So come on then ... How light is your mountain bike?

VWsurfbum

Bighead Your summer bike looks ace, but is your garden really in Barbados?

delcol

those bikes are begging to be ridden...

vim147

CubeCrazy wrote:

Morning folks

Right I have a question, I have been trying to reduce the weight of my bike since I got it and I want to get it as light as possible, already the difference I have made is shocking and it feels like a new bike, but I wondered how light some of your bikes are ?

My current bike is my second bike but my first was a 2009 Focus Raven (Carbon) and that tipped the scales at just 11.1kg and felt very light.

The bike I have now, 2011 Cube Analog Disc started off at 13.5kg but I have just weighed it and it now comes in at a true fighting weight of ...

1st 10.6lbs ... or ... 24.6lbs ... or 11.1kg

Also any suggestions for removing weight further ? from what I have read I need a lighter wheelset, bottom bracket, cassette, anywhere else to save weight ? apart from me own lard

Very tempted to buy the same bike as yours now. as cheap as possible for a used one 2011 model and put on some rigid forks as most of my riding would be recreational use. then buy some decent sus forks for singletracks. Really like the black look but not too keen on the red bits.

Will you be changing the wheels ? thats where your probably see alot of weight savinng.

Salsa

One of my bikes (Salsa HT with rigid forks) weighed 17.07lb last time I weighed it, changed a couple of parts since then so it's a little lighter now. It's not covered in super weak exotic parts either, mainly WCS carbon/loads of XTR & some XX/X0 parts. Sure it's limited to what I can ride on it but for local XC it's fine, plus I have other more hardcore bikes.

Thewaylander

supersonic wrote:

If heavy bikes and stiffness is key, why not have a 50lb monster with steel parts?! ;-)

Thing is, and I am the same, you have probably gone for the 'sensibly light, still tough for intended use' mantra. I ride XC mainly, and value a light, agile bike but with a long reach and won't break. You couldn't really say any parts on my bike are flexy or weak. But it is light!

If light weight is the key why not have a 20pund flex machine.

To be honest weight rarely enters my equation though it may be in the minds of the manufacturer, I mean i have 160mm air bike, it weighs 36 pounds so its the same travel as our Lawmans 26pound bike.

And iProb would say you parts are flexy mate, I've never ever ridden a bike under 30 pounds as i've said that isnt. And i'm not saying its wrong to go light, but i find alot of people who put an strong emphasis on it aren't the people who would truly benefit from an extremely light machine

Bighead

VWsurfbum wrote:

Bighead Your summer bike looks ace, but is your garden really in Barbados?

err well not really! I think I entered that information back when this website was whatmtb.com

delcol wrote:

those bikes are begging to be ridden...

Not sure if you are refering to my bikes? I'll take your comment as a compliment anyway The Scale Ltd has done approx 8,500 miles. I've taken it around several trail centers without any problems. I took the photos after I had just cleaned it for the winter.

The Marin was taken after I installed some new forks and wheels. It has done slightly less miles but not by much. I've changed a few parts on that bike so the photos are out of date.

delcol

my comment was indeed aimed at you. and was a compliment of the highest regard not only for 2 beautiful machines but 2 awesome speced machines and very shiney..

just begging to be ridden...

supersonic

Thewaylander wrote:

supersonic wrote:

If heavy bikes and stiffness is key, why not have a 50lb monster with steel parts?! ;-)

Thing is, and I am the same, you have probably gone for the 'sensibly light, still tough for intended use' mantra. I ride XC mainly, and value a light, agile bike but with a long reach and won't break. You couldn't really say any parts on my bike are flexy or weak. But it is light!

If light weight is the key why not have a 20pund flex machine.

To be honest weight rarely enters my equation though it may be in the minds of the manufacturer, I mean i have 160mm air bike, it weighs 36 pounds so its the same travel as our Lawmans 26pound bike.

