Shouldn't have weighed my bikes!

silveringsurfer

Damn it. I'm a bit of a closet weight weenie and always on the lookout to lighten up my bikes regardless of what they are designed to do. Last week I bought a set of digital luggage scales and weighed my Scott Genius MC40 '08 and Marin Rock Springs '08 - Now wish I hadn't

The Scott comes out at 29lbs when it is listed at under 28 minus pedals. I've upgraded the stem, handlebars, saddle and cranks to lighter items. I have got 2010 Crud catchers on front, rear and downtube and spd but these can't weigh more than 1 pound surely?

The Marin comes out at 33.5lb when listed at 34lbs without pedals. I have upgraded forks (2010 revs), cranks, bb, handlebars, stem and saddle. The forks alone were more than a pound lighter than the Pikes I removed and the crank/bb over 1/2lb. Pedals are m647's quite lardy at nearly 1.3lb. This is probably about right although heavier than expected.

Were both bikes a pound or more overweight over manufacturers claim from new or are my cheap digital scales rubbish (this said in hope not expectation )?

Why does it bother me so much when I'm happy with the way they ride? :? :roll:
Anyone else had experiences like this?

Chunkers1980

I was pis$ed when my bike came out at 26lb... was hoping for sub 25... The thing to remember is save or add 50 grams in 9 places and that's a pound....

nicklouse

so what size frames did Scott weigh?

Chunkers1980

nicklouse wrote:

so what size frames did Scott weigh?

2.5 inches is my guess.

MacAndCheese

I'm not going to ever weigh mine, I spend a load of time (and money) building the IFT and I think I would be quite annoyed if it came in over 24lbs so I'd rather not know because at the moment all I know is it fells very light and that should be enough!

As for the WolfRidge, I know it was on the heavy when I brought it and I know I've just added a load of weight with the Joplin seatpost and DX SPD pedals (seriously DX SPDs must be made of lead) guessing at least 35-36lbs now but scared to weigh it.
it still just about goes up hills and that's all that matters...

jjojjas

I see where you coming from......but I won't worry too much personally as my gut probably has more impact on my riding than the weight of my bike.
Jas

The Spiderman

Remember the weights manufacturers or magazines quote are less,pedals and any accessories.

That can add up to quite a bit,for example on my bike I typically have a computer 100g,bottle cage,50g,pump bracket 30g,spd pedals 380g,crud catchers 250g=810g total.

That`s a fair chunk of weight.Somewhere between 1.5-2lbs.

You also need to allow for component discrepancy,which may be say +/-5% per component.

If all your parts are say 5% over tolerance that again add up.

For the record,my mtb is 24lbs and my road bike 21lb.

RichMTB

I used to be a total weight weenie, then I saw the light!

My Stumpy hardtail was under 24lbs on smooth trails it went like a scalded cat, on rough trails I couldn't see where i was going!

I then bought an Sworks FSR, it was three pounds heavier but a whole lot faster. I swapped the Talas on the front for a Pike and added another pound and the bike was faster still!

I've now swapped it for a Blur LT which is probably a pound heavier than the FSR with the same kit on it, but it pedals better on the climbs and goes quicker on the downs.

So weight isn't everything

ride_whenever

Fine line to tread between tough and fast.

My 456 is pretty light at around 28 pounds, but the plan is to drop a fair bit more with the carbon frame, some new wheels and the revelation xx forks (or maybe the team ones instead) Hopefully it'll stay burly though, but i do find my fitness a little lacking when i'm going uphill.

ashfanman

You should be pleased that your bikes are heavier than you thought. You now have a handy excuse if your mates beat you to the top of a climb ('yeah, but do you know how much this bloody thing weighs?'), and if you manage to beat them you can feel good about being thatdamnfast despite the bulk.

In fairness, 29lbs is still pretty light for a 150mm trail bike!

supersonic

They always measure the smallest size they have, unless stated. With a thin paint job. And as many bolts as they can take off.

lawman

well my maxlight xc120 is around 28lbs in current trim, with heavy rs toras and big intense s4 2.25 tyres, which considering the frame is only 3.6lbs is bitterly disappointing. however idid weight the forks, which are 318 u-turns and claimed wait is 4.5lbs, on my highly accurate scales they were 5.2 :shock: did RS why them with out a steerer or something??? :roll:

supersonic

The Coil Uturn was never that light! The lightest ever verison was the 2006-2007 which was 4.9lbs with alu steerer.

Some versions are... 5.2lbs ;-)

Northwind

My Soul's just over 23lbs

(when I fit the carbon forks and remove the gravity dropper )

supersonic

Weight dropper lol.

Dunnio what my Zaskar Carbon is, but with those XTR wheels lighter than it was!

