lightweight mountain bike , which ?

bing gordon

I use to have a trusty hard tail specialized rockhopper year 2000 model for winter up and down the local tow paths till it was stolen by some git but now every mtb I've tried since weighs a tonne.
I'm not after spending much just something similar but light. I replaced it with a btwin but it feels like a Sherman tank compared to my old spesh. I use the road bike more than the mtb hence weight becomes a big factor for me.
Which mtb is light and cheap ? Just a run about nothing fancy 2nd hand will do pref hard tail v brakes are fine

cooldad

Define light.
Define cheap.

Perhaps an old Rockhopper would suit?

jimothy78

If you're happy with a 26er hardtail, you can pick up secondhand frames for next to nothing, then pick and choose the spec to suit your budget, needs and weight requirements.

My 2007 Hardrock frame cost me £25, and in its current state (1x10 gearing, Recon coil forks, Deore brakes, Specialized dropper post) weighs 11.7kg and cost me under £500 to put together.

I haven't tried very hard to make it lightweight, either - by losing the dropper post and bash ring, and going tubeless, I could easily expect to get it down to around the 11.1kg mark. If I invested in a lighter fork, it would definitely come in under 11kg.

The Rookie

My retro build 1997 steel framed Fuji Nevada is 12.5Kg, a modern low end MTB is about 14.5Kg, not sure which btwin you have, I should think your hopper was circa 12.5-13Kg.

The best bang for the buck for weight is a Rockrider 8.1 (£550), you wouldn't need to spend too much to drop that another 3/4Kg.

Or do as suggested above, I built up my Carrera for circa £600 at just over 10Kg (link in sig), then popped another £180 on new wheels to drop another 1/2 Kg.

bing gordon

cooldad wrote:

Define light.
Define cheap.

Perhaps an old Rockhopper would suit?

That would be right thing to do but looking around their all asking daft and I mean daft money for old rockhoppers. I paid about £70-£80 for my old rockhopper , it was very similar to this;-

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ix3-nIDJyoQ/Sqla8 ... alized.JPG

The ideal senario would be £80-£100 then I spend a few bob on it

cooldad

My Kona Explosif (1996) has cost me about £200 so far, with XTR bits, Judy XL forks, Magura brakes etc
Probably around 10kg, and rides beautifully.

The Rookie

To get close to that weight on that budget you'll need to go used and be sensible, V-brakes are lighter than discs and decent rigid forks are lighter than suspension.

My local recyling centre has a Saracen Tufftrax on original 'mountain LX' kit that would probably come in about 12Kg, selling it for £60, not much would need to be spent to shed that another 1/2Kg to probably 12Kg.