And iProb would say you parts are flexy mate, I've never ever ridden a bike under 30 pounds as i've said that isnt. And i'm not saying its wrong to go light, but i find alot of people who put an strong emphasis on it aren't the people who would truly benefit from an extremely light machine

Because it usually costs a hell of a lot more to lose weight than add it! And I can't afford more. It is plenty stiff enough - I bet I could build you a sub 30lb bike so stiff it would loosen your fillings ;-)

Thewaylander

supersonic wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

supersonic wrote:

If heavy bikes and stiffness is key, why not have a 50lb monster with steel parts?! ;-)

Thing is, and I am the same, you have probably gone for the 'sensibly light, still tough for intended use' mantra. I ride XC mainly, and value a light, agile bike but with a long reach and won't break. You couldn't really say any parts on my bike are flexy or weak. But it is light!

If light weight is the key why not have a 20pund flex machine.

To be honest weight rarely enters my equation though it may be in the minds of the manufacturer, I mean i have 160mm air bike, it weighs 36 pounds so its the same travel as our Lawmans 26pound bike.

And iProb would say you parts are flexy mate, I've never ever ridden a bike under 30 pounds as i've said that isnt. And i'm not saying its wrong to go light, but i find alot of people who put an strong emphasis on it aren't the people who would truly benefit from an extremely light machine

Because it usually costs a hell of a lot more to lose weight than add it! And I can't afford more. It is plenty stiff enough - I bet I could build you a sub 30lb bike so stiff it would loosen your fillings ;-)

Full sus? not rigid? cos xc wheels are more worst nightmare, thats where the worst flex on most bikes i notice is

supersonic

Long travel hardtail like an mmmbop. I use xtr wheels with deep section scandium rims, 1650g but very strong! As before, my stuff is on the sensible side of light, the best I can do for the money lol.

Thewaylander

Not my bag but hey, I hate long travel hard tails with a passion. Be interested to try the wheels out see if they flex or not, but at the suggested weights for them not convinced

tom_howard

supersonic wrote:

so stiff it would loosen your fillings ;-)

Thats like my obvious, that is.[/crudcatcher]

supersonic

Odd thing is it is many long travel full sussers where I feel most flex! Some really do feel like the bike is two halves when cornering!

Thewaylander

because people build them to sub 30 pound bikes, and when you have 6" of travel thats bound to bend like surfermat in the wind

supersonic

They weighed more than yours! The problem was the frame and swingarm or linkage.

Thewaylander

Only really flexy ones i've ridden bar Kona's :P ar things like the santa cruz blur LT and so on, 5" light riding machines and they flex, ohmy the flex!

the main culprit for me then is wheels, the whole most important weight yo can save is your wheels, may make the bike easier to pedal but cornering.. no way!

Anonymous

Nomad with 170mm here working out at 30lbs. Not even carbon. Well the frame at least. Has some carbon bling.

Not fussed though. GT was 33lbs. Not a huge difference, and both climb about the same. Nomad thunders down great though.

Northwind

Thewaylander wrote:

because people build them to sub 30 pound bikes, and when you have 6" of travel thats bound to bend like surfermat in the wind

Not true though, I could build my Hemlock back down sub-30lbs without sacrificing stiffness/strength at all. Not particularily difficult to build a stiff 30lb full suss... just expensive!

lawman

by our way of thinking then, this would descend awfully, as its only 28.7lbs...



i also ask you to find a stiffer AM frame than a Mojo HD, cos i sure as hell haven't ridden one, the only flex i feel from mine is from the wheels, only cos their so light and i cant afford a stiffer but just as light carbon wheelset its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

tom_howard

lawman wrote:

its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

You sure?

lawman

Tom Howard wrote:

lawman wrote:

its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

You sure?

in most cases yes, and of course its all relevant, but for stuff like wheels id say it definitely is, especially for super light terms, my pro2/crest wheelset on my HD weighs 1.55kg so its a bloody light wheelset thats quite strong, but does flex abit admittedly, for a stiffer wheelset thats just as light, you would be paying at least double the £350 odd quid...

there of course exceptions, on one's carbon 456 springs to mind, but in general i think it is definitely true.

Northwind

lawman wrote:

by our way of thinking then, this would descend awfully, as its only 28.7lbs...

I bet a lot of people wouldn't like it tbh... I've knocked almost 10lbs off from my first dh bike to my current one and though most of the time i like a lighter bike- they just handle better tbh, nowt to do with climbing as most people bang on about- there's times when the sheer momentum of the fatter build was good.

