Would I benefit significantly from a lighter bike?

Many say no, doesn’t matter. Because, for example, bikes are a small proportion of your weight.

I say yes, it makes a big difference to my (perceived) performance and enjoyment. but for me, that’s because I’m a light person. I can imagine for a bigger person it’s much less noticeable.

So, how much do you weigh?

If your income is limited, and you're enjoying what you have, I'd spend the money elsewhere, as a) the opportunity cost is significant, and b) sooner or later the new bike will become the old bike.

I'd spend less money on refurbing the old bike if it's feeling a bit tired.

What Kramer said

I prefer a light bike - but it makes little real world difference IMO and I guess your type of riding is similar to mine

Like you, I've been enjoying this new-fangled gravel thing since before it was given an identity. Started on a Kona Sutra and then used my Van Nicholas Amazon for about 12 years. I mean, what's a gravel bike other than a tourer with knobbly tyres?

In Spring, and after much prevarication, I treated myself to a new Cannondale Topstone. It's lighter, turns better, is comfier and, while this wasn't a reason for buying it, just feels faster - I have lots of unintentional PBs on Strava to back that up. I've not been disappointed at all.

Physically no, psychologically maybe. My bikes keep getting heavier but better!

I’ve been thinking about changing my old Croix de Fer for something lighter and have been tempted by the Trig.
As a result, I took the CdF out for a ride, local farm tracks, bridleway and river bank this morning and concluded that for the kind of riding I use it for, it’s perfect. A bit portly but very comfortable and once up to speed, flys along nicely.

For me weight always mattered - especially wheels - a bike over 25lb had no place in my shed!* 🙂 Lardy wheels make the whole bike feel slow.

Does your Swift have rigid or suspension forks? If suspension get some carbon forks - that will shave a few pounds off straight away.

But the easiest way to find out is to try and hire/demo/borrow one for a few hours.

*XC Jey Boy rider though! 🙂

I don't think weight as a whole is that important, however, I try and make weight conscious decision when I buy components.

I know weight makes a massive difference from bike packing, however, I think a couple of pounds is not that noticeable to the standard I'm riding, so at some point, the marginal gains get less and less and the costs aren't worth it.

Rotational mass is probably the most important thing to me, tyres and wheels, cranks and pedals. I spend the money here as they tend to last a long time.

Over the years I've tended to spend less and less on drivetrain. My bike was built as a winter bike with deore gears and it just works and it's cheap so gets replaced earlier rather than me trying to get my monies worth.

Most of the kit in my bike has been on about 5 bikes before this one.

I also think a new frame makes me want to ride the bike more and motivates me to get out when sometimes I just cba.

I'd suggest getting a demo bike and going out riding a familiar trail. See what the strava stats show and how you felt on it.

Also I think vitus bikes have a 30 day, no quibble returns policy at the moment, so if you don't like it, return it and get your money back.

Don't overthink it. If you want a new bike, and you can afford it, buy one. You don't need more of a reason than that really. The opposite is also true, if you don't want a new bike, or can't really afford to do it, then don't.  As a poster has said, weight makes little to no difference really, it's single figure percentages, and as you said 10 minutes faster on a ride that has no prize at the end is pointless.

So, just be a bit Yoda about the thing; do or do not.

I'm still with heart issues PJay; just kicking investigations off again with new consultants who seem think it's likely to be electrical issues, not micro vascular heart disease; time will tell.

Anyway, I decided to make my old hard tail heavier, and spend £600 on a tongsheng motor to mean I can cycle more without causing the ticker undue distress, including getting bits from the shops etc instead of using the car.

Saying that we're currently on holiday and I've brought my first generation ali 105 Topstone and it is nice to be riding a relatively nice light bike for a change. But I'm only doing steady easy sightseeing stuff with my wife so lucky if I'm getting much into z2.

Having said that any new bike I buy (if ever) is going to be an ebike, but hopefully as light and stealthy an ebike as I can afford unless by one miracle my heart issue is fixed. But affordable is quite an issue 🤣

So yeh I'm enjoying riding my lighter bike, but realistically for my own riding I'm needing a heavier ebike to enable me to enjoy getting places I want to explore due to health issues, you may benefit more from that too? Something to muddy the waters anyway...

As above, rotational weight makes or breaks a bike, the rest isn't as important.

No.

You might benefit (slightly) from more up to date geometry (but for gravel, geometry isn't *that* critical).

