Shedding lbs without shedding £'s

The Rookie

Certainly would use ally for lever/shifter clamps (and front mech clamp), not sure I would for brakes to mount to frame, not even on my commuter (disc braked), or maybe just the trailing bolt and leave the leading as steel (in the event of the ally failing the calliper will self centre).

Simon

njee20

Meh, I plan to give it a go! I'm fairly light though. As I say, when you brake the front brake bolts are in compression anyway, I'd be less keen with IS brakes.

Ti is certainly fine in brakes, even if you're not keen on alu, but is expensive.

nozzac

So how much weight would you expect to lose by replacing non load-bearing bolts with alu or nylon ones? I wouldn't have thought it more than a 100g or so is it?

I've been knocking weight off a couple of bikes but only by changing large components. I knocked 1.8kg of one by changing to air forks, lighter tyres and swapping the pedals. I can feel that sort of change but 100g or so...I can't see it being worthwhile at all - or is it?

The Rookie

50-100g may not be worthwhile, but ten of them together are, I've knocked over 1.3Kg off my commuter, only two saved more than 100g (and both of them over 300g!)

Simon

jonnyashworth

WoW I never thought this thread would cause such a stir...... There are some serious WW's posting on it. So I have a challenge for you should you feel up to it..... I'm not about to start stripping my bike down and weighing every individual part....... but I would be extremely interested to post up the spec lists of my 2 bikes and see where you guys think weight could be saved. I will then carry out said upgrades/adjustments and let you all know the start weight and weigh after each adjustment
So whadda you say....... are you weenie enough for it?????

floosy

Ill get my coat

cooldad

Can't be arsed. My stomach weighs more than my bike anyway.

blablablacksheep

be warned harsh comment coming.... 8)

Most guys i see in trails and from pictures on the web/forum with MTB are clearly fat or overweight.....

So given that many need to lose some pounds themselfs before trying to attempt same for bike.

The Rookie

Try light-bike.com or the main weightweenies referance listings to see if your part is there, CRC are also quite good at listing weights were specified by the manufacturer.

You can post your spec list, but most weights will only be speculative guesses, there are 100s of 1000s of bike parts out there so it will only be a case of getting a feeling.....

Simon

njee20

C'mon then, post up, we can at least point out the areas you can make easy gains, even if not to the gram.

joshtp

I just lost almost 600G from my wheels just by going tubeless, I already had UST rims, so it was just a case of some tubeless ready tyres and a slosh of sealant.

The Rookie

Heavy tubes! My Schwalbe tubes are only 120g each, so after adding a valve (say min 15g) and slime the weight saving on the same tyres would only be around 160g max, suspect you had rubbish tyres or tubes or both so its hardly a fair comparison!

Simon

jonnyashworth

right my remedy was 30.34lbs this morning with tubes, this week i am going tubeless so I will re-weigh it then and post up the full spec meticulously. I think I will have made all the possible savings on the wheels without using ally bolts (all mountain rig + ally brake bolts dont mix) and ti is tres expencive!!!

Hoping the tubeless will pull it back under 30lbs which is already light for a 160mm travel bike with 36mm forks with a dropper post on it

nozzac

blablablacksheep wrote:

be warned harsh comment coming.... 8)

Most guys i see in trails and from pictures on the web/forum with MTB are clearly fat or overweight.....

So given that many need to lose some pounds themselfs before trying to attempt same for bike.

Yeah but it's not the same thing at all. Bike weight is different to rider weight. A 16 stone guy can climb, throw around and jump a 30lb bike with ease . If you transfer 4 stone the bike then the now 12 stone guy will have a lot of trouble doing the same with his 86lb bike.

pilsburypie

NozzaC wrote:

blablablacksheep wrote:

be warned harsh comment coming.... 8)

Most guys i see in trails and from pictures on the web/forum with MTB are clearly fat or overweight.....

So given that many need to lose some pounds themselfs before trying to attempt same for bike.

Yeah but it's not the same thing at all. Bike weight is different to rider weight. A 16 stone guy can climb, throw around and jump a 30lb bike with ease . If you transfer 4 stone the bike then the now 12 stone guy will have a lot of trouble doing the same with his 86lb bike.

Correct - just to exaggerate this a bit and prove a point, stick a couple of bags of sugar in your rucksack and do your ride.... not too much difference. Now tape em to your bike - or forks! Big difference.....

I know this aint evenly distributed, but the point is still there.

njee20

Hoping the tubeless will pull it back under 30lbs which is already light for a 160mm travel bike with 36mm forks with a dropper post on it

What are you trying to achieve then if you're happy with the weight?

surreyxc

maybe its been said but you can save some weight by the following:

trim seat post to correct length
trim bars to correct width
remove gear indicators
trim all cables to correct length
trim steerer to correct length
remove plastic disc from cassette
check chain is no longer than required

you won't save much but the above is free.

jonnyashworth

My goal I suppose is perfection I suppose. I wont be able to rest until I have gotten the bike as good as it can possibly be.

