Affordable XC Lightness?!

The Northern Monkey

I was just wondering... browsing a few online shops (as you do - but this can be quite dangerous for me ) what parts are out there that are light, but not overpriced.

I'm talking more XC parts here... bars, stems, wheels, crank/BB etc etc.... how little would you be able spend to get an xc bike as light as possible, within reason..... ie VFM 'v' lightweight parts.


It got me thinking anyways.

Views?

Parts that you'd buy?

What weight would you aim for without breaking the bank?

B

edit: just so this isn't seen as a weight weenies thread... It was just a thought for the people out there that have a nice bike already, but may want to upgrade instead o forking out for a new bike..... surely everyone likes an upgrade with bragging rights that it is lighter that what it replaced

lawman

id buy a single speed hardtail like a on-one, put some rebas on, slx cranks, hope wheels and some formula brakes and have sweet ride for about a grand. why doesnt every one do this????

Naveed

I'm not really into buying lightweight kit. But I did buy an XTR cassette and some rotor ti bolts. An XTR cassette is strong but so light that you won't believe the weight it drops of your rear wheel.

After that I got a Thomson stem and seatpost - strong durable and light

Anonymous

i think affordable and lightweight are mutually exclusive.

The Northern Monkey

sheepsteeth wrote:

i think affordable and lightweight are mutually exclusive.

Well that's the idea of the thread!! How light could you go without breaking the bank!!

RealMan

Unless you already weigh <11 stone, its the rider who needs to lose weight.

Then, XT is good value and not too heavy. Heaviest bits would be fork, wheels, frame, so if youre starting from scratch, get light ones and you wont go too wrong. Inbred frames are light and cheap, and pretty strong.

Although to be honest I once had a rockhopper which Id got mavic wheels for (hope pro IIs), and put some conti MKs on, ran them tubeless, and xc raced it. Handled well, was pretty dam light, and very good ride. See pic below..




If youre >11 stone, and you buy some super light xc race bike, then

1. you look stupid
2. it will probably break. light usually means not as strong as well.

Plus, dieting is cheaper. You may even make some money.

Anonymous

not very is my prediction.

a couple of recent examples are

the exotic cabon post a few guys bought, thats very light for very little money

smica stuff tends to be class leading in weight and value terms

welgo mg1 pedals, as light as flat pedals get yet top spec and cheap like the budgie

The Northern Monkey

RealMan wrote:

Unless you already weigh <11 stone, its the rider who needs to lose weight

erm... Right. Most pointless thin to be said in a while.

RealMan

Theres a reason jockys arent fat. No reason having the fastest horse if youre going to slow it down with your belly.

Go on any user submitted review site and you will find hundreds of reviews from fatties who broke their super light bike component and are complaining about it "not being strong enough"

The Northern Monkey

RealMan wrote:

Theres a reason jockys arent fat. No reason having the fastest horse if youre going to slow it down with your belly.

Go on any user submitted review site and you will find hundreds of reviews from fatties who broke their super light bike component and are complaining about it "not being strong enough"

did i mention "super light". your not going to get uber light parts for little cash, so that information is irrelevant. THINK before you type.....

RealMan

Yes you can.

Shave quite a bit of rotating weight off any wheels by going revs instead of comps, and thats only like £5 more. But if youre a fattie, they WILL break.

You can get super light carbon bars and seatposts new for £40-50 which is cheap.

Super light tyres arent any more expensive then normal ones, but may not withstand the weight of a bigger rider and pinch flat a lot due to thinner, lighter sidewalls.

Most lighter rims are cheaper then heavier, stronger rims - compare xm819s to xc717s, until you start going into pro race light.

Its fairly easy to get cheap, light, carbon frames off the internet, but again, not a good idea if youre overweight.

Surf-Matt

RealMan wrote:

Theres a reason jockys arent fat. No reason having the fastest horse if youre going to slow it down with your belly.

Go on any user submitted review site and you will find hundreds of reviews from fatties who broke their super light bike component and are complaining about it "not being strong enough"

Yes but jockeys are natural midgets.

I'm over 11 stone and 5'8" - near 12 stone in fact. I think you need to be a bit careful with your sweeping statements. I recently won an off road triathlon, rarely get below 10th in 150+ person 10k trail races (best was 5th out of 700) and have less than 10% bodyfat. As do MANY others. It's called "muscle" and it comes in handy. Get a jockey to try a triathlon and he'd snap in half.

Cheap lightness - My BBB carbon bar was only £40! I'm also astonished at how light our new £800 road bike is!

