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How to reduce the weight of your mountain bike, part 1
If you read my recent article on cutting body weight, you’ll see that I suggested that it is more cost efficient for most people to focus on trimming body fat before worrying about cutting grams from their bikes. Having said that, my next two articles throw all of that practical advice out the window in favor of a discussion that really gets weight weenies going: cutting weight from your bike.
I’ll focus mainly on weight-weenieing (WW) from the perspective of a budget-minded rider but I’ll also touch upon some higher-priced options for reducing the weight of your ride. The first part of this two-part series looks at getting you started on the path towards the Dark Side and the second part discusses more specific ways to trim weight from your ride.
How much difference does a light bike make on overall cycling performance? You can get an idea about the effects of trimming bike weight by doing the math — the tools located at Analytic Cycling to start you on your way. But let me warn you, going down this dark path is a never ending journey. You will NEVER be done building the lightest bike you can ride.
The mystique surrounding the lightweight bike
What is it about a lightweight bike that excites us so much? Is it just marketing hype? Or is it the opportunity to compare your bike to the pros bikes? Whatever the motives, and when money and durability don’t matter and performance is paramount, you can really push the envelope weight wise. It’s also safe to say that a lot of us are suckers for gear that lightens up our rides. In fact, one of my favorite mountain bike rituals is the ceremonial lifting of other people’s bikes in the parking lot before the ride begins.
“Ohhhh, ahhhh! That’s light,” I say. I figure that if you can’t impress someone with your fitness level or riding skills, it’s always easy to impress them with your light bike.
The reality of the lightweight bike
I believe it was Keith Bontrager who said, “Strong, light, cheap… pick two.” With rare exceptions, Bontrager’s comment is pretty much bang on when it comes to reducing the weight of your mountain bike.
Before I start, it’s really important to take stock of your personal preferences before you start thinking about cutting weight from your bike. Without talking about component costs, bike-weight reduction forces riders to measure weight savings versus product durability. It’s important to keep these things in the back of your mind at all times:
- How much do you weigh?
- What kind of riding are you doing?
- What kind of rider are you? Smooth? Light on the pedals? A bull in a china shop?
- How much disposable income do you have to replace broken parts?
- Are you racing short track or 24 hour enduros?
- Can you afford to be out on the tundra with a broken carbon seatpost?
The ground rules: unofficial rules of thumb
If you are going to play the weight-loss game you have to know what your goal is. What is considered light in those elitist weight weenie circles? It used to be that 24lbs. was considered light for a hardtail bike. Now, I’d imagine that a really light hardtail would weigh in below 22lbs. A lightweight full suspension cross country bike would likely come in at under 25lbs.
A word on units
In the USA and Canada it seems that there isn’t a lot of consistency when it comes to talking about bicycle parts. Most component manufacturers publish product weights in grams but when you talk about forks, frames, and total bike weight most in the know seem to talk about it in pounds. The only people who don’t are at MBA. Every time I read their mag or their web page I have to have a browser window open here. In Europe I would think everything is in metric.
Oh and those Europeans. Man do they know how to weight weenie stuff!!!
First step: tools of the trade
If you are going to count grams then you must have a gram scale. I found a generic scale on ebay and it does the job.
Once you have a decent working scale, it might help to start weighing a bunch of different stuff (and not just bike parts). Try to determine what is the smallest amount of weight difference that you can actually feel just by hefting it in your hands. This will give you an idea as to whether spending $100 to drop 100 grams is going to make a discernable difference to you. Keep in mind while cutting 30 grams off a single part is probably not going to make a wit of difference, if you cut 30 grams off of 10 different components, then the 300 total grams saved will make a noticeable difference. So sometimes it is more important to look at the cumulative weight savings than on just the savings of one individual component.
For measuring your total bike weight, the only thing to have is the Ultimate hook scale — I wish I had one of these. The next best substitute is to do the old, weigh yourself on the bathroom scale and then weigh yourself as you hold your bike test.
Second step: Learning about trimming weight from your bike?
It can be difficult to figure out where to start when it comes to lightening your bike. My first suggestion is to spend several sessions reading through the archives at a few websites. Do searches for terms like ‘budget‘ and ‘bang for the buck‘, and take everything you read — even this article — with a grain of salt. During your searches, look for patterns and products that keep being mentioned over and over rather than posts that talk in terms of absolutes. And be careful, because it is so easy to get brainwashed if you spend too much time in a particular online forum.
The first online place to start is the mecca for weight weenieism: Weightweenies at Starbike.com. The site has the most up to date listing of component parts and weights as well as a great forum. The guys who contribute to that site really KNOW their stuff.
Other great places to look online include:
- Light Bikes. Here you can look at detailed listings of people’s bikes. It’s fun to find people with the same bike as you and to see what they’ve done with it.
- The Save Some Weight forum at mtbr.
- This Dreambike article on bike weight loss.
- Damon Rinard’s database of parts. This site has older parts but it might be helpful to some of you.
Also manufacturers web pages and catalogs are a good place to start. But keep in mind that the popularity of places like weightweenies is because there usually is a disconnect between manufacturer’s ad copy and reality.
As you look at more and more information on the ‘net, one thing you’ll see is that there is a plethora of boutique component manufacturers out there specializing in super light weight parts. Companies like Tune, Soul-Kozak, and Boone Titanium all have ultra-light components for weight weenies. Unfortunately, I have zero experience with these companies because their products are cost prohibitive (at least for me). If you are truly on a mission for WW glory they might be for you.
Third step: A basic strategy for bike weight loss
It is really easy to get caught up in this WW stuff and you may find yourself bouncing back and forth from one chi-chi part to another. If you are on a budget, here is a more practical strategy that provides good bang for your buck. If you have the time, energy, and money you can keep trimming bike weight until your heart is content.
- Focus on rotational weight first. Trimming rotational weight (as opposed to static weight) from your bike is the most effective weight change you can make. Lighter rims, tires, rotors, pedals, cranks, and even shoes will make a noticeable difference on your next climb.
- Freebies. Trimming off excess handelbar width and cutting down your seatpost are easy (and free!) ways to drop a few grams.
- Bang for the buck items. Foam grips and bolt on skewers are cheap options for shaving a bit of weight.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about weight weenieing your bike, take a little while to become familiar with the tools of the trade, the resources that are at your fingertips, and the general techniques for reducing your bike’s weight. Once you understand these basic ideas, it’s easier to make decisions about where to start trimming fat from your ride. I hope the ideas that I’ve described in this article help you understand a little bit about the obsession that is weight weenieism because, in the second part of this article, I’ll go into more detail about the specific ways to lose weight from your bicycle, with component suggestions whose prices range from free all the way to the other end of the spectrum.
1. Posted by Week 3 » The Biking Hub | 4:51 am, 27 January 2006
[…] I started the week with a brief review of the Race Face Garda gloves. My writeup was followed by a couple of detailed entries by Ashwin that discussed specific strategies for trimming weight from your bike. The second part of Greg’s road trip planning series went online Wednesday, and Dan presented five dreamy cross country rides the next day. Today, I humbled myself by talking about some of the worst crashes that I’ve had on a bike. […]