[augustiner]

My eyes hurt from reading through the posts...Here's my deal...trying to shed some weight on the cheap (like everyone else)...Just bought a 08 Santa Cruz Superlight online on ebay and I love it, but it currently weights about 29 lbs and I would like to be around 26-27lbs. Im a bit bigger at about 215 (workin on losing weight there too )...so durability is key...Here's my build, and help would be much appreciated.

08 Superlight
Fox RP23
Tora 318 100mm Solo Air (Saving up for a Fox, not sure which one)
Cane Creek el cheapo headset (saving up for Chris King or decent Cane Creek)
Race Face Next Carbon Bar
Thompson Elite Seat Post and Stem
Juicy Carbon Brakes 160mm
XT Shifters, F/R Der
Truvatic Stylo GXP 3.3 Cranks
Eggbeater SL
LX Cassette (I think)
Mavic 117 on XT hubs
Selle Italia seat
Lizard Skin Grips
Shimano Chain (xt? not sure)
Michelin XC AT 2.0 front, Maxxis 2.1 Advantage rear

Any suggestions?

 

[grnxb]

what exactly is your budget?

Real quick-

switch the grips out to titec pork rinds/plutos
maybe change the cassette to an xtr or dura ace
look at other seats

(these will probably save you 300 grams or so)

you could also switch out the tires, but it might not be wise based upon your local riding terrain. a number of significantly lighter tires are out there, but they will have some tradeoffs.

 

[augustiner]

Budget is about $200-300. I realize that the fork I want will be a good bit more, so Im treating that separately cuz I know it'll be 500-700 and quite a ways down the road. Also, would it be tough to change the Stylo from 3 rings to 2? Save a little weight since I never use granny gear?

 

[pimpbot]

.... or...

Budget is about $200-300. I realize that the fork I want will be a good bit more, so Im treating that separately cuz I know it'll be 500-700 and quite a ways down the road. Also, would it be tough to change the Stylo from 3 rings to 2? Save a little weight since I never use granny gear?

... keep an eye out for a used Reba. You can probably find one for about $200 without looking too hard. that will drop a pound right there at least over the Tora. The Fox will probably be heavier. IMO, the Reba is a sweet fork, but that's me. Your opinion may vary.

I might suggest an XT cassette rather than the XTR. The difference in weight is probably on the order of 30g which is not a lot, but the XTR is 3x the price of the XT... and it wears out just as fast as the XT.

Tires are a good easy and cheap place to shed weight. There are a few good sized tires out there under 550g that are pretty trail worthy. I ran a set of IRC Mibros 2.25" (really 2.125") on my trailbike, and they are decent and go for under $20. Extra credit for using Lunar Lite innertubes or converting to tubeless. Lunar Lite tubes alone can shed 60 grams per wheel over regular tubes (that's 1/4 pound right there), and they'll set you back under $15. Dump the rubber rim strips if you have them while you are at it and find a lighter replacement. 3m strapping tape works well, but it's messy to remove. Velox cloth tape works well and doesn't weigh too much.

Take a look at the Pricepoint Sette brand components. Not as blingy as Thompson for seatposts or stems, but they are actually lighter. The Sette Edge stem sells for like $24 and real world weighs under 140 grams. The Thompson at 3x the price is 160g. *edit* nevermind. You already have the Thompsons. No need to spend money to save piddly amounts of weight (yet).

I wouldn't bother to change out the headset unless its failing. The CK headset is not going to save you significant amounts of weight if any. There are better places to spend your money. Headsets don't make you faster (as long as they are working).

May be down the road, but XT hubs are kinda heavy. You won't drop tons of weight off your bike with a different set of hubs... probably on the order of 1/4 pound by getting ACs or WTB Laserdisc Lites... but if you are getting a new wheelset built up anyway....

 

[Hand/of/Midas]

... keep an eye out for a used Reba. You can probably find one for about $200 without looking too hard. that will drop a pound right there at least over the Tora. The Fox will probably be heavier. IMO, the Reba is a sweet fork, but that's me. Your opinion may vary.

May be down the road, but XT hubs are kinda heavy. You won't drop tons of weight off your bike with a different set of hubs... probably on the order of 1/4 pound by getting ACs or WTB Laserdisc Lites... but if you are getting a new wheelset built up anyway....

