To upgrade or not? Cube 29er

darmf

Hi all, first post here

I have a 2014 cube LTD pro 29er http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod114140

With the following mods:

- Wheels replaced with custom build, DT swiss 350 hubs / halo vapour rims with tubeless set up. WTB riddler 2.25” on rear and Maxxis high roller II 2.3” front
- Bottom bracket failed so replaced with ceramic one from uberbike
- Bar grips replaced with ESI chunky https://qwertycycles.co.uk/products/esi ... e-one-size
- Pedals SHIMANO SPD PD-T421 Trekking (although I don’t really use the flat side)
- Saddle – Maddison flux (which I find great btw) http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/saddles/ma ... dle-review

Current weight is bang on 12kg

It’s used mainly for trail centre stuff and some endurance type events – such as pivot 24 hour / monster cross events / and most of the adventure cross series

Question is, I have £200-£300 ish to spend, and ideally I’d like it a bit lighter. Does anything jump out that could save me say 1kg by spending this amount, or should I just not bother and save for a new bike in a years time?

I looked at forks, but tbh the fork is ok for my needs and seems to be lightish anyway?

Cheers

The Rookie

Convert to 1x10 with a wide range cassette and a decent front chainring, will save you about 1/3 - 1/2Kg, you could do it for £70 using an MX3 cassette, new chain and a Superstar chainring, a bit less with an expander depending on how you play the gears.

Not the lightest wheel combo, I'd look at something like a Crest rim on 240's or one of the Superstar builds, that could knock you off another 1/2Kg and keep in budget once you've sold the current wheels.

Also look at the details, for example a lightweight rotor on the rear such as Alligator or Ashima can save you 50g without harming braking, look at cable runs and see what you can remove and still be long enough, etc. I'm willing to bet the seatpost stem and bars are fairly 'chunky' given the weight quoted, so look for some good quality used parts. A semi decent forged CNC stem will probably save about 50-60g for about £15-20 if bought new, much cheaper used, I run a Kalloy Uno which with a Ti bolt kit cost me less than £25 for an 88g stem.

I've just rebuilt a Gary Fisher Cobia (2009) and using some bits from my Justin box (parts kept just in case) I've knocked it down to 11.6Kg and that's still with the original Tora Forks (similar weight to your Marvels) and 2.4Kg wheelset (the 29" wheelset on my commuter are 1.95Kg).

darmf

Thanks Rookie.

I've not had the wheels all that long, and looking at the 240 hubs I'd only save 67g by changing. Granted the halo rims aren't the lightest though, about 100g a piece heavier than the crests.

I need to try a bike with 1x10/11 i think. Have a feeling I'd miss the granny ring

I'll shop around for the other bits, see what I can find.

darmf

Done some searching:

cube flat race bar 230g
cube performance stem 141g
Shimano SLX, FC-M670 Hollowtech II FC-M670 42-32-24T 175mm 820g (everything except bottom bracket)
Front derailleur: Shimano SLX FD-M671, Direct Mount 140g
Shimano Deore A-M615 hydr. Discbrake 160 mm 153g
CUBE Performance seat Post, 30.9mm 329g
SHIMANO SPD PD-T421 498g (pair)

Now to find some lighter replacements.

The Rookie

Carbon bars will save you about 100g, but not bad for alloy parts, normal SPD pedals will save you about150g, my 160mm alligators discs are 90g, a centrelock adaptor which I presume you are running can be had for 20g.

Wheel wise crests on 240's with butted spokes would save you about 300-350g.