You might also benefit from better equipment (comfort, ease of operation, spares, shiny new kit syndrome).

If you're short of the cash to buy a *new* bike, refresh the bike you've got.

Just get the bits you either a) need and/or b) can find that are within budget.

(IME Start with wheels and tyres though)

Thanks all.

I'd like a new bike, but who wouldn't? I'm just not sure I'd be blown away by it. My main reasoning is that I could explore a bit further for the same amount of energy, but I also have a [bad] habit of getting stuck riding familiar loops and I'm not sure that benefit would justify the cost.

Sadly I have now skills to speak of, so high speed turning ability an 'flickability' probably aren't things I'd notice.

I do have a carbon bladed fork I've used for the Swift, but it's currently fitted with matching steel forks. I have picked up a pair of lighter tyres for when my Terreno TNTs wear out (Continental Terra Hardpack, which should be about 150+ grams lighter per tyre).

I guess that there's no rush. I got excited by the half-price Trig (steel and looks very nice) but I guess there'll always be bargains around when I decide.

For reference, this is my current bike.

[img] https://onedrive.live.com/embed?resid=6ADCDA47576A022A%2117278&authkey=!AHS8_KiwkBRAC7E [/img]

It's still pretty nippy and allows me to trundle up rough droves, bridleways and such like.

@longdog hope you get you heart issues addressed, mine's been reasonably well behaved for a few years now!

The trouble with a new bike is that it’s only new once. In reality I find the best thing about a new bike is the fact it’s a shiney new toy, rather than because it’s a bit lighter or faster than the one it replaced

so unless you are racing, weight or aero is pointless. Your new bike will just be ‘another bike’ 6 weeks after you’ve bought it

That all said, if you have the cash a nice set of wheels will make the most difference to the ride of a bike

I'd try and find a shop where you can go and try one for an hour or two. If it gives you a real buzz, maybe a new bike is what you need. If it is all a bit 'meh', spend the money elsewhere

I was riding a fixed Cinelli Tutto (steel Fram and forks) with 38c gravel tyres and no light components at almost 9kg. I am now riding a fixed carbon frameset bike on 25c road tyres with some light components that weighs 5.7kg. You said you didn't care about speed but any difference in speed is marginal and probably more the tyres than anything.

However, I much prefer the 5.7kg bike just because it feels nicer to ride. I am fairly light at 66kg and when standing and climbing the bike just feels great.

Could you not spend the money going somewhere nice with the current bike?

TBH so much of it is personal preference. Some people just don't care. I love a lightweight bike, I'm quite light myself so it always feels like I'm more in control, more able to tell the bike what to do. On the road that mostly amounts to ease of changing speed, for me- it's not the total speed, it's that ability to kick it and just go whoooooosh.

But even I have to admit I don't need it and I shouldn't spend the money I spend on it.

Sometimes the things that add weight can slow you down for other reasons. Heavier MTBs, for a given quality, are often stronger because they are designed for more hardcore descending. This means bigger tyres which have more rolling resistance, and you may end up with a more upright and less aero position, and perhaps also less efficient for pedalling.

But not always. I hired an entry level road bike once that was well set up and fit me well, I rode on undulating terrain so no big hills. It was over 12kg vs about 8kg for my bike at the time.  It took significantly linger to get up to speed but once there it was no different to my bike.

That’s a very nice bike and I especially with the history both of you have together, in my opinion you may be disappointed with a new 1.5 - 2k bike. I’m not sure bikes at that price point are any better than 800 to 1k bikes of 10 years ago, especially steel ones.

Do you ride clipless at all?    If that was mine, I’d put a nice pair of  Candy 2s on it and buy some carbon soled lightweight gravel shoes. I think that would really increase the efficiency.

I'd stick with the bike, it looks lovely and has history, but would pop the carbon forks on and have a good look at wheels.  Are they tubeless at the moment? That seems to make a decent difference to speed and comfort i.m.o. and also look at lighter wheels for the same reason.  Look like 29" qr wheels, so I bet there are some real bargains to be had there (possibly 2nd hand?) with some hunting and patience.

I have an alloy Cannondale road bike-11kg.

I thought a lighter bike would make a big difference, so bought a carbon Cannondale road bike-8kg.

I ride to my in-laws a few times a year which is 130miles.

The major difference between the two is the lighter one takes 30c tires which are significantly more comfy.