I've also had great experiances with my reba. but i do like my new SID team more. either is a great fork, and the Reba is fairly cheap used now, a great fork.

i also dont like shimano hubs, heavy AND unsealed, why do people ride them? not a must but upgrade later for sure.

 

[Jake Pay]

I vote on a Reba also..The Tora 318 weighs 4.9 pounds so you easily drop a pound..

Tires and tubeless..You could drop another pound or more..

Ghetto tubeless conversion:

PART 1

PART 2

 

[dcb]

Augustiner - Are you sure your bike weighs 29 lbs? While I wouldn't expect that build to be very light, it surprises me that it weights that much.

 

[Strykar]

fastest way to lose the weight is with new wheels. you can get a decent set of rims for around 300. it will make a world of difference also, losing it in rolling weight will make the bike handle so much better.

 

[ettore]

Ya, that weight seems pretty wrong ... whoever suggested changing the grips ... the Lizard Skins ones are LIGHT. I don't remember the exact weight, but I put ODI Ruffians on my Superlight to replace those lizard skins and the Lizard Skins were 10g LESS than the ODIs.

 

[InvictaS1]

definately swap out your cassette, those LX ones are heavy as bricks. try the sram pg-980 cassette, about the same weight as an XT but can be had for half the price, make sure you get the 11-32 tooth version. cambria has em for $45 but you could probably find em even cheaper http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=19893&page=SRAM+PG-980+9+SPEED+MOUNTAIN+CASSETTE. then add a sram 991 hollow pin chain.

i'd swap your tires for something like the continental mountainking supersonics, then get some ultralight tubes to go with them.

you cranks probably already have aluminum chainrings on them so you'd probably only lose several grams by getting rid of your granny. i'd just keep it in case you need it.

 

[augustiner]

Ok, just weighed my bike on my digital bathroom scale and it says 28.2 lbs. At the bike shop, their scale said 30.2 lbs. Not sure how accurate either are so I was splitting the difference.

Seems like consensus is that the cassette is the first to go, probably also the chain...mine is the PC 951 which seems a bit entry level...then probably wheel shopping or keeping an eye out for a cheap reba. Any other recommendations on cheap/light/durable wheels?

Thanks for all the insight...

 

[KonaKen]

digital fish scale.

Get a digital fish scale,

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...250709&cm_ite=0036369018215a&_requestid=36875

up to 50 lbs and like $20.00

you can weigh a lot of stuff.

 

[pimpbot]

i also dont like shimano hubs, heavy AND unsealed, why do people ride them? not a must but upgrade later for sure.

XTs are sealed. They have a seal around the cones like a piston ring. Works pretty well. I've dunked my old XT disc hubs in muddy river crossings and thought for sure they would be crudded up to be damned. They came out clean when I disassembled them.

They just don't have cartridge bearings. I'm not convinced cartridge bearings are where its at anyway.

Where the older ones sucked was in weight, engagement, and flex. My front and rear disc brakes used to rub like mad with XTs on my weight weenie frame, and it all went away when I switched to Hopes. The Hopes have more drag, tho.

 

[pimpbot]

I wouldn't bother with the chain....

Ok, just weighed my bike on my digital bathroom scale and it says 28.2 lbs. At the bike shop, their scale said 30.2 lbs. Not sure how accurate either are so I was splitting the difference.

Seems like consensus is that the cassette is the first to go, probably also the chain...mine is the PC 951 which seems a bit entry level...then probably wheel shopping or keeping an eye out for a cheap reba. Any other recommendations on cheap/light/durable wheels?

Thanks for all the insight...

...at least until you wear it out. There isn't any real weight to be saved in a chain (at most 20g) unless you do something crazy expensive like a Ti chain or something. I've not had good luck with any SRAM chains. I wore all mine out in under 300 miles. SRAM uses recycled soup cans for their chains, methinks.

I swear by XTR chains. Performance constantly has them on sale for $23, and the LBSs usually sell them for under $33, which is also not too bad. Use it with a SRAM Powerlink, and you're golden. I usually get 700-1000 miles out of my XTR chains using DuMonde Tech Lube. I clean it with ProLink lube to flush the dirt out, rag off, the apply DuMonde Tech.

