Weight-saving... Best value for money?

[Jerry Thurston]

Given the law of diminishing returns.
There reaches a point where much money spent equals not much gained.

So, In your experience...
Where are the areas that the most weight can be saved for least money?
Or indeed, the areas where least weight can be save for the most money?!

(Useful stuff for us newbies to learn)

Over to the experts.

 

[tintin40]

If the weight lost is less than 2 oz then no point. No matter how little you spend (unless free)

My biggest weight lost was on crank set 8oz but at a cost of £970

Oh unless i include frames i lost 3lb with a 2005 Trimble cost £950 including customs charges

 

[Bike Hoarder]

Lighter wheels will give you the best feeling gain - tyres/tubes/rims etc - (rotating mass)
Cheapest - possibly bar/stem/saddle/seatpost, but then you can spend a fortune on all parts.

 

[Kerplunk]

Cakes and pies. Buy less of them, you'll save money and the combined bike and rider weight will decrease.

 

[julesg007]

I'm sort of in the position you're in, recently built up a Ti frame and although really happy I just went over 20lbs, which I was slightly disappointed with and have mulled over the whole weight loss issue, however, you've made the point about cost over gain, is it going to be worth it?

On a slightly more serious side, I know losing a few more pounds, well over 2 stones worth will mean more than losing 1/2lb or so from the bike.

However, I could lose weight by removing bar ends and brake boosters, is this something you can do?, also if the seat post is a bit long or bars too wide a trim up saves you something.

Although in the retro chat forum there is a fair amount of light weight modern components such as by AEST or KCNC (both on eBay) which might be an option.

Obviously there are Ti and carbon upgrades that save weight but can be expensive.

Probably the best result for your money is tyres and tubes as previously mentioned, not sure for certain but perhaps going tubeless with folding tyres might be an option.

At the end of the day it all depends how deep your pockets are .

 

[poweredbypies]

Tyres are probably the quickest way of sheding some weight it's suprising how much some can weigh.

 

[Ally]

Any pics of your bike, or a bike spec to see if any of your parts can be changed?

Obvious ares for weight loss are wheels, tyres, saddle, cranks, seatpost.

 

[kaiser]

Tyres IMO represent the best bang for your buck along with tubes. Don't always assume ££$$ + lower weight, mikee has found and modified several lower range parts to great effect. Also think laterally there are some diamond back bmx levers in halfords for instance that come in very light.

I'd also add that going light doesn't always have to be purely about performance. Its quite satisfying trying to loose a few grams here and there.

 

[Rampage]

I'd stop now and not bother!
My bike is 20lb and I think it used to ride nicer when it was 23-24lb. It's seems to skip about on the trail more now. A lighter bike = higher centre of gravity which isn't a good thing!

Although as above, wheels, tyres, pedals (rotating mass) make the most difference to how a bike feels after losing weigh.

The biggest mistake I made was by buying light parts in the first place, I should have bought really light parts. I ended up with all parts being light and to make any significant weight saving would have had to change almost everything!
So, if you want an exceptionally light bike have a look at Colin's Trimble and the weight of the parts on it.
I know I wouldn't be able to afford it!
Otherwise, Hope hubs, Mavic rims, Middleburn cranks and rings, XTR groupset, light alloy/carbon bars stem and post, lightish tyres and a sub 4lb frame with light rigid forks should get you around 20-21lb.

 

[02gf74]

tyres, tubes and wheels are the first place to look at.

then saddle, seat post, chainset, chain, bars and bar grips.

frame, disc rotors, alloy and Ti bolts but you are hitting the law of diminishing returns where it is costing more to save those grammes.

mini ilink and powercordz are not cost effectibe IMO.