The spec list is as follows..............

Frame - 2009 Trek remedy (alpha dot aluminium) 17.5" custom powedr finish
Forks - Fox 36 Talas w/E2 alloy steerer
Wheels - Fox 36 Talas w/E2 alloy steerer
Tyers - Continental Mountainking Supersonic 2.4 Running tubeless
Shifters - SRAM X-0, 9 speed w/MatchMaker
Front Mech - Shimano XTR, high mount
Rear Mech - SRAM X-0
Crank - Shimano XTR saint bash ring/32/22
Casette - SRAM PG970 11-32, 9 speed
Saddle - Fizik Gobi XM with magnese rails
Seat Post - Rockshox Reverb
Handlebars - Bontrager Rhythm Pro, 50mm rise, 31.8mm, 710mm width
Stem - Pro Kryak 80mm AM
Headset - Superstar
Bottom Bracket - Hope Stainless
Brakes - Avid Elixir CR w/carbon levers; 203mm front rotor, 180mm rear rotor
Chain tensioner - BB fit Double Tensioner
Carbon downtube rock guard

Obviously being an all mountain bike it has to remain super strong but I would still like to get it a little lighter . I suppose I would like to see if its possible to get it as light as the newer Carbon remedys without shelling out for one of having to use delicate carbon!

JonnyN

Nice wheels...

surreyxc

imo, looking at your spec I am not sure it is worth the effort, that kit is already pretty good, you could spend a fortune and not lose much weight. It would be different if you had some crappy basic kit. Unless any of the above is knackered it really is not worth replacing it. You would be better saving the cash towards a new rig or spend the money on the one area we neglect - ourselves. Spend the money on the gym, better food, training, trips away etc,

Slack

The best upgrade you can do is to the rider, by maintaining optimum weight and fitness. Shaving grams from the bike is not going to make any noticeable difference and is just waisting money, and being taken in by the marketing hype.

Just ride stronger and faster! :twisted: :twisted:

njee20

Carbon remedys without shelling out for one of having to use delicate carbon!

You realise that a carbon frame will be far tougher than any light parts you may fit to yours!? In fact, it'll be tougher than your current frame...

You could do 1x10, 11-36 cassette with a 34 or 36t ring, that'd drop a chunk for not much money by the time you've flogged your old kit. Lighter rotors, some 203s can weigh a ton, look at Alligator or similar.

Thewaylander

Jeese what a bunch of weight weenies Man up and just pedal the beast...

The Rookie

Looking at that spec I think the bars would be the items I'd look at first, they are OK spec, but I suspect heavy relative to the rest of the bike...maybe the stem as well (I can't find a weight for that) are all cable/hose lengths optimised? If you have any bottle cage style bolts into the frame they can be lightened easily with ally or Nylon (no load!)

Let us know how you use those as wheels, do they need truing often?

Simon

mattyg2004

My spark is pretty light std. And I find it a little skitish. Admittedly I jumped in the deep end after not riding for 20 yrs.

jonnyashworth

what size nylon bolt would I need to replace the bottle cage mount bolts?
any advise for a good (light) allmountain set of bars and a stem? I do like my bars pretty wide.
All cables and hoses are perfect (braided superstar) hoses and new cables 2 weeks ago.
Reverb could loose 4" but I'll do that when it needs a bleed.
I find my wheels to be top notch. I only weigh 11.5 stone and I wouldnt say I'm a clumsy rider but I havent had to true them yet. (not sure how they would stand up to say a 16 stone guy??)

jonnyashworth

If i did decide to go to 1x10 gearing (not saying I would) could I still use my xtr chainset and just replace the chain ring?

njee20

You could yes.

Braided hoses weigh a ton, that'll not be helping.

You may want to re-read what you wrote your wheels are, there's a reason they're attracting comments...

You need M5 bolts for bottle cage bolts, 10mm will do it if you're not using a cage. You could just leave them as holes, my frame has internal cable routing, but I'm not using a front mech or the rear lockout, so it's full of holes! Sometimes worth draining it after washing it, but holes are free, and weigh less than nylon bolts!

jonnyashworth

DOH lol

right wheels are .......
Bontrager Rhythm Pro with scandium rims

The Rookie

I used M5x10 nyon bolts to fill the bottle cage and crudcatcher holes, you can get them on ebay for a silly price (expensive) or try local factors etc, I bought 100 for about £7.

For 1x10, yes just a new chainwheel, no need for a new chainset (I've heard you don't always need a new wheel, but have no idea about that at all - sorry), don't forget you'll need a guide, if you run a bash the lightest guide is an N-gear, superstar if you want a full on guide.

One of the mags recently did an online review of bars, I think the Easton's came out top (ally and Carbon!), Renthal came out quite well as well.

Simon