Pacesetter: Grant Petersen 
Bicycling; Emmaus; Nov/Dec 1997; Scott Martin; 

Volume: 
38
Issue: 
11
Start Page: 
112
ISSN: 
00062073
Subject Terms: 
Bicycles
Personal Names: 
Peterson, Grant

Abstract:
Grant Peterson, owner of Rivendell Bicycle Works, discusses the current craze in lightweight
bicycles.

Full Text:
Copyright Rodale Press, Incorporated Nov/Dec 1997

In a cycling scene awash in equipment hype and fads, Grant Petersen champions quiet qualities like
reliability and simplicity. He's gained a small but fiercely loyal following of riders, first as product
manager for industry maverick Bridgestone USA and now as owner of Rivendell Bicycle Works (a
mail-order company for classical bikes and accessories, 510/933-7304; CA). 
BICYCLING once dubbed Petersen a "retro-grouch, "a name he adopted with pride. He even ordered
T-shirts emblazoned with R.O.N.A. (Retro-grouches Of North America.) But Petersen, 43, is no cultist crank railing against any bike that doesn't come with friction shift levers or toeclips and straps. Thoughtful, softspoken and articulate, he's a principled guy who loves bikes and hates to think they're being turned into disposable, trendy toys. As a counterpoint to last months special section on lightweight bikes and equipment, here are his thoughts on the current lightweight craze. 

Being asked to write a brief contrary piece to an issue that more or less encourages you to ride lighter bikes is
almost a setup. I have enough words to get me into trouble but not out of it, and there's the danger I'll be branded as one who actually 9 likes heavy bikes. So, for the record: I like light bikes, but I like them to be robust, too. Below a certain point, they can't be both. For instance, if you take a 38-pound bicycle deep into the heart of the Belgian Congo and let locals ride it, as I am fond of doing once a fortnight, you'll see them having a great time on a 38-pound bike. It was the same for all of us on our first ride on a 38-pounder. We learn to dislike it later, after we know more.  Like the first time we ride a 23-pounder. Then we shun the 38-pounder or relegate it to beater-bike status because we have a new standard. Ironically, we shortly get used to the 23-pounder, and it becomes no more fun to pedal than the 38-pounder was after we'd gotten used to it. 

So we go looking for the same revelation we experienced going from 38 to 23 pounds. But it was easy to strip 15 pounds off the 38-pounder and still end up with a bike that's plenty strong and a lot more zippy. Taking 3 more pounds off a 23-pounder isn't so easy. You've already gotten rid of the cheap, heavy, bad stuff. You'll need to take off some of the good stuff, making a healthy, no-worries bike into something less. That's a 13% weight loss. Could you lose 13% of your weight without risking your health? If the answers "yes," a 23-pound bike isn't the anchor dragging you down. 

Before you start chipping away at your bike and bank account, ask yourself why you're doing it in the first place. If you race and want every actual and psychological advantage you can get, OK. lust keep in mind, though, that the best racers in the world regularly ride bikes in the 21- to 21.5-pound range. Sure, they ride them hard-but they t get them free, they aren't expected to last for years and someone else maintains them. Suppose you just ride hard for fitness and you like to keep track of your PRs. If you do your local lake loop in 1:00:49 on your 23-pounder, andhonestly want to monitor your fitness, it makes sense to keep using the same bike. If you get a 20-pounder and break an hour-even if just barely-the hour barrier would have been bought. If you ride in groups, a few pounds less will never make a speed difference. It's like riding with a wind fairing in a pack. Why? You ride the group's pace, not the fastest you can extract from your body and bike. 

I'm not questioning that light bikes are fun to ride, nor anyone's motives for buying and riding the lightest bike they possibly can. I'm just suggesting that an obsession with light weight is expensive at best, dangerous at worst and can't by itself sustain a long-term interest in bicycles. 

A good bike weighs what it ought to weigh. Get a bike that feels good, get set up on it properly, and make sure you aren't lugging around any cheap heavy parts. And if you want to cut the weight, do it in the places where, if the parts do fail, you'll still be able to finish the ride. 

And never forget the joy of the 38-pounder.