The mania for optimisation is firmly anchored in our society. From autonomous driving and cosmetic surgery to the neighbour's groomed front garden. People always want to get the most out of themselves and their environment. On the one hand, this is a good thing, because otherwise we might still be rolling through the countryside on Karl von Drais' running machine from 1817, and the modern mountain bike would forever remain a future scenario. However, the industry's drive for constant improvement has now brought us full-suspension, electronic shifting and ultra-lightweight bikes. Because even this is not enough for some bikers, tuning fans invest huge sums of money to tease out the last little bit of performance from their already sophisticated standard bike. But does the path to better function necessarily lead through the lightest and most expensive components?
Our experiment uses hard facts to clarify whether tuning actually does more than just increase the individual value of a bike in practice. Our test subjects: Three identically built Rocky Mountain Instinct 70 bikes at a new price of 5800 euros each. All bikes weigh 13.37 kilos without pedals. In order to objectively prove the benefits of lightweight construction and functional improvements, we equipped all three bikes with performance measurement pedals from SRM.
- Test candidate one remained otherwise unchanged.
- We gave the second candidate a comparatively light and good rolling Continental tyre combination of Mountain King on the front wheel and X-King on the rear wheel. The upgrade reduced the total weight by 380 grams to 12.99 kilos. Not much, but we hoped that the € 120 investment would primarily reduce rolling resistance.
- We pulled out all the stops on the third bike. The price? Never mind. Function and weight took centre stage. All tuning components had to combine the best of both worlds. The only condition: All parts had to be approved for use on an all-mountain bike like the Instinct.
After lengthy research and delays in delivery, the ultimate tuning object finally arrived in our test cellar. From extremely lightweight carbon wheels and a high-end gear group to insanely expensive, friction-reducing ceramic derailleur pulleys, hardly a single component was left untouched. The result? The Instinct shed a whole 2.29 kilos (11.08 kilos total weight) during our tuning programme. However, the price also shot up by 7201 euros - to an incredible 13,121 euros!
To compare the three candidates, we took to our 2.3-kilometre test track near Munich. To ensure that the subjective riding experience was not the only deciding factor, we stopped the lap times and meticulously recorded the performance data from the SRM sensors. Our three test riders each rode two test laps on all bikes with as constant a performance as possible.
You can read how the three tuning bikes performed on the test track in the article, which you can find as a PDF in the download area below.
You can find this article in BIKE 8/2020. You can read the entire digital edition in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or the print edition in the DK shop reorder - while stocks last:
