Lightest factory MTB?

[jonnymcenroe]

Picked up my friends (1996?) Cannondale m400 this afternoon, wow scary light, like road bike light.

It has slim slicks on it, steel bead, a quill stem and some non OE low end wheels.

I thought Marin made some of the lightest bikes in the 90s even the steel frames have impressive catalogue weights, my Pine Mountain is way heavier than this m400 and I'm struggling to understand where all the extra weight is coming from. (Wheels? Steel Vs alloy frame? Rust?!)

I guess some of my components like Syncros and Tioga are made tough instead of light and my tyres are steel bead.
(note to self : acquire some folders).

Time to strip down the Marin in favour of a mongoose alloy IBOC frame see if I can't get it to a similar weight for town and trail.

 

[petitpal]

I think some surprising elements can add weight as well - like the bottom bracket. Read quite a few posts on here where people have said they took the BB out and suddenly realised how much weight it was adding! (Just a thought!)

 

[cce]

Kona's catalogue weights were always impressive

 

[mynchiboy]

Re:

The Ritchey P series surely wins? Sub 21 lbs off the shelf for the P-20 (deep pockets required mind!). Bridgestone were impressive too, I'm still searching for the elusive MB-0 that's still in one piece... Klein hardtails were/are also pretty light.

In terms of the more affordable stuff a fair few brands were pushing out light machines especially around 93-4 when lightness was a big selling point (and before front sus became more common). Marin and Kona stood out for me as they were everywhere where I lived

 

[xerxes]

Re:

Lighter isn't always better though.

If you're a 15 stone biffa, you'll likely want a stiffer, and therefore heavier, frame than a 9 stone whippet. It's also more likely that greater weight savings are to be made closer to home. Losing 28 lbs off your own carcass is going to make a lot more difference than a couple of hundred grams off a bicycle frame.

I speak from experience.

 

[jonnymcenroe]

Re:

I had considered the BB being heavier in my bike although I think it's a un72.
The m400 has lowly utilitarian specifications and my bike is fairly tricked out.
It was a real surprise picking the m400 up as my Pine Mountain isn't so heavy, I thought I'd done well keeping the weight down (it's my town and trail bike).

Clearly the m400 isn't the lightest factory bike ever but as far as MTBs go it's not bad at all!
I don't weigh too much I'm usually nine, ten stone ish and I'm liking the stiffness of my current set up what with the spinner triple butted cro-mo forks (from the Mongoose, next on build list) and the specialized front hub with its oversized axle. Weight weenie world awaits

Unsure if it is a 1996 m400 model - it's dark green with a fade to darker green/black.

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

When I was putting together my weightweenie trek (sub 20lb, front sus, 24 speeds, totally retro ) I found that one component wouldn't really make a difference. if you want to make your bike lighter, you need to skim weight everywhere... which also involves raping your wallet. You can take 100gms off seatposts, stem, saddle, bars etc easily, wheels and tyres get expensive, you're then chasing grams with your groupset choice, cranks, BB etc. Brakes can weigh a LOT.

But, to make a bike FEEL light, concentrate on tyres, tubes and wheels - rotational weight makes a huge difference.

One last thing - trick bits are not always the lightest...

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

Funny how things change isn't it as outside the XC race bikes no one worries too much about weight now.

 

[jonnymcenroe]

When I was putting together my weightweenie trek (sub 20lb, front sus, 24 speeds, totally retro )

Had a look at the build thread , nice!

 

[bishopdante]

Re:

One of the simplest ways to shave weight off is to just not have stuff, eg: front mech, rings, bolts, shifter, wire. Put that all in a bag and it can weigh half a kilo.

Some fixie weenies put front and back brakes into that category?! No freewheel or brakes is amazingly light, but... lethal.

There are usual culprits for "dead weight", where there is a huge weight difference between high end parts and pig iron parts:

Bottom bracket
Forks
Pedals
Tires
Cassette

If you have a bike with any ally frame that is inexplicably heavy as sin, by upgrading those and getting rid of unnecessary parts, a saving of 5kg can be had.