.
For Germans I'd refer to Monty Python's Funniest joke in the world sketch.
You could make a super-sturdy unicycle only 15 lbs.
No wait, I'm not a horse.
And it probably had some form of slightly beefed up single ply tires and a wheelset made of recycled crayons. Even just adding a pair of SPD pedals and an enduro worthy (DD, grid gravity, etc...) and a bottle cage for good measure, and thst bike is easily 34 pounds.
Right?
I'm on a '19 Stumpy Evo 29 alloy, DT alloy wheels, air suspension, XO1 drive chain, alloy cranks, and grid gravity 2.6 F&R with Cushcore Pro out back and I'm well past 36 pounds. It's far from guicci spec, but besides general maintenance I never have to touch the thing.
In a lot of cases the only alternatives are looking to increasingly exotic (read: Expensive) materials. Do we really want to pay even more for bikes to save a 1lb of weight?
Light/Strong/Cheap. You only ever get two.
Specialized Enduro - 32 lbs
Yeti SB165 - 32 lbs
Wrong naming I would suggest. There are only tires rated for different terrain and f*ck-ability with that. DONT give a shit about this sharp edge with those buffed tires. Well, get ready do increase your weight by 7lbs, by that alone , ha!.
Why don’t you ask most of the ews field ?
For the non sponsored among us riding Enduro bikes... the risk of a flat is even lower in the majority of cases (exceptions of course for extreme terrain and rider weight), and the weight penalty for DH casings is not worth the extra insurance against flats.
But I suppose it is pretty cool to say "I run DH casings"...
You weigh the same as a bag of quavers;
You don't ride ride any rocky square edged sh#t.
You are the world's most precise rider.
You own a wheel company.
You just haven't seen the light yet.
Another reason to ride DH tire's. Les pressure needed because stiffer sidewalls. Also way more damping.
While I understand your school of thought on lighter casing tires, there's people like me who think the weight IS worth not having to worry about a puncture or slice right where the sidewall meets the tread 12 miles out from your car and having to get covered in sealant trying to fish a tube in there or not have to stop a ride to toss in a dynaplug and top off with co2. Not to mention the usual better and tackier rubber compound and damping qualities of the casing on heavier tires.
I take it you've never ran any sort of insert, and likely never will with that attitude. I'm guessing you figure your bike rides really good, right? Works perfect for you? What if it could work even better and the penalty would be less than $100 out of pocket and maybe the weight of a full water bottle? Add to that it might reduce the amount of flats you get, allow you lower tire pressures for potentially improved grip and ride quality, keep your rim safe, and help cornering stability.
I was once in your shoes running 800 gram tires wondering why people would pay money for a pool noodle. Then I simply tried it. Never looked back. The ride quality and ability to be nearly care free of what I'm riding over or landing on heavily eclipsed the want for a lighter tire so I could be what... 2 minutes faster up a 30 minute climb?
I don't think it's that the companies can't produce stuff like that, it's that there's no market for it. I'm sure most bike engineers could design an ultra light weight and durable enduro worthy frame and likely most companies could manufacture it.
At what cost, though? People flip at the cost of an S-Works Levo and that has a motor and electronics, so why would they go through the effort of design, testing and manufacturing a push bike where the frame alone might cost $6,000 just so a bunch of people on the internet can rip it apart.
Ditto. '21 meta am29..... 39.5 lbs
I suppose if I had more flats, I would be pushed into a heavier casing, but 90% of my riding is on local trails that I know very well. I know where the flat edges are, I know where to land on drops and jumps.
For me, and most riders, the DH casing is overkill. But piece of mind is important too.
I'm going to venture a guess both of the bikes you mentioned are not current, modern geometry machines or they are severely lacking in the wheel department (narrow, stiff, carbon rims) if they have current reach/chainstay lengths.
I don't choose cushcore because I'm a hack who trashes bikes. I've been on the same wheelset for 3 years, the rear has a small flat spot but I'm dent free. 3 years and probably close to 30,000 miles on my Stumpy Evo and I just replaced the pivot bearings by choice. I use them for the ride feel first, added durability second.
I like it how others think that stuff is enough and no-one ever needs more.
All my dudes and other locals ride at least super gravity or DD for our hometrails. If not, they are very light or not familiar with that terrain we got.
With the Super Gravity I really can say I dont have a flat tire anymore.
@pcledrew I did use this combo for long time, I just sized up to 223mm front and rear, also 2,2mm thick.
I wont go down again. Good relive for my finger if my hands got enough.
@Tayrob if you really want a modern Enduro light as possible , get a Tarvo. Made in Germany and cost you around 4k in €. The weight of this Large frame is unreal.
