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What is the best place to save weight???

1895 Views 18 Replies 13 Participants Last post by lucifer, Jul 14, 2006

fujirider1

Discussion Starter · Jul 5, 2006

I was wondering what would be the best place to save weight off of one piece?
Is it the bar end, the handlebar, the seatpost, something like that.
And whatever place that piece may be, what would be the best piece to shave that weight.
Basically, where can I shave the most weight, and with what new piece?

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

psinsyd

· #2 · Jul 5, 2006

I've always been one to recommend a custom wheelset to both save weight and improve performance. I've noticed that to be the biggest single upgrade, and an upgrade that I usually do first on my bikes.

The first time I rode with a new wheelset, I was amazed at how much better I could climb, and how much faster the bike seemed to accelerate.

Dan Gerous

· #3 · Jul 5, 2006

Around the waist...

prolevel

· #4 · Jul 5, 2006

Wheelset

The most bang for the buck, wheels plain & simple

shiggy

· #5 · Jul 5, 2006

Usually tires and tubes.

fujirider1

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 5, 2006

Alright good to hear,
But what about carbon fibre handlebars, I heard they snap easier, and aren't very efficient in saving weight.

Dan Gerous

· #7 · Jul 5, 2006

fujirider1 said:
Alright good to hear,
But what about carbon fibre handlebars, I heard they snap easier, and aren't very efficient in saving weight.

You wont save much with a handlebar. The lightest on the market will save you what, a few grams and you likely wont feel it at all. Rotational weight is the most feelable weight and the further it is from the axis, the more you feel it too. I'd go, in that order: Tires, tubes (or not), rims, wheelset, pedals (crank brothers eggbeaters saves at least 100 grams over most other pedals and they work better too IMO)... It really depends what you are starting with.

pimpbot

· #8 · Jul 5, 2006

Tires

fujirider1 said:
I was wondering what would be the best place to save weight off of one piece?
Is it the bar end, the handlebar, the seatpost, something like that.
And whatever place that piece may be, what would be the best piece to shave that weight.
Basically, where can I shave the most weight, and with what new piece?

Usually cheap (compared to say, a carbon crankset) for the amount of performance gain/weight loss, and heck, you wear them out anyway... so its the perfect excuse for upgrade--itis!

pimpbot

· #9 · Jul 5, 2006

I like carbon bars...

fujirider1 said:
Alright good to hear,
But what about carbon fibre handlebars, I heard they snap easier, and aren't very efficient in saving weight.

... myself. Like Dan Gerous says, you won't see a huge real world benifit in weight loss (although every little bit helps) but I like the dead feeling of carbon.

As far as breakage goes, that only really applies to those who damage the bars through a bad crash, abuse, improper installation (like over tightening) or burrs from the stem. Other than that, they're as strong as an alu bar.

Do tires and wheels first, then suspension fork.

karpiel666

· #10 · Jul 8, 2006

Dan Gerous said:
Around the waist...

you beat me to it

danielhaden

· #11 · Jul 10, 2006

Most efficient place to save weight?

Okay,
Crankset and bottom bracket are prime candidates for a diet because it doesn't cost so much to save some weight and the replacements are usually more efficient.

Throwing away the Sun rims in favor of WTB or really anything with a decent design. This can add some speed and also add the feature of tires that can be changed with bare hands (this depends on rim depth).

Still thinking. . .

While it can be extraordinarily time-consuming and quite vexing to try to attempt to beat the performance of your 1 pound each tires, it is not impossible, given that tires themselves are application specific as far as their successes. Lighter tires that do not subtract features/performance aspects from your bike are very difficult to find. It can be done, but lab reports, advertisements and opinions are all remarkably unhelpful in comparison to a personal test drive.

There are hubs that are both lightweight and strong, once again indicating wheelset as a prime candidate for an upgrade.

Front forks can often be impressively heavy, so here's a good place for a weight diet.

Many heavy bikes are quite fast except for sprinting and hills. If you're not doing sprints and hills, then there's no reason to worry about wheel weight, especially because a heavier wheel is faster on flat ground or over small rocks, branches, pavement issues, etc. . . The same thing is true of a heavy tire. The two performance aspects (flat ground vs hill/sprint) are in conflict with each other. Balance these to your own personal tastes an application.

Still, for every little bit of weight removal, it is a great relief on hills and a nice boost in sprints.

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tacoma

· #12 · Jul 10, 2006

First of all it's you!:thumbsup:
As a XC racer your weight should be around 140 pounds!

Second It's not the cross-over-bike-weight that counts. The lightest bike is not always the fastest.
Shave off weight from all spinning parts like cranks,pedals,chain, cockset,wheels.

tacoma

Spoon Man

· #13 · Jul 11, 2006

fujirider1 said:
Alright good to hear,
But what about carbon fibre handlebars, I heard they snap easier, and aren't very efficient in saving weight.

I've actually heard of more people snapping aluminum bars than carbon.
.

karpiel666

· #14 · Jul 13, 2006

tacoma said:
First of all it's you!:thumbsup:
As a XC racer your weight should be around 140 pounds!

Second It's not the cross-over-bike-weight that counts. The lightest bike is not always the fastest.
Shave off weight from all spinning parts like cranks,pedals,chain, cockset,wheels.

tacoma

last time I checked that wasn't spinning.

MrEconomics

· #15 · Jul 13, 2006

$1,000 to save a pound

It's much cheaper to push away the fork and beer.

I weigh 190 pounds and race XC. I can't lose anymore weight. I have 9.8% body fat so the only option is stop lifting weights and let the muscle burn off too. That forces me to take a hard look at my bike adn like most people said, rotational weight is key.

Get a new wheelset and new tires.

Do everything you can to lose some weigth yourself. Much much cheaper.

Spoon Man

· #16 · Jul 13, 2006

Tubeless!

danielhaden

· #17 · Jul 14, 2006

Truvativ chainring bolts!

Chainrings that aren't incredibly heavy. . .

Seatpost that weighs less than a hammer. . . suspension in the saddle, not in the seatpost.

Non-leaded stem

Reasonably light derailleur (like an XT or most SRAM)

Minoura water bottle cages with alloy screws

Brakes that aren't extremely heavy (Tektro=heavy)
Kool-Stop brake pads (alloy washers, much better stopping power).

Allen wrench crank bolts instead of 14mm regular bolts

Decently light weight bottom bracket (hollow core)

Review all accessories for tidbits like: Serfas headlights use AAA batteries, shine as bright, last as long, weigh half as much (as Cateye).

Tires. Lightweight tires climb better, with the possibility of not going as fast downhill or on flat road. Many factors involved.

Places not to save weight. . .
Tires and wheels, on a bike that is used mainly on flat ground
Pedals, on a bike with a rider who spins

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The Crimson King

· #18 · Jul 14, 2006

the best places to save weight are absolutely wheels, tubes and tires.

lucifer

· #19 · Jul 14, 2006

Guppie58 said:
$1,000 to save a pound

It's much cheaper to push away the fork and beer.

I weigh 190 pounds and race XC. I can't lose anymore weight. I have 9.8% body fat so the only option is stop lifting weights and let the muscle burn off too. That forces me to take a hard look at my bike adn like most people said, rotational weight is key.

Get a new wheelset and new tires.

Do everything you can to lose some weigth yourself. Much much cheaper.

Are you a woman?
If you are ignore this... but if not you could definitely stand to loose at least half that body fat.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

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