Your bike's better than Sastre (but maybe not Lance Armstrong's)

• Posted on July 25, 2008 at 12:49 PM
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Tour de France leader, Carlos Sastre, on his Cervello 15-pound road bike

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I've been watching the last few stages of the Tour de France this week. I get to see the last hour or so of each race, which is the best part. I love the dueling and tactics of the climbs and sprints. And the crowds - one day I want to be there to experience it, most likely on the side lines cheering them on.

Of course when I'm watching the race I'm ogling over the racers bikes. These machines are high tech beauties carefully calibrated to be ultra efficient. Most are made from proprietary blends of carbon fibre. But what a lot of people don't realize is that you and I could go out and buy a lighter bike than Carlos Sastre, who is wearing the yellow leaders jersey going into the last stage.

The Tour de France and UCI, the major governing body in international cycling, imposes a minimum weight requirement of a wafer light 6.8 kilograms or about 15 pounds. While most of us can't afford a 15 pound road bike (think $6,000 plus), there are bikes as light as 12 pounds on the market. I've never ridden one, but I hear the handling suffers.

If you're looking to shave some weight off your bike the first place you should work on is your tires. Because they roll constantly, while the rest of your bike is basically static weight, you notice every ounce of spoke, rim, tube and tire exponentially more than the frame and components. An investment that shaves weight here will make a difference on the road or trail.

Any predictions on whether Sastre will be able to hold off speedster Australian Andy Evans tomorrow? I'm betting on Evans nipping him by a few seconds. Should be exciting.