Thewaylander

lawman wrote:

by our way of thinking then, this would descend awfully, as its only 28.7lbs...



i also ask you to find a stiffer AM frame than a Mojo HD, cos i sure as hell haven't ridden one, the only flex i feel from mine is from the wheels, only cos their so light and i cant afford a stiffer but just as light carbon wheelset its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

Lawman, there will always be exceptions, but the ones you have brought here are extremely expensive! and well outside the normal price bracket that most people spend, in the otherwise they are the only few exceptions, we can only make true comment from experience, i've been riding since i was 14, and im now 31 and i haven't ridden a bike under 30pounds that decends well yet. doesn't mean it doesn't exist but, it does meant hats its so rare as to not worry about

Thewaylander

lawman wrote:

Tom Howard wrote:

lawman wrote:

its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

You sure?

in most cases yes, and of course its all relevant, but for stuff like wheels id say it definitely is, especially for super light terms, my pro2/crest wheelset on my HD weighs 1.55kg so its a bloody light wheelset thats quite strong, but does flex abit admittedly, for a stiffer wheelset thats just as light, you would be paying at least double the £350 odd quid...

there of course exceptions, on one's carbon 456 springs to mind, but in general i think it is definitely true.

Also on wheels overly light wheels with a bit of flex like you describe do not hold there line's well in rocky decents in fact there horrible comapared to a more solid set of wheels.

lawman

Thewaylander wrote:

lawman wrote:

Tom Howard wrote:

lawman wrote:

its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

You sure?

in most cases yes, and of course its all relevant, but for stuff like wheels id say it definitely is, especially for super light terms, my pro2/crest wheelset on my HD weighs 1.55kg so its a bloody light wheelset thats quite strong, but does flex abit admittedly, for a stiffer wheelset thats just as light, you would be paying at least double the £350 odd quid...

there of course exceptions, on one's carbon 456 springs to mind, but in general i think it is definitely true.

Also on wheels overly light wheels with a bit of flex like you describe do not hold there line's well in rocky decents in fact there horrible comapared to a more solid set of wheels.

the only time i ever feel the flex in my crests is under extremely hard cornering, ive hit some evil rocky descents in the peaks, hit so fair size drops and jumps and have never felt them flex there, its just sometimes a touch of flex in highspeed corners and berms, which could well be down to the paperthin nobby nics i like to use

still its each to there own, but certain bikes, like the commencal meta for example, are flexy as hell, but somes peeps love 'em, others hate 'em, and there is no definitive answer for the masses

tom_howard

lawman wrote:

Tom Howard wrote:

lawman wrote:

its all down the old light, strong, cheap, pick two thing, yes its possible for all three, but it'll cost more than a small island to build

You sure?

in most cases yes, and of course its all relevant, but for stuff like wheels id say it definitely is, especially for super light terms, my pro2/crest wheelset on my HD weighs 1.55kg so its a bloody light wheelset thats quite strong, but does flex abit admittedly, for a stiffer wheelset thats just as light, you would be paying at least double the £350 odd quid...

there of course exceptions, on one's carbon 456 springs to mind, but in general i think it is definitely true.

My point was that if it was all three, it wouldnt cost the same as a small island Unless said island was cheap?

njee20

One of my bikes (Salsa HT with rigid forks) weighed 17.07lb last time I weighed it, changed a couple of parts since then so it's a little lighter now

That's 17lbs 7oz, or 17.44lbs, still very impressive indeed!

19.8lbs last time I weighed the Top Fuel, so FS. Works for me, nowt's broken all year, so clearly reliable! Even the 1240g wheels have surprised me! 1x10 would possibly be limiting for some, but I find it great, and weight wasn't the primary driver there. I don't go riding 10ft drops on it, but then I wouldn't if I had a Session 9.9 either! It's plenty good enough for my riding! Don't notice any massive difference in stiffness (to my surprise) when I use my spare wheels (Hoops on Crests @1585g) either.

VWsurfbum

njee20 What wheels do you use? 1240g is a mental weight

njee20

A2Z hubs on Podium MMX rims with Revolutions, 1246g with yellow tape and valves, and under £300!

I also use aluminium rotor bolts, just to scare the '30lbs is a minimum weight' brigade :-)

VWsurfbum

Cheers, my bro wants some new light wheels.