Which Is REALLY Better - Aero Bike Or A Lightweight Climbing Bike? Aero vs Light. Buyer's Guide.

AERO BIKES:

[superstrada]

Agree with the light weight option. I am a group rider on mostly rolling hill terrain, I recently chose the TREK Emonda: I figure if I'm going light might as well go really light! My aero gains will most likely come from better positioning rather than bike geometry. Thank you Danny, always enjoy your site.

[patricklaureys]

Thanks, that was really helpful and a much better review than all the Specialized-sponsored stuff GCN churns out.

[LRF]

Frankly, unless you compete or in great physical shape. You won't get the most out of an Aero. For the average rider a lightweight bike will suffice.

[louisgreenleaf]

The venge is lighter than the tarmac lol

[bsothefirst]

The flex in a frame doesnt really lead to loss of power, cause when the bike comes back in its origional shape the power of the flex is transferred into power ones again. Meaning it doesnt matter to much that a frame flexes. And flex is most important near the BB, not near the seat tube joint.


Aero gains go up when speed increases. BUT, when you're riding slow you take longer to finish a 60 km ride for example. So instead of saving 10 seconds every minute you save only 7, but for a longer period of time. So relative you have more gains from aerodynamics at a low speed than at a high speed.



Main difference between aero bike and lightweight bike is that an aero bike goes faster, but a lightweight bike wil feel faster.