Weight saving advice

othello

I got my first road bike about 18 months ago now, and while it has been great, I'm wondering about upgrading a few bits. I know the cheapest upgrade is for me to loose some weight (and I do still need to loose weight!!), but I'm a gadget freak at heart. The opportunity to buy some bike kit is calling to me

I'm looking for advice for the best weight savings for my ££. I'm expecting that to be wheels, then possibly seatpost, maybe chainset. But I don't really know and would value any advice the forum has.

My bike is a Cinelli Xperience with the following spec:

Full Campagnolo Veloce groupset
Campag Khamsin wheels
Continental 4000 tyes
Cinelli Vai stem, bars and seatpost
Sella Italia XV saddle

peter101cycle

To be honest, I would probably start gradually saving for a new "good weather bike" and keep this one for the Winter.

But if you want to upgrade the parts on just this one, start wheels and then groupset (which are expensive to buy individual parts of).

dbb

if you really are a gadget freak, then you know that there is only one purchase that can satisfy this urge.

Garmin 800. you get to play with the data before and after each ride.

othello

dbb wrote:

if you really are a gadget freak, then you know that there is only one purchase that can satisfy this urge.

Garmin 800. you get to play with the data before and after each ride.

I have a Garmin 705 already

I load the data into Ascent on my Mac and play with the data to my hearts content!

lef

Start with lowering revolving weight. Some cheaper options are tyres & inner tubes.

Its often easy to save weight on skewers too. planet x do some reasonably priced lightweight skewers which I have. Was a little apprehensive about such lightweight skewers at first but no issues.

othello

peter101cycle wrote:

To be honest, I would probably start gradually saving for a new "good weather bike" and keep this one for the Winter.

But if you want to upgrade the parts on just this one, start wheels and then groupset (which are expensive to buy individual parts of).

You are right. However I bought a cheap second hand cross bike off ebay a few months ago as my winter/turbo bike. I think my other half would go mental if I bought yet another (I have a mountain bike too).

So wheels first. Any suggestions for something light (and lighter than what I have) yet strong? I'm 6' 1"and about 15 stone.

Then I guess it is groupset and maybe frame in the far future.

Would a new seatpost or stem make a difference? I'm thinking ££ for not much weight saving.

othello

lef wrote:

Start with lowering revolving weight. Some cheaper options are tyres & inner tubes.

Its often easy to save weight on skewers too. planet x do some reasonably priced lightweight skewers which I have. Was a little apprehensive about such lightweight skewers at first but no issues.

I'm pretty happy with my Continental 4000's and they are lighter than what I had on before.

I'll look at the skewers, thanks!

PeterBL

Skewers aren't really rotating weight. I'd look into some lighter wheels.

drays

eat less pie

Avanti Roman

I think GP4000s are reasonably light anyway so I'd start with wheels & inner tubes - I'm a similar size to you and found Mercury Halos to be light strong and great value. Prolite & Planet X get good reviews but I found Xeros a little too flexy for me.

Secondly I would get a lighter carbon fork. I'm not sure what weight yours is but you can save a couple of hundred grams for an outlay of £70 - have a look on some ebay shops.

The rest I'm not sure as you've not listed weights but you may save 100g on your saddle but only about 30g on stem (Planet X or Deda) & 50g on bars (Cinelli Neo) & seatpost realistically without spending megabucks.

othello

drays wrote:

eat less pie

I'm working hard at that too

Chip \'oyler

othello wrote:

peter101cycle wrote:

To be honest, I would probably start gradually saving for a new "good weather bike" and keep this one for the Winter.

But if you want to upgrade the parts on just this one, start wheels and then groupset (which are expensive to buy individual parts of).

You are right. However I bought a cheap second hand cross bike off ebay a few months ago as my winter/turbo bike. I think my other half would go mental if I bought yet another (I have a mountain bike too).

So wheels first. Any suggestions for something light (and lighter than what I have) yet strong? I'm 6' 1"and about 15 stone.

Then I guess it is groupset and maybe frame in the far future.

Would a new seatpost or stem make a difference? I'm thinking ££ for not much weight saving.

