Weight Reductions

Alienman

I am looking at shedding a little weight from my ride, but am not sure where to start. What are the easiest places to lose some extra pounds on a bike?

I have my eye on a good deal on a carbon seat post right which should be lighter than my current seat post.

supersonic

Depends what you have to start with. Can you list your spec and budget?

Generally tyres and tubes are great cost effective upgrades.

Alienman

Here's my spec list:

Frame: 2009 Rocky Mountain Fusion
Fork: Marzocchi 22R
Head Set: FSA no TH-888
Stem: Alloy 31.8mm x 20° 120mm
Handlebar: XC Alloy 30mm rise, 630mm
Brakes: Shimano BRM486 hydraulic disc
Brake Levers: Shimano BRM486
Shifters: Shimano Deore Rapid Fire 9spd
Cranks & Chainrings: Truvativ Isoflow 170-175mm 42/32/22T
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN26
Pedals: VP-559 Flat w/pins
Hubs: (FR) Wheeltech Disc super sealed W/alloy QR - Hubs (RR) Wheeltech Disc super sealed W/alloy QR
Cassette: Shimano HG-50-9 11-32T
Chain: Shimano HG53
Spokes: DT Champion
Rims: WTB SX24 alloy dbl wall disc 26
Tires: (RR/FR) WTB Moto Raptor 26 X 2.1 A.V.
Seat Post: Alloy 27.2mm
Saddle: WTB Speed V COMP

And budget wise... not much. Have to pay for school so I am just looking for good deals on parts.

supersonic

I don't think a carbon seatpost will save much weight for cost.

Try some kevlar beaded tyres like Conti Speedking protection, and some lighter tubes.

After that the fork - it weighs over 5lbs.

njee20

Nothing there is very light, I'd say you could make better savings for less than the price of a carbon post, many of which aren't that light anyway.

Tyres and tubes as above would be the obvious first choice, foam grips are very cheap and save a chunk, particularly if you've got lock-ons. An XT cassette would save a load, Deore HT2 chainset, really you could save weight off everything.

Alienman

Upgrading the fork is kind of out of the question right now, a little more than I want to spend.

But do you have any recommendations tire wise? What's a good set that gives you nice bang for you buck.

njee20

Speed Kings are a good choice. It's a personal choice really, Specialized Sauserwind S-Works aren't bad, Schwalbe Rocket Rons are good, but the Performance version isn't all that light, and they're not cheap.

Northwind

First purchase should be a set of scales from Ikea You can't properly save weight unless you know what it weighs now, some OEM parts can be randomly heavy (I have a 470g Bontrager seatpost in the garage, and some 400 gram tubes out of a carrera) but others randomly light (160g stem off that same carrera)

Alienman

So the scale in the bathroom can't just be used for that?

I have just been googling the stuff and hoping that the manufacturer lists the weight on the site. The current set of tires are around 720g while one I have found at a nice clearance price is about 560g. Now to either order the stuff online or go see what one of the localish bike shops has.

Zaskar96

njee20 wrote:

Speed Kings are a good choice. It's a personal choice really, Specialized Sauserwind S-Works aren't bad, Schwalbe Rocket Rons are good, but the Performance version isn't all that light, and they're not cheap.

Performance version Rocket Rons are actualy quite light. I've a 2.1 that weighs 466g and a 2.25 that weighs 524g. You can also pick them up for less than £25 if you shop around.