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saving weight - where to start?
Hi all,
been thinking of trimming some weight off my bike (Spesh FSR XC comp). where's the best place to start looking to make the most difference? best changes from cost/benefit perspective? ideally i would like to take 1-2kg off the bike. would i be able to feel this difference out on the trail? i'm thinking wheels or fork. it will be a gradual process as it's probably going to cost lots of $$$. maybe i should have bought a better spec bike to start with.
Thanks guys and gals
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Wheels and tyres, as rolling weight, is where it will make most difference for sure and yes it will take a whole lot of $$$, probably more than buying a new higher end bike when you're done upgrading even if you source parts overseas, so if I were you I would either change stuff as they break/wear out or keep riding this bike and saving money for N+1.
Cheers
You don't say what gear you're currently running so it's pretty hard for anyone to make any recommendations.
The first place I would start is by taking a look at the Weight Weenies website and take it from there...
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php
PB
EDIT: but be warned you could end up wasting days on this site
entry level components eg. shimano deore/slx, rockshox tora fork, x fusion shock, alex stout rims, specialized captain tube tires etc. thanks for the link, i'll check it out.
wheels and forks, will give you the best weight saving on that spec, then groupset, bars stem and seatpost
The best way to lose weight off your bike is to eat less and ride more.
Tyres, wheels, crank and fork in that order is where I would start.
Your tyres are roughly 600gm so I reckon you could easily drop 200gm per tyre for racing. But yeah with your entry level bits you can definitely make some good savings. Fork and crankset are probably the most expensive bits, so maybe look at swapping out cheaper bits like your stem, bars and seatpost. I'd chuck on some Easton Monkeylite CNT bars, and a Thomson X4 Stem and Seatpost. Thomson are light gear but are bulletproof. Pedals can also be really heavy. Look at Crank Brothers 4Ti Eggbeaters, they're $$$ but super light and super strong.
Oh I could go on...
(Curse that weightweenies website, I'm going to be on it all day now)
Eat less, ride more*
*ride to work
Eggbeater SL are probably best bang for buck.
XT crank and bottom bracket from CRC isnt too expensive either.
which tyres weigh 400gm? for general trail riding most tyres i've looked at (maxxis ignitors, crossmarks, ardent, nevegals etc) weigh mid 500 - 700 gm.
Crossmark evo's I believe are under 400g
Ozgti, what a can of worms you have opened. I think Phil speaks for all of us bike obsessed grown ups. Once you head down the path of weight saving it doesn't end well. It's worse than being an alcoholic or gambler. The obsession will ruin relationships. It will start with saving 500g on a wheel set but will eventually lead to high fives when you pay a gazzillion dollars and save 60g by replacing a few bolts with titanium. Go and enjoy your bike as is and don't become a weight weenie. It can't lead to anything good!
Come race day I swap my heavier training tyres over to a pair of 380g GEAX Barrow Race http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/component...
http://www.geax.com/en/products/?cat=2&prod=2
They make you fly!
Now if that's not a weight weenie setup I don't know what is - Lol
It sure is an awesome bike though, that FRM gear is superfly! BTW what hubs did you build onto those ZTRs? I've been looking at matching some up with some Pro IIs
DT Swiss 240's Phil. Great hub if you keep them maintained. I pull my rear hub apart about every 8 weeks for a clean & grease. They never miss a beat.
They'll become training wheels shortly as FRM have some 1200g wheels on their way here. I was considering the FRM carbon forks too but the distributor doesn't like the way I ride. Reckons I'll trash them so wants me to stay with FOX
Don't bother on an enduro, especially something like Dirtworks.
You could perhaps try at a circuit race you didn't much care about the result (ie. you have time to walk the rest of the lap when you rip a sidewall).
Depends how you ride of course. I've seen '01 and others rip the beads of lightweight tyres too often to want to try 'em myself. Remember, if you have to stop even once to fix a puncture or play with it you'll probably loose the time any weight advantage would have bought you, and then some.
As others have said though - wheels/fork is a good start. I have a very silly rule of thumb regarding weight loss... don't pay more than $1 to save 1 gram. Depending on how heavy your seatpost and bars are you can sometimes pick up some great clearance stuff that fits this rule.
Did you strip your bike and weigh all the bits to see where the lard was?
Absolutely true!
Forget rocky terrain with light tyres. I'll only run mine on events like The Fling.
For general trail riding I stick to my Larssen/Ignitor setup.
The $1 for 1g rule is great too. I try and stick to this also.
Wheels, and I am surprised no one has offered the algorithm in relation to rotational weight not just dead weight, followed by wheels followed by wheels. I order it (assuming not running tubeless) as: 1st tubes (light weight latex saved me 80g a wheel for $14), 2nd tyre (point taken re sidewall) and 3rd the rest (rim hub and spoke – normally bought as a package for the better bang for buck).
# 1 & 2 are easy and cheap – you might pay a bit for lightweight tyres, but if you race a bit you will use them, plus if you ride a bit are continually replacing tyre anyway, so just have a race pair extra.
Then forks (plus the benefit of a much better fork and it weighs less. For example Recons (from outside Australia) are cheap and a decent step up in both weight and performance than your Toras (I believe the benefits trail off after that – see the $1 to 1g rule).