Wheels? Depends on your budget

Down the Road

othello wrote:

I got my first road bike about 18 months ago now, and while it has been great, I'm wondering about upgrading a few bits. I know the cheapest upgrade is for me to loose some weight (and I do still need to loose weight!!), but I'm a gadget freak at heart. The opportunity to buy some bike kit is calling to me

I'm looking for advice for the best weight savings for my ££. I'm expecting that to be wheels, then possibly seatpost, maybe chainset. But I don't really know and would value any advice the forum has.

My bike is a Cinelli Xperience with the following spec:

Full Campagnolo Veloce groupset
Campag Khamsin wheels
Continental 4000 tyes
Cinelli Vai stem, bars and seatpost
Sella Italia XV saddle

DON'T EAT- Best way to save weight and money for a new bike

othello

Chip \'oyler wrote:

othello wrote:

peter101cycle wrote:

To be honest, I would probably start gradually saving for a new "good weather bike" and keep this one for the Winter.

But if you want to upgrade the parts on just this one, start wheels and then groupset (which are expensive to buy individual parts of).

You are right. However I bought a cheap second hand cross bike off ebay a few months ago as my winter/turbo bike. I think my other half would go mental if I bought yet another (I have a mountain bike too).

So wheels first. Any suggestions for something light (and lighter than what I have) yet strong? I'm 6' 1"and about 15 stone.

Then I guess it is groupset and maybe frame in the far future.

Would a new seatpost or stem make a difference? I'm thinking ££ for not much weight saving.

Wheels? Depends on your budget

I'm thinking about £200-£250 max. But then I don't know what that gets me, and maybe that is an unrealistic figure?

Lillywhite

othello wrote:

drays wrote:

eat less pie

I'm working hard at that too

And cut out any bread and junk food.

othello

Lillywhite wrote:

othello wrote:

drays wrote:

eat less pie

I'm working hard at that too

And cut out any bread and junk food.

I don't eat junk food. But bread is a weakness!

Lillywhite

othello wrote:

But bread is a weakness!

I agree but have found that by cutting it out you don't get that bloated feeling and I lost a stone from 12 to 11 last summer. Damn sight cheaper than splashing the cash on a lighter set of wheels!

EKIMIKE

Wheels are most certainly the way to go. Pro-lite Bracciano's are extremely good value at £200-250 and sub 1500g. Maybe look at Soul wheel's if you're happy buying from Singapore - they're well regarded by many. Around $380-$500 for a sub 1500g wheelset (may or may not incur customs fee's)

If you want lots of shiny new bits and bobs then there are plenty around for great prices:

Brakes and Skewers
Chainring Bolts
Inner Tubes
Alloy Cassette Lockrings
Alloy Jockey Wheels

e.t.c. e.t.c.

Don't get too hung up on it though. These are really small savings that you won't really notice in real world terms.

pianoman

That bike you've got is far better than you're giving it credit for - and you'll be kicking yourself if you spend hundreds on new wheels only to find they're no quicker in a straight line because they're no more aero. And fitting a carbon handlebar or stem just to save a few grams of weight; COME ON, get real.

Instead, push yourself as hard as possible and if you really do have that sort of money lying around, why not join a club, or even buy some coaching? You'll be amazed just how willing people are to help you. Then you'll be getting the TT bug before you know it.......and buying some clip-on aerobars

othello

PianoMan wrote:

That bike you've got is far better than you're giving it credit for - and you'll be kicking yourself if you spend hundreds on new wheels only to find they're no quicker in a straight line because they're no more aero. And fitting a carbon handlebar or stem just to save a few grams of weight; COME ON, get real.

Instead, push yourself as hard as possible and if you really do have that sort of money lying around, why not join a club, or even buy some coaching? You'll be amazed just how willing people are to help you. Then you'll be getting the TT bug before you know it.......and buying some clip-on aerobars

It is not that I have money to burn. If I did, I would be splashing it on a complete new bike! Rather that I enjoy the whole geeky process of shopping for kit and gradually upgrading. It is what I always used to do on my mountain bikes (before I had children!).

As I said at the start, I love my bike. It is great and certainly is not rubbish.

tenor

Campag Neutron wheels.
Seatpost
Skewers

Squillinossett

As said, wheels, paired with light tires will yield the best improvement from my experience. When I swapped from Campag Khamsins to EA90SL's (above your budget, but dont rule out 2nd hand) only "upgrade" i have made that I could tell the difference, my carbon bar/stem was pure bling, and only worth it if you want it for this reason and can justify the cost.

You can get lighter alu seatposts than carbon (Tompson for exaple)