[jscusmcvet]

Never thought I'd be posting in the weight weenie section...

My main ride is an On One Summer Season 456, which is a hearty british All Mountain Hardtail style bike... 67 degree head angle...with a mostly SRAM x9 build, with a coil 130mm Manitou Splice fork and some heavy Sun Rhino wheels and WTB motoraptor tires. Weighs in right at 32#. I went to this bike after breaking my GT and feeling like a slacker head angle would help me stay rubber down on the trail.

I just built up and aluminum frame hardtail for my son, using a lot of used parts from an older GT IDXC frame that broke underneath me, and some parts from his old Trek 4300. 100mm Manitou Black fork, on a Fetish Discipline frame

http://www.fetishcycles.com/mountain/discipline/index_r.html

Worked out to be just shy of 27 pounds. Not light by your guys standards, but light for me. I rode it this Sunday morning on some of my regular trails, a mix of single and double track with some good climbs and technical sections, not much by the way of drops, etc...

and I was really happy with the way it rode and the handling surprised me, because I thought it would be way twitchy in comparison to the On one, but it wasn't.

Made me begin to think that I need to add a light bike to my stable. Maybe 23 - 24 pounds if possible. Looking for your help or comments
-I am OK with a hardtail and would rather go that way with some quality and durability.
-Durability is important
-Would still like a slightly slacker head angle. Anything out there in the light bike world with a 68 - 70 degree head angle using a 100 - 120mm fork?
- I am in no rush, so building a frame up over a few months is acceptable, and may help me with buying some leftover parts for cheap.
- I am open to Aluminum, Steel ot Ti ($) frames, and even buying a complete bike.
- I am open to 26" or 29" ( I have no experience with 29ers but understand the concepts)

Starting from scratch and only spending about $2000 - $2500, what do you recommend? Best tricks to get light weight and durability?

Thanks,

John

 

[COLINx86]

Motobecane Fly Team claimed 20lbs for $1799.95
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fly_team_x.htm

Edit: nevermind, the Motobecane has 71.5* headtube angle

Of course, that takes the fun out of building your own bike, though.

 

[eltazar]

Why not lightening the 456? With that money, you could get it lighter without sacrificing much strength. Granted, the frame is a limiting factor, but it may be an interesting project.

 

[rockyuphill]

If you like the On One 456 frameset why not just buy a carbon version at 26.3 pounds

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOCAR456XT/carbon-456-xt-pro

 

[bad mechanic]

The 456 is a pretty heavy frame.

It's quite easy to build a hardtail in the 23-24 pound range for under $2,500, but what most people don't understand is every single component counts! I've seen so many people spend money on a light part, and then install whatever boat anchor of a seatpost (or whatever) they have sitting around. Start a spreadsheet, map it out, and then build.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Why not lightening the 456? With that money, you could get it lighter without sacrificing much strength. Granted, the frame is a limiting factor, but it may be an interesting project.

I agree that would be interesting.... hmmm I will throw that in the hopper of ideas and consider more fully. Could be done slowly over time as well, which make it easier to pull off.

 

[jscusmcvet]

The 456 is a pretty heavy frame.

It's quite easy to build a hardtail in the 23-24 pound range for under $2,500, but what most people don't understand is every single component counts! I've seen so many people spend money on a light part, and then install whatever boat anchor of a seatpost (or whatever) they have sitting around. Start a spreadsheet, map it out, and then build.

Great advice, and I think I am guilty of this very concept. Being a numbers guy at work, I can't belive I didn't think of doing the build on paper first. Thanks.

John

 

[The Jesmond Dingo]

If you like the British style frame,look at the Whyte 905,frame 3.8 lbs,mine currentlt wieghs 24lbs exactly,with xt chain set Elixir CR Mags,EC70 post,Thomson stem,Ritchey WCS bars,Stan's Crest on ZTR hubs and some old Vanilla 125R's I had lying around.I weigh 185 and and don't do drops,using MK 2.2s supersonic.
Ian
P.S A Kinesis Maxlight XC120 frame weighs abot 3.2 lbs and has similar angles,setup for 120mm fors as is the Whyte

 

[Broccoli]

Edit: nevermind, the Motobecane has 71.5* headtube angle

I think with 100mm SID it is a bit slacker then that, but yeah, it is on the twitchier side. Does not bother me..

Those new titanium On One 456 frames coming out in September look very sweet, and cost under a thousand $$. I bet you can make a very sweet and fairly light bike out of it for close to $2K with some creative shopping. Some 120mm fork, Hope Hoops wheelset, SLX crank, 1x10, and off-brand components from the likes of Sette, which can be plenty darn light and perform great, if you pay attention to what you get.