Johnny Napalm

Bikes certainly ain't light on the pocket...that's for sure!

silveringsurfer

I do like the "it's my bike that's fat not me" excuse for pathetic climbing. Sadly it just means that now both the bike AND me are fat :oops:

The accessory thing is a fair point and I'm going to have to strip them off and weigh again (yes I know that they are there normally so should be included in the weight)

Nearly bought a gravity dropper last week till I saw the weight - eek!

It's a fair point about the manufacturers weighing the smallest frame etc but we then buy bikes based on that measurement and they are also the weights quoted in the tests (Anyone from WMB comment?) so all get suckered into buying bikes that are allegedly lighter than they are in use. This is especially a problem when testers make comments like "Bikes under 30lbs are the only ones light enough for all day use"

supersonic

The bikes tested are all weighed - but remember the manufacturer sends them in so probably they have found the lightest one of the lot. Often they are a bit different from claimed weights.

Also you do get a lot of natural variation in some parts, especially tubes and tyres. Add to that the fact that many have slightly different specs (might have a SRAM cassette rather than Shimano, or a differnt chain, or carbon headset spacers) then things can vary a lot.

Some manufacturers claim that as others cheat with weights, they will not bother...

Northwind

silveringsurfer wrote:

Nearly bought a gravity dropper last week till I saw the weight - eek!

I'm a total, total weight weenie but some weight is worth it...

JamesBrckmn

I don't really make upgrades to make my bike lighter, except wheels/tyres, i generally just try to improve perfomance - improving grip/control etc.

JamesBrckmn

Also, when i get a bettere bike, i'll then be faster on that from getting fit on this heavier bike

biff55

couldn't care less about my bikes weight..
i know its not great as "entry-level"
meh , i'd use heavy components if they suited my needs in other ways.
though i do carry little weight about my person so it balances out
its all relative

mkf

i use to be a weight freak, i made 2 finger brake levers before shimano even thought of them, use to mill my cranks out as well! I saw the light when full sus came along. Now its performance over weight to an extent still think a 5'' travel bike should be no more then 28 max 29lb

bomberesque

Northwind wrote:

I'm a total, total weight weenie but some weight is worth it...

^this. For me that's the interesting part of weightweenie-ism. Striving to maintain or add functionality for the best value (weight and money wise) possible. It's an interesting balance to strike for example there is 1kg difference between the lightest and heaviest tyres (excluding silly 3" things) but the capabilities of these tyres varies a hell of a lot s you need to match your requirements to kit capabilities. For example, I accept the weight penalty of a droppy seatpost on my evil, but not on my whippet bike

On another note, I would also wonder how accurate those luggage scales are. I had some fish scales (no pun intended) but they were >10% off so I binned them.

silveringsurfer

Some interesting comments. I certainly don't change parts just to get lighter kit - performance is always more important and I'm not trying to achieve sub 25lb weights otherwise I'd buy a short travel bikes or save up for some exotic carbon beasty. I've also decided against getting some really light tyres after seeing the number of comments about shredded sidewalls so I know light weight isn't everything.

What I do like is slowly upgrading parts so that they perform better and weigh less - just disappointed that this is such a slow and costly process and that the totals don't always add up!

I might stick them on another set of scales just to double check - although run the risk that they'll come out heavier again and I get even more depressed :roll:

Oh well - Anyone recommend me some tough but light wheels with 20mm bolt through front and 12mm bolt through rear hubs? (Damn I'm at it again! )

colintrav

The way some of you go on about the weight of your bikes is like people whom are obessed with there weight ...



Bordering ...............on the Weight obessive tag

biff55

yes , folk who are obsessed with weight could be called ....... weight obsessive :? :roll:

how profound and enlightened your observation is.

El Capitano

As others, I used to be a Weight-Weenie. I still am to a certain extent, however I have seen the light (or heavy...).

I got my 2004 XTC down to under 20lbs. Still with disk brakes and 27 gears. However that's about as good as it got. The Maxxis Flyweight tyres would puncture on anything, including smooth tarmac. The SID forks, at 1189g were stupidly light. Pity they didn't work. Same for a lot of components - Posh bike grips, USE Alien post etc etc.

I've since changed the frame to an NRS. In racing spec, it's a shade under 24lbs. Not bad for a full-sus XC bike. I could (and I still have the parts sat in the shed) get down to around 22lbs, but again, it wouldn't be useable. Having dropped the NRS 200 yards into a lap at Bristol Bikefest and shattered the rear mech cage (which was a carbon fibre XTR upgrade), completely destroying the mech & hanger and meaning a 5 mile run with a b0rked bike, I have truly learned my lesson.

As someone has already said, 50g shaved from 9-10 different components makes 1lb difference to the bike's weight. My personal favourite is to replace any steel bolts with titanium ones (for load bearing ones) or alloy ones (bottle cages and bar clamps). Granted it doesn't save a massavie amount of weight, but it adds to the pimp factor and they don't rust.

mac_man

My lad was saying how much lighter his bike was than mine... till I pointed out that he carries that same weight as extra baggage (he's nearly 2 stone heavier than me) up every hill.