Short or long there's not much difference.

The 10 times I've been to my in-laws are all similar times, one time was windy. The difference is how much I've trained for the bigger ride. Not much training and it's very very hard. Lots of training and it's very hard.

I'm tall, I'm 94kg, I'm an infrequent rodie. A 7kg or 6kg bike would be exotic, (fragile) and expensive.

So that's weight saving for me. 30% lighter bike makes very little difference. If I want to get faster, I just need to ride my bike more. £££ is not going to make me faster.

New bike= excited to ride= more rides=fitter=faster.

If that's you if go for it

Go shiny instead writes a titanium fan. A bit lighter and similar ride. My cross bike is 8 kilos and feels light when I ride it. Weight within reason won’t make much difference. Pride of ownership might be a bigger effect.

Dunno whether this helps or not, but I have a low-spec alloy Kona Jake which just feels "dead" and is, by far, the most uncomfortable bike I've ever had, so I rarely ride it. It seems to have zero compliance in the frame, fork or wheels and I'm pretty certain it's not just because it was "cheap".
So, as others have said, test ride a few other bikes and see how they feel and don't just assess a bike by its cost or its on-paper geometry or spec.

I bought myself a new hardtail this year, first new mountain bike for about 15 years, and can confirm that this...

New bike= excited to ride= more rides=fitter=faster.

...is very true!

It's not just the motivational part though.

New one is about a kilo lighter which (I think) is noticeable but that's only a small part of it. Every bit of the bike, geometry and components, is noticeably better performing and better designed. Partly because my reference point is an 15 year old fairly worn out bike (coincidentally a Swift not unlike yours!)

Anyway I have ridden more this summer than the past god-knows-how-long. 6 months in and the new bike feeling hasn't worn off.

the bike looks great and I cannot see what benefits you would get from a new one to be honest , what about some new parts and a full service ? Only other option would be maybe a light wheel set  eg Swiss dt 240/350 hubs on carbon rims perhaps ?

To rephrase the question:

"would I benefit from a significantly lighter bike?"

I'd say yes, but less so your wallet!

There is a significant difference between gravel and MTB though, due to riding position. But you may not get such low gearing on a gravel bike and make sure you have enough rubber for your trails.

Thanks again 👍

Yes it's set up tubeless, it was a bit of a faff but I'd not go back to tubes. I've never used clipless pedals, although I have considered it, but I seem to get on alright with flats.

I appreciate that a significantly lighter bike will probably make more of a difference over one that's simply lighter, but when I was looking at gravel bikes a while back, those in my price range would save around 5-6lbs (the Vagabond & steel frame/fork options weighed virtually the same as my Swift).

Maybe I've try out those lighter tyres. My wheels are Hope XC (whatever was current in 2017), so Pro 4 hubs (QR) and XC rims (quite narrow 19.5 internal). I gather that they are a bit heavy for what they are; perhaps I'll keep an eye on the classifieds.

Maybe I'll tart up the Swift a bit.

Thanks again.

Spend the money on a lightweight set of wheels and tyres. Will have the biggest effect on how the bike rides.

A carbon fork would save about 1kg over a steel one. That could be a total of 2kg weight saving over your current build.

You could save about another 0.5kg changing your seatpost and bars to carbon and fitting a lightweight saddle.

Agree that building up a new bike would be fun, but why not just pimp what you already have.

Crickey, carbon wheels aren't cheap are they? The Hunt ones are well over a grand (that's new bike territory). I can't build wheels, so even if I bought some rims I'd be paying for new spokes and a build. The Hope XCs will probably have to do for now.

I do keep looking at the Trig frame/fork, it's quite a steal. It's 142x12 and the XC wheels came with end caps to convert to this. Perhaps I could build it up flat bar and transfer most of my kit across, but I think that that would be a compromise, lots of work and possibly not result in anything massively different.

I think I'll tinker with what I have for now.

The Hope XCs will probably have to do for now.

Which is probably a good idea as Hope hubs are good and you say they have XC rims on them so guessing the rims are fairly light without knowing what the rim is.

People often say get lighter wheels but what they should say is light rims/spokes as the weight of the hub won't make a bike feel any different.  If your rims are for example 450g you are not going to save a whole lot going to another rim.

I am fairly good at getting a light bike on a budget and the key is finding the components that are causing the most weight where lighter options are not overly expensive.