RealMan

Surf-Matt wrote:

Yes but jockeys are natural midgets.

Or maybe midgets are natural jockeys..?



And not saying theres anything wrong with being big and muscly, but carbon and the like is indifferent to whether youre made of muscle or flab, it will still break if youre too heavy.

But maybe <11 stone is asking a bit much, lets say <12? Its around there.

Congrats on the win!

The Northern Monkey

RealMan wrote:

Yes you can.

Shave quite a bit of rotating weight off any wheels by going revs instead of comps, and thats only like £5 more. But if youre a fattie, they WILL break.

You can get super light carbon bars and seatposts new for £40-50 which is cheap.

Super light tyres arent any more expensive then normal ones, but may not withstand the weight of a bigger rider and pinch flat a lot due to thinner, lighter sidewalls.

Most lighter rims are cheaper then heavier, stronger rims - compare xm819s to xc717s, until you start going into pro race light.

Its fairly easy to get cheap, light, carbon frames off the internet, but again, not a good idea if youre overweight.

Carbon bars are strong.... again that has nothing to do with anything with regards to weight... mayb a few out there have weight limits, but only the pure XC bars.

Again you mention "pro race" you've got the wrong end of the stick there mate. This was nothing to do with racing, pro's etc.

So anyone over 11st in your opinion is overweight?

*wants to say something but really shouldn't.... steps away from the thread*

RealMan

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Carbon bars are strong.... again that has nothing to do with anything.

Not compared to proper aluminium ones.

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Again you mention "pro race" you've got the wrong end of the stick there mate. This was nothing to do with racing, pro's etc.

Exactly, which is why I didnt mention them. I was stating that XM819 rims are stronger and heavier, but cost more. XC717s are cheaper and lighter, but weaker. They are both reasonably priced rims though. Of course if you go into pro race stuff, like deep carbon ribs etc, theyre lighter, but more expensive. I was simple proving that you were wrong when you said you cant get light stuff cheap. You can, within reason.

bigbenj_08 wrote:

So anyone over 11st in your opinion is overweight?

No, not at all. Anyone over that should just think twice about using lighter components that may not be up to the job of holding their weight, be it muscle or flab.

The Northern Monkey

and how many carbon bars have you seen snapped?
I personally haven't seen a thread on here... maybe the odd one due to a crash and thats it...

Surf-Matt

I was wary of carbon bars until recently but now have full confidence in them. Alu bars fatigue over time...

nicklouse

bigbenj_08

have you got a weight you want to build to?

and you are not a light lad but lighter than me?

i would say for an HT 11Kg is easy and 12Kg for a fully is also easy and "should" not cost That much.

RealMan

bigbenj_08 wrote:

and how many carbon bars have you seen snapped?

Me personally? Only a few, but I dont happen to ride with anyone who is a heavy rider.

rowlers

bigbenj_08 wrote:

RealMan wrote:

Unless you already weigh <11 stone, its the rider who needs to lose weight

erm... Right. Most pointless thin to be said in a while.

agreed

Surf-Matt wrote:

I'm over 11 stone and 5'8" - near 12 stone in fact. I think you need to be a bit careful with your sweeping statements. I recently won an off road triathlon, rarely get below 10th in 150+ person 10k trail races (best was 5th out of 700) and have less than 10% bodyfat. As do MANY others. It's called "muscle" and it comes in handy. Get a jockey to try a triathlon and he'd snap in half.

also agreed

Eranu

Feck me I best sell my bike now..I weigh 17.5 stone have XC717 Rims and Carbon Bars! I've not managed to break either yet...

Anonymous

well, i ride on carbon bars and am over 19 stone, never had a problem, same with circa 1600g wheelsets, no worries.

that said, each of these things are pretty expensive.

RealMan

I never actually said anything wrong with carbon bars and XC717s. Only said that they were weaker then others.

Just was saying that they are light and cheap, because someone was saying you couldnt get light and cheap.

You can get light and cheap. You just cant get light cheap and strong often enough.

Main things to avoid for bigger people are things like revs, certain carbon frames etc.


And I still stand by the fact that if youre overweight, there is no point spending money on making your bike a few grams lighter, when it will do you, your health, and your wallet much better to just go on a diet.

ride_whenever

I'm building up a light singlespeed, my on-one inbred.

It has currently cost me a bit under £500 and weighs in around the 24lbs mark. Even with 700mm wide bars!

I've jsut purchased a new front brake though with is going to push the price up a bit then some nice wheels. The final spec is going to be something along the lines of (all in white possibly powdercoated):

On-one inbred frame
SID team
white dt xr 4.2d
halo spin doctor front
superdrive rear
fsa headset
spank lounge bars
spank stem
spank grips
avid elixir cr carbon front brake (possibly rear too if i get some mounts welded on)
either dt comps or sapim cx-ray spokes (silver as the halo white spokes are all plain guage)
white post, not decided yet
charge spoon
rampage tyres
white goodridge hose
white seatclamp from somewhere
white shadow consipiracy 1/2 link chain
ta chrome chainring
powdercoat truvative stylo cranks
white e.13
white mg-1

RealMan

how on earth did you get all that under £500?

ride_whenever

Sorry, hang on i'll mark the bits that are still to be bought with asterisk

On-one inbred frame
SID team
*white dt xr 4.2d
*halo spin doctor front
*superdrive rear
fsa headset
spank lounge bars
spank stem
spank grips
*avid elixir cr carbon front brake (possibly rear too if i get some mounts welded on)
*either dt comps or sapim cx-ray spokes (silver as the halo white spokes are all plain guage)
*white post, not decided yet
*charge spoon
rampage tyres
*white goodridge hose
*white seatclamp from somewhere
*white shadow consipiracy 1/2 link chain
*ta chrome chainring
powdercoat truvative stylo cranks
*white e.13
*white mg-1

At the moment it has older bits on and cost me £500

RealMan

Ahh ok then. Still, how much did you pay for the frame and the fork? Frame about £180, fork £250-300?

ride_whenever

Bought the inbred with rigids, wheels and v-brakes second hand for a smidge over 200, payed about 230 for the sids

thekickingmule

RealMan wrote:

And I still stand by the fact that if youre overweight, there is no point spending money on making your bike a few grams lighter, when it will do you, your health, and your wallet much better to just go on a diet.

But isn't carbon meant to be stronger than aluminium? Yes I know that once it's cracked it's offcially condemned, but it takes a bitch of a crash to brake it. These guys may help explain

ride_whenever

On the weight issue, if i ride my inbred @ 24lbs it is a lot easier than my 456 @ 27lbs.


Yes, I need to lose weight, but equally a lighter bike is still faster/easier (delete as appropriate)

chorscroft

Shamelessly stolen from Supersonic. :twisted:

supersonic wrote:

This months budget bike build!

A bit different this time - concentrating on a lightweight racy machine, with a change to SRAM drivetrain and a view to upgrading.

Frame: Viper Scandium - £220 (1410g)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=14958

Forks: Exotic Carbon - £100 (760g)
http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=2&c=43&p=196&

Headset: Token ZeroStack - £13 (95g)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38692

Wheels: Cypress XC - £85 (1934g)
http://www.woollyhatshop.com/view_product.php?id=1337

Chainset: Shimano M543 - £60 (est 900g)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=33513

Cassette/chain: SRAM PG970/PC971 - £37 (600g)
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=123

Shifters: SRAM X5 Twist - £25 (207g)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=35033

Rear mech: X5 - £24 (290g)
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/sram-x5- ... 17056.html

Front mech: SRAM, £11 (150g)
http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/arti ... -2009.html

Brakes: Hayes El Camino - £99 (840g, pair)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=28848

Tyres: Conti SpeedKing folders - £35 (1020g, pair)
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/continen ... 98206.html

Stem: Kooka Race 100mm - £20 (115g)
http://www.dirtyjobikes.co.uk/Parts/Ste ... _Race_Stem

Bars: PowerPlay Riser - £11 (240g)
http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/arti ... -25.4.html

Seatpost: Smica Pro 27.2 - £25 (230g)
http://www.sbrsports.com/1011/898-463419

Saddle: SDG FLY RL - £20 (250g?)
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/bicycle-s ... y-r-l.html

Grips: Nitrile - £10 (20g!)
http://www.poshbikes.com/product.php?id=256

Pedals: Shimano SPD520 - £19 (380g)
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp? ... rc=froogle

Tubes: Conti Light - £10 (250g, pair)
http://www.highonbikes.com/continental- ... rtube.html

That little lot comes to £824 and weighs 9691g or 21.3lbs.

Need to add a few quid and weight for cables, headset cap, rim strips etc but not too shabby for a self build!

Now if you went singlespeed and stuck on a decent set of V brakes you could probably get it in under 20lbs and for around £700.

You could also loose a fair chunk of weight with the supersonic speedkings, flyweight innertubes (or ghetto tubeless) and perhaps some lighter pedals.

This is how I would build a light XC bike on a budget.