Budget Hardtail XC Build USD$1000 - 100% COMPLETED

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

After a hiatus of nearly 2 years, I have started a new project in October with following requirements/restrictions/specification:

1. USD$1000 on Bike Parts all inclusive. Would like to spend more but that's what I have
2. Built around a VERY specific frame (I LOVED this frame so much despite the obese weight)
3. Bike must be reliable and dependable to race 10 XC events in 2018. Mostly XCM type race and limited XCO
4. Bike is a Hill Climber XC variant with short travel and wide range gearing ratios
5. Built to suit my riding style and sizing
6. Must be 100% DIY - backyard project sort of stuffs
7. Buy cheap policy, NOS and good conditioned used components are preferred

It will be a sized 17" 26er XC Hardtail. Why 26er? well I am 164cm tall and with a steady weight of 57-58kg - rather on the smallish side. Yes I have raced a 29er before in 2015 and 2016 but ultimately to ride a 29er, I was forced to use a sized 15.5" frame which I found to be a bit finicky to my bones. I did switch to a 650b somewhere in between but still it was a sized 15.5" frame. Late 2015 I switched to a sized 16.5 26er and have been getting better results in XC races - with less punishing after effects post race. So I made up my mind that I will stick to 26er 16.5-17".

Let's start into the juicy parts then.

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Stage 1: The Frame

I have been eyeballing this frame for quite a while. It was a NOS BMC TeamElite 05 Aluminum 6061 Sized 17". The perfect size and geometry that I have been craving for. I have had great experience before with Giant XTC 26er 16.5" and I was confident that this BMC would be better suited for my use. And the price was definitely spot on.

Price: USD$ 123.00
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However, there's one BIG problem. It has the weight of an elephant! :shock:
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1883g for naked frame is outright obscene for any weight weenies :mrgreen: Apparently BMC decided to go for Apocalyptic durability for this frame with much thicker gauge than you would normally see on Taiwanese brands. Probably can support a rider up to 200kg without even creaking...LOL

And so begin the extensive diet program - with the dark arts of Drillium, Hack, Grind and Shave of the good old 80s come into practice. The time when racers drilled and hacked their metal bikes to death....carbon fiber was probably exclusive only to NASA Space programs back then :)

Paint Strip:

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Yep, it's 65g of solid paint scraped off, and that's not all of them. Some were swept away earlier

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And so I ended up still at 1.8kg after paint stripping - that's still 69g shaved by just removing the paint