Lighter! Must, get, lighter!

[MikeGTi]

I've decided to dust off my Cannondale Rush Carbon 4 for the summer, and possibly some racing - who knows?

I'm looking to lighten it up a tad, looking towards a carbon seatpost, carbon bars and possibly a new, lighter wheelset.

I've identified a seatpost already - USE Alien Cyclops Carbon Seatpost

I'm looking for a decent set of bars, preferably with about a 1 inch rise, not too sure on the sweep - Do any people have recommendations?

I'm also looking for a nice light wheelset, probs up to around £500. I'm currently running Mavic XM317s on DT Swiss hubs (unsure which, exactly).

Also, any tips any one can give on other places to save weight would be welcome - Weight saving is new to me as I usually ride an Orange Blood which weighs a ton!

Ta

[Fluffsri]

MikeGTi said:

Also, any tips any one can give on other places to save weight would be welcome - Weight saving is new to me as I usually ride an Orange Blood which weighs a ton!

Ta

Go to the loo before you go for a ride, theres 2lb gone

[Roman]

BBB carbon bars are very reasonably priced, I've used them on several builds with no problems. Maybe worth looking at your tyres too.

[itsnotarace]

Tyres and tubes, skewers are easy and cheap weight savings. Wheels are the easiest place to lose weight overall but I wouldn't know what are good light MTB wheels

The weight quoted for that seatpost is for a 25mm diameter 270mm length, so assuming your bike is a 27.2mm or 30.9mm you could save more weight by going for a Thomson Masterpiece

Most saddles weigh a ton, Selle Italia SLR go down to about 115g but not sure for off road use

Grips are another area you can save weight by going to foam instead of rubber.

Trim down excess cable housing is another cheap weight saving method

Chains are another area you can save weight without sacrificing performance. KMC SL are good for road but dunno about MTB

Rear cassettes are normally pretty heavy unless you already have XTR or equivalent

After that you are probably looking at serious money to lose weight further

[MikeGTi]

itsnotarace said:

The weight quoted for that seatpost is for a 25mm diameter 270mm length, so assuming your bike is a 27.2mm or 30.9mm you could save more weight by going for a Thomson Masterpiece

I'm on a 27.2mm at the moment - will give the Thomson a look, thanks.

itsnotarace said:

Most saddles weigh a ton, Selle Italia SLR go down to about 115g but not sure for off road use

Chains are another area you can save weight without sacrificing performance. KMC SL are good for road but dunno about MTB

Rear cassettes are normally pretty heavy unless you already have XTR or equivalent

I'll have to dig out some scales.... The cassette is currently an XT I think, but I need a new cassette and chain anyway.

Thanks!

[anonymous-user]

get the big items where you will really notice a difference sorted first like the wheels, Hope pro2 on Mavic XC 717. job done. hubs are pretty light, use some nice aci db spokes and they should come in around £350-£400 and about 2kgs/4.4lbs, not a bad start and they are pretty bombproof too...(weights are all estimates!)
300g for the rear hub
250g for the front
64 spokes at 6g each is 384g
450g for each rim
64 nipples at 2g each is 128g
merlin cycles will sort you out and they make good wheels.

then have alook at bars, stem, seatpost, saddle. finally, faff around with the little stuff like grips, qr seat collar etc.... then start machining out brake levers and things.... then, and only then, you start on a diet...

remember, this is pretty much irrelevant once you slap on a camelbak with two litres of water, three flapjacks, a mini-tool, a spare tube and a mobile phone...

[itsnotarace]

pablo said:

remember, this is pretty much irrelevant once you slap on a camelbak with two litres of water, three flapjacks, a mini-tool, a spare tube and a mobile phone...

This always comes up as a counter-argument but unless you are saying you ride with none of these things - then it's irrelevant

Example:

A 23 lb bike with 2 lb of camelback + phone = 25 lbs
A 25 lb bike with 2 lb of camelback + phone = 27 lbs

[anonymous-user]

itsnotarace said:

pablo said:

remember, this is pretty much irrelevant once you slap on a camelbak with two litres of water, three flapjacks, a mini-tool, a spare tube and a mobile phone...

This always comes up as a counter-argument but unless you are saying you ride with none of these things - then it's irrelevant

Example:

A 23 lb bike with 2 lb of camelback + phone = 25 lbs
A 25 lb bike with 2 lb of camelback + phone = 27 lbs

i'm championing nudist mountain biking....have you felt how much shorts and a jersey weighs.....

[MikeGTi]

pablo said:

i'm championing nudist mountain biking....have you felt how much shorts and a jersey weighs.....

I'd love to champion nudist riding too, except I only ever seem to ride with blokes

[itsnotarace]

pablo said:

i'm championing nudist mountain biking....have you felt how much shorts and a jersey weighs.....

Don't forget to shave your pubes, probably at least a gram there!

[MikeGTi]

Random additional question.. Probably a stupid one..

If my seat post is 27.2mm... would a 28.6mm seat clamp be the correct size to go for, or would I need a 27.2mm clamp also?

[itsnotarace]

You need to measure the outside diameter of the tube, the 27.2 refers to the inside diameter (so not taking into account the thickness of the metal of the seat tube)

[Kermit power]

pablo said:

i'm championing nudist mountain biking....have you felt how much shorts and a jersey weighs.....

Which then brings the question of whether you still need a saddle, or can just smooth off the seatpost?

[Catchme]

You can save a bit of weight with better wheels (400 gr), Seatpost and Seat (another 400 gr, maybe), upgraded groupset (maybe 500 gr??)

However, there's something to be said about saving weight off you..., certainly cheaper to lose a couple of pounds (that's almost a kilo in new money) by staying off the beer/wine for a week.

Look at your overall weight (bike and you) to get some idea of where you can get the best weight advantage.

Good luck

[tuffer]

Kermit power said:

pablo said:

i'm championing nudist mountain biking....have you felt how much shorts and a jersey weighs.....

Which then brings the question of whether you still need a saddle, or can just smooth off the seatpost?

Hell, just do away with the whole top tube and seat post.

[HereBeMonsters]

I'll admit, I was a pedal filer back in the day.

I was so purist, I did away with my suspension forks, filled my tyres with nitrogen, the works.

[anonymous-user]

Diet for a couple of weeks & save yourself £500!

[deckster]

Jimboka said:

Diet for a couple of weeks & save yourself £500!

Spend £500 and eat as many pies as you like!

[HereBeMonsters]

At the time I weighed less than 8 stone. If I lost any more weight I would have had to put lead ballast in my shoes.

[MikeGTi]

deckster said:

Jimboka said:

Diet for a couple of weeks & save yourself £500!

Spend £500 and eat as many pies as you like!

Would people please stop calling me fat