When it comes to bike selection, of course trail and terrain are a major consideration among others… but riding style is 51% of that total equation. Do my local trails demand an Enduro bike? No. I ride the same trails with my Downcountry bike. I could ride them with a Hardtail or even a Downhill bike… I just ride them differently.
The only time it seems truly necessary to know the weight of your bike, is in the parking lot at the trailhead, or the lift line at the park when some jerry asks what your rig weighs…
I guess the point is we’ve kinda passed the era of slimming down bikes to what’s absolutely needed, and we’re now just adding more stuff to make things better. A droppers worth a pound, 1x12 is worth a pound, modern geometry is too and modern tires are probably worth 2lbs honestly, and of course water is worth 1kg/L, what’s the next pound of tech that’s gonna be gamechanging and completely necessary? And how heavy will “the ideal bike weight” be then?
After all this ranting I’ve just concluded that weight doesn’t matter. But it’s fun to point out that bikes are getting heavier, and that’s a good thing
Don't get me wrong, I love modernish geo, droppers, and 29 wheels but 5-10 years ago all these Enduro/AM bikes had Pikes and 95% of people weren't held back by that at all. Just saying that in terms of capability/intended use today's 140-ish mm trail bikes are more similar to the old enduro/AM bikes. Those bikes were all-arounders, not single crown, semi-pedalable DH monster trucks.
I've never had a "light" bike because I ride hard and would rather make it home without walking. My trail bike for a lot of the mid 2000's was a Kona Coiler Supreme with a 66 and DHX5, 2x9, Navegals, and a lot of Hussefelt components. It was a heavy bike at the time, probably around 32lbs? 160mm front and rear. That bike kicked ass but was a big compromise compared to a 160mm bike today.
You can get a super light DH bike, it just comes at a higher cost... heck you can get a 6lb road bike for 45k
30lbs for an enduro won’t happen. You need 27.5/26” wheels, slacker seat tubes( means less dropper post weight/ shorter droppers) wheel bases that are not crazy long, etc…
P.s. My enduro bike is 30lbs, but it’s got older geometry…(HD3).
Then came the reality check. The ultra thin tires it came with tore to bits as soon as I hit chunky trails at high speeds, and the ultra light wheels sounded like they were going to explode, they did not last long.
After putting proper dual ply tires on, and a durable set of wheels, the bike weighed almost 32 pounds.
In a vacuum, you are right. In the real world you are wrong: As the head angle gets slacker the wheel base and travel tend to get longer ( bigger wheels add to this too). As head angle gets steeper, the wheel base and travel tend to go down. Please see my original comment: wheel base is part of geometry…
Longer travel and longer wheel bases almost always mean heavier, since there is more mass and hence more weight.
I am sure there’s an engineer that will tell
My numbers are not correct.
But for reference compare the numbers on my mojo HD3 vs the current Mojo HD 5 : a size large HD 3 has a 67-66.5 head angle and a 1168mm wheel base. An HD 5 has a 64 degree head angle and 1250 mm wheel base( size large).
Frame and shock weight for the hd3 5.9lbs.
Frame and shock weight for the HD 5 is 6.5 lbs.
Tbh the 2010 Enduro looks a lot more like today's Stumpy (Pike, non-reservoir shock, etc). Idk if it's the EWS or more people riding park, but these bikes have morphed from being long travel trail (all-mountain?) bikes into mini-DH bikes.
Today's "trail" bikes look a lot like the "enduro" bikes of a few years ago, both in terms of component selection and weights... if I'm not actually racing enduro then I'm definitely picking the trail bike, but that's just me.
That being said, my SB5.5 is about 30.5 pounds and my Highlander is about 34.5 haha. They can both take a beating
For a mid to high spec priced bike ($7-8k cnd):
DH: ≤36lbs
Enduro: ≤ 32lbs
Trail: ≤29lbs
XC: ≤25lbs
You’re not really comparing two similar bikes. The Ripley LS is designed for up to a 130/14m fork, the spur is designed for a 120 mm fork. Longer travel ,on either end, almost always equals more weight.
Also remember that published weights are almost always weighed without pedals.
Are you running a 120 mm fork on your ripley ls?
XC full suspension: 20-23 lbs
Downcountry: 23-25 lbs
Trail: 25-28 lbs
Enduro: 28-32 lbs
Park: 30-35 lbs
DH: 36-38 lbs
Late 90's freeride: 45+ lbs
seraph's range is pretty much right on par with where my mind was at for DC/Trail/Endur/Dh.
My Enduro with 29" and coils on both ends weight 36lbs. That is with extra beffy 7lbs tires.
Light bikes are great for acceleration and climbing (duh), but deflect more and make suspension setup more finnicky. Data point: my last DH bike (2015 V10cc) handled better built at 38 lbs than it did at 34. Adding weight also cut lap times. Can you go too far? Of course. That's why it's a sweet spot.
The unweighted bike in question weighs 34lbs.
Used lead roofing flashing held on with jubilee clips and gaffer tape.
Not suggesting we all start carrying weights, but things like frame and cranks-especially are advantageous to be heavier, not lighter, for gravity based riding
2021 enduro expert s5, reserve 30 wheels, renthal carbon cockpit, full x01 drivetrain, dhx2 with a vault prog spring, saint brakes+pedals, oneup 210 dropper, maxxis assegai + Minion dhr exo+, cushcore xc in the rear, oneup bash guard. everything else stock. That means a bottom of the line specialized saddle, fox 38 performance elite and other various unremarkable but quality parts. This weights almost 40 lbs without a water bottle or anything in the swatbox.
Am I running anything overly heavy? Is this bike massively overbuilt?
Should i really be striving for 32 pounds?
Cost saving/revenue generating “performance advantage” that actually translates to heavier, flimsy and boring imo. I’ll take the 2017 process over any 29’er so I hope more 27.5 options come back.
The coil shock is the biggest culprit IMO. The saint pedals are also quite heavy. Saddle could be another half pound worth of savings.
Ride the lightest bike that you can trust (and afford) when you're 20 miles from the trailhead in the desert on a hot day. If that scenario gives you pause, put that DD or DH casing tire on the back, or throw that bashguard back on. The only thing slower than a "heavy" bike is waking a couple of hours.
For those that think weight.... I'll just descriminate each bike are
Tires - for me the most important part since it's the only part tha contacts the soil for propeling the bike, brake...corner everything plus the gyro effect.
How much it weight a set of really GOOD tires, that last at least some weekends? I would say around 1kg to 1.3kg... so with liquid and cores, bla...bla, let's assume ~ 3kg
Wheels - 29er, without breaking the bank ~ 2kg
Brakes ~ 1kg
Transmission (cranks,cassete,chain,rd,shifters,cables,bb) ~ 2kg
Cockpit (handlebar/stem/grips/saddle/seatpost) ~ 1kg
Fork ~ 2kg
Resume
Wheels (tires+wheels) ~ 5kg
Brakes ~ 1kg
Transmission ~ 2kg
Cockpit ~ 1kg
Fork ~ 2kg
Total ~ 11kg
Add your frame ~ 3.5 / 4.5
And we've got bikes between 14,5Kg and 15,5kg for trail/enduro
You can go lighter with exotic parts.... or heavier with blurrier parts, but I'd say it's a sort of threshold
Personally i think weight influences performance. But if you are a fat turtle like me... a weighweenie bike is more an hobby than performance
DH bikes typically have minimal cassette and no dropper which equalize them with enduro bikes or even make them lighter; so 15 kg is expected either;
like 15 kg is about sweet spot to handle bike from physical perspective; Imaging lifting 15 kg suitcase
Price too...
How much fun you have riding your bike cannot be quantified by numbers!
F**k numbers!
Maybe in 10 years there is new technology or materials, and we will laugh about the heavy bikes of the 2020's. Or the skill level and trail difficulty and speeds get so much higher that we will laugh about the current flimsy and small 29ers we are having now.
Shock: 0.5lb
Tires: close to 2lb
Wheels: 1lb?
Other things (cockpit, brakes, pedals, saddle) (No bashguard/chain guide/swat tool/etc): 0.5-1lb
And the frame makes up the remaining 2-3 pounds. The new Scott spark is 1870 grams at its lightest: pretty dang impressive.
Though that would mean the smaller folk need more expensive bikes
There’s no easy answers
A 30lb bike with heavy wheelset/tires will be harder to pedal than a 30lb bike with light wheelset/tires.
You’re just right the way you are.
Clearly Outside Mag is involved in PB now; there wasn’t a single nonsense answer.
But it feels like it could shed 2lbs–IE 31lbs would be perfect IMO.
I ride a FS2 myself that I’ve given the dentist treatment to. It’s right at 32 pounds in a size medium, and that’s with carbon bars, XTR hub, XT/XTR 1x11, XTR 2p brakes…
Very heavy baseline for sure.
I mean really, you can't even count to 30??
:P
Pick two.
Bontrager, I think?
*is this my second comment lol*
26"=28.5 pounds
27.5"=30 pounds
29"=32 pounds
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring_
Dh:
Enduro:
Xc:
Xc +2kg =9kg
Trail +2kg=11kg
Enduro + 2kg=13kg
DH +2kg=15kg
But I do pose this thought.... just because it says DH and/or Enduro, etc... doesn't mean they're talking about race bikes. It's basically a term used for a particular segment. Bike style. Suspension travel range. Etc.