I would say the first thing to go would be that rear tire. Isn't that at DH tire? That might be a pound right there.

 

[augustiner]

From what I can tell the rear tire (Maxxis Advantage) weighs 640g and the front Continental XC weighs 600...I checked out the IRC Mibro's on pricepoint and they look like a good deal...2.1 weighs about 520 and 2.25 at 590g...anyone else try those out? For the price I think I might have to pick them up and try them.

My chain weighs 297g and the XTR is 304 with all the links, so I spose I can leave that til I snap it..

XT Cassette looks like the best bet, much lighter than the LX and SRAM and a lot less than the XTR. I'm running the 11-34 now, will I lose much range going to the 11-32?

Ill also track down some Superlight tubes, although Im a bit over 200 lbs so I dont wanna flat...

Rim tape...Ive heard electric tape works well and weighs almost nothing...Ive also used athletic tape with good results...Any comments there? Thanks again for all the help!!!

 

[KonaKen]

"Ive heard electric tape works well and weighs almost nothing..."

YES, being poor in college I used it, 14 years it is still holding up on those wheels.

ken

 

[pimpbot]

I'm 200 pounds...

From what I can tell the rear tire (Maxxis Advantage) weighs 640g and the front Continental XC weighs 600...I checked out the IRC Mibro's on pricepoint and they look like a good deal...2.1 weighs about 520 and 2.25 at 590g...anyone else try those out? For the price I think I might have to pick them up and try them.

My chain weighs 297g and the XTR is 304 with all the links, so I spose I can leave that til I snap it..

XT Cassette looks like the best bet, much lighter than the LX and SRAM and a lot less than the XTR. I'm running the 11-34 now, will I lose much range going to the 11-32?

Ill also track down some Superlight tubes, although Im a bit over 200 lbs so I dont wanna flat...

Rim tape...Ive heard electric tape works well and weighs almost nothing...Ive also used athletic tape with good results...Any comments there? Thanks again for all the help!!!

... and Lunar Lites work fine for me. I even use the 26er size on my 29er wheels. The tube does almost nothing to support your weight. The tire and rim does all that work.

You will loose a tad of low range by going with a 32t. They do have XTs in 34t if you are worried. 32t means you can also cut one link out of your chain.

Electrical tape works okay for rim tape, but it has no support over your rim spoke holes. Strapping tape works better. It has little threads embedded in the tape to reinforce it.

If the Maxxis advantage is only 640g as you say, then that isn't the source of your extra few pounds. Every little bit helps of course. Somehow, I thought that was one of thier DH heavy tires that runs 1100 grams or so.

Honestly, I still have no idea why your bike is coming in at 29 lbs. Did you piss off somebody at the LBS and he filled yoru bike with sand? Maybe somebody put slime tubes in your wheels?

 

[InvictaS1]

just keep your granny gear and go with a 11-32 cassette. you dont need an 11-34 cassette unless your climbing lots of really steep hills. the 11-32 cassettes are a bit lighter than 11-34 ones. my sram pg-980 11-32 cassette weighed 285 grams new, thats about the same weight as an XT cassette.

 

[augustiner]

Ill try the Sram cassette...looks like I can get one for about 45 bucks...

Just went to Performance and picked up some LunarLite tubes and switched my tires to Panaracer FireXCpro front and Smoke rear, and the digital bathroom scale now reads 27.2...even if thats not the most accurate, that means Ive shaved off about a pound so far...

Ill be saving up and ditching the Tora when I get a chance and thatll get rid of about another pound...then wheels when I brake these...Thanks all for your help...

 

[pimpbot]

Cool....

Ill try the Sram cassette...looks like I can get one for about 45 bucks...

Just went to Performance and picked up some LunarLite tubes and switched my tires to Panaracer FireXCpro front and Smoke rear, and the digital bathroom scale now reads 27.2...even if thats not the most accurate, that means Ive shaved off about a pound so far...

Ill be saving up and ditching the Tora when I get a chance and thatll get rid of about another pound...then wheels when I brake these...Thanks all for your help...

Sounds like you're on your way. I guess it was the tubes and tires.