I would not swap a 450g rim for say a 400g rim but I would swap crank arms which are typically heavy to some SRAM Red carbon which are very light at 400g yet can be had for just over £100 second hand.

Personally, I'd treat the bike to some upgrades. Get a new lighter set of wheels with faster rolling tyres - so you can swap and change. If it's looking tatty (doesn't look it) then a repaint and new stickers. New cables etc if needed. Did this 12 months ago with a 90's MTB that I was using for a off road commute - it's heavy, but carries a lot of luggage. Stripped down, it's not much slower than the CX bike off road (canal/bridleways) - it can smash through stuff a bit easier than the CX. On road it's slower than the CX.

It's also got two sets of wheels now, summer lighter ones (hand built on period XT hubs) with semi slick tyres, then a cheaper off the peg winter set of wheels with studs.

I think you will notice a lighter bike ... but probably not for very long, as you will get used to it, and that will become the norm!

I replaced my budget spec aluminium gravel bike 5 years ago with a 'slightly less budget' Ti gravel bike. For the first couple of months, I got loads of Strava PRs locally. And then again, a year later, with new lighter wheels and tubeless tyres.

But, 4 years on, I no longer feel the weight advantage over the bike that preceded it. (Increasing age may also have something to do with it!)

Another vote for some upgrades. Most current gravel bikes will have similar geometry to your swift, and a steel gravel bike at the budget end isn't going to be much lighter - so then the choice is just whether you prefer flat bars or drops?

I think I'd get some lighter rims (or complete wheels) and light tyres, carbon seat post and bars, and perhaps some carbon forks. Swifts just look lovely, I have looked for a large used one for years, ended up with a Cotic Cascade.

Sounds like your wife wants you to treat yourself, after a couple of shit years, and I agree with her.

I'd also agree that the weight won't make much difference to your overall range - the heaviest part is you and 2kg off a bike won't do much there!

So I'd prioritise fun. Test ride a bunch of bikes and see what jumps out at you. And if you do think that building up a frame would all be part of the fun, then perhaps that's the best option, and will bring you a few contented hours of fettling in the garage before you even get outside.

But do treat yourself, if you can afford to. It's important!

It's a Singular Swift. Of course you shouldn't sell it!

Sell it? You need to take it out the back and shoot it. Two heart attacks and a wipeout, the bloody thing is a jinx!

For the new bike, you’ll want to replicate that 22-36 gear, but a 1x group with 30 or 32 chainring and an 11-50 does that for you. Actually, with a much lighter bike, you won’t need quite the range, maybe. I’ve been riding an anvil of overbuilt Fargo for more than a decade, and last month went for a half price Ridley (Freeranger carbonda clone bike). Dropping a third of the weight in one go is quite impressive, and I can ride faster (I’m not that bothered), further in the same time, and come home less fatigued than on the Fargo. Actually it came with low spec wheels and tyres and Ive already saved weight by swapping tyres, and I an tempted to swap wheelset to go from 2000g to about 1500g. Go have a couple of test rides, or shout up on here to go for a ride with someone here and borrow their bike. Ridley Freeranger here in Size L when you’re ready, South Yorkshire.

I've prevaricated for over a week but, with my Wife's encouragement, finally went for one of the half price Trig frames today.

I'm in no rush to build it up and intend going for similarly discounted kit as and when it appears (Black Friday beckons). In the meantime a set of lighter tyres on the Swift have made quite a difference.

I've end caps that would allow the Hope XCs to be used on the Trig, so I suppose that I could build it up flatbar and swap everything across from the Swift, but it probably needs to be a proper drop bar gravel bike.

My Hope XC tech wheels with Pro4s are about 1.8kg if that helps at all

I use them on my gravel bike as they are unfashionably narrow at 19.5mm internal and not too heavy. You could run lighter narrower or lighter tyres but yours are pretty skinny already.

The last steel forks I weighed (Bombtrack ones) were over 1.6kg and I was eyeing up carbon ones at about 1kg lighter before I sold the bike. My Fox 32s were only about 250g lighter than the steel forks!

It’s a good looking bike but 29lbs does sound heavy. Maybe all the weight is in the bar ends??

If you want some cheap and light forks I got some carbon gravel forks from alp kit Hathrersage's bargain bin.

They were £40, I think, and 1kg lighter than the steel forks I was running.

They were a tapered steerer, disk only but not bolt through- unpopular mix and I think they had been there a while