Will I notice a stiffer lighter frame whilst climbing?

Probably a daft question but I'll ask anyway and is a follow on question from my freewheel knee pain q.

I've done a few rides on the freewheel side and the pain in my knee is just too worrying plus I got sciatica again.

So I've accepted that fixed is just a better way of riding for me and will get easier the fitter I get (and lighter as I'm 3 stones overweight).

I've an All City Nature boy frameset and omniums and some good quality wheels (though due to commuting I have M+'s on), but it's no light weight. It is very stiff though which has allowed me to go from 67" to 74"
Would I notice the difference say between my current set up to something like a Cinelli Mash with some lightweight wheels whilst climbing and be faster. Or is it just emporer's clothing this lighter stiffer thing?

Lighter wheels would be more noticeable than a lighter frame, but (as I'm sure you already know) the extra three stones you are carrying dwarf any weight-savings you could make with the bike.

Personally I find the difference between 72" and 74" particularly noticeable on hills: try gearing down a little.

I'd also get your knee checked out.

If your knees are fucked, there's all sorts of possible causes - but increasing your gear ratio surely cannot help.

No they're not fucked, just a niggle when on freewheel. No pain at all on fixed, zilch, nada, nothing.

Surely the last thing you want if you have knee pain, is a bike with a single gear. Just gear down on a normal bike.

I increased my ratio as I live in a hilly area and the descents are better on a bigger ratio.

I've been going out with a mate who has gears and loves the hillier hills. I tried freewheel as I felt guilty holding him up on some the delightful descents we have that are literally miles and miles long.

Cheers, like I said, no pain on fixed at all - during or after. I went to only having fixed as I noticed I never got sciatica symptoms like I do occasionally on geared / freewheel.

The wheels I bought off here are phil hubs on mavic rims so pretty light. I think I'll change the tyres over from the very heavy (but bullet proof) M+ to see if it makes a difference, thanks.

You're 3 stone overweight and you hold him up on downhills? How over weight is he? Lol. Can't you get a flip flop wheel? A gear on each side of the hub, so you can keep up on the downhills?
Just an idea

Marathon Plus will kill any ride and trimming rotating mass has the best cost/benefit ratio.

I understand your reasoning behind gearing-up, but surely what you gain downhill you lose uphill?

If your mate has gears and you're fixed, you're never going to be equally matched.

I still think you should get your knee looked at: there is some underlying cause of the pain, which riding fixed doesn't exacerbate, but neither is it going to cure.

Ha! I didn't say I don't hold him up, just not as much and I know that'll lessen as time goes on as my fitness comes back.

Ironically, gearing up has made hills easier for me. I don't know if this is because my previous fixed frames have been bendy (Pearson and pompino) or a combination with the omniums.

I have just bought a 19t of a forum-er. So when it arrives sometime next week I'll give it a bash to see if a 2 tooth makes a difference.

In regards to my mate...he'll have to wait or do round robins.

I was just thinking of n+1 for a longer new commute over Bradford / Keighley way. I like the All City frame but from what I gather on here - lighter nimbler bikes seem fun.

How things change, I was only recently seriously considering a rohloff.

Speedplay pedals and cleats with plenty of float transformed how my knees felt whilst riding!

...lighter nimbler bikes seem fun.

Three stones is about 18.5kg, close to the equivalent of two bikes: how much lighter is a new bike going to be?

Sorry to be a bore, but a new bike isn't the answer.

Ah, but if I have a lighter bike, it'll always be lighter no matter what weight I am.

Therefore a nicer bike at +3 stone should be just as nice an improvement at -3 stone, no?

Or can fatty's not appreciate a nicer ride?

Hell, if you can afford a new bike, go for it. It'll only encourage you to ride more and probably shed a few pounds.
I'd seriously consider a geared road bike though, and some physio to see what's up with your knee. Most frequently it's one of a combination of:

• tight ITB (use a foam roller to help fix)
  
• bad cleat positioning
  
• bad saddle positioning
  But fuck knows, could be all manner of things. But do try to get the problem sorted, it'll only get worse.
  

No because the bike is making less proportional difference as your weight increases. Take it to extremes to make it clearer, ifyou weighed a ton the difference in bike weight compared to total mass would be negligible, if you weighed 1 kg the bike weight would be hugely significant.

You'll notice it, at least I do. How that can make knee pain any better? If you're forking the money for a new bike get something geared until you get your knees sorted

I'd concentrate on losing the 3 stone first. That will make a lot more difference than a lighter bike.

Sure, but with typical bike (and human) weights the proportion of bike to bike+rider weight only changes very slightly as the rider weight changes.

10kg bike, 76kg rider: Bike is 11.6% of bike+rider weight
10kg bike, 92kg rider: Bike is 9.8% of bike+rider weight

~91% (+/- 1%) of the bike+rider weight is still me, even if I lose ~16kg.

New bike is always the answer.

Descending fixed is brutal on the legs. I'd look to a flip flop rear wheel. For climbing. Stiffness will be more noticeable than a few kgs.

Descending fixed is brutal on the legs.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Descending a cat 1 climb on 41:26. Turns my legs to useless sacks of piss. Which is unfortunate. As I descend it before climbing it.

I guess if the hill is shallow and short enough to spin down.

I tend to do rides with long climbs/descents which only require swapping between 48:16 and 41:26 once or twice.

Doing a rolling terrain ride with someone on gears sounds problematic to me.

Out of interest, how come you do this to yourself? Isn't it more... sensible? Practical? To ride a geared bike, rather than flipping a wheel and getting your hands dirty?
Or do you just like channelling pre-war cyclists? Fucking kudos to you for riding a cat1 climb on a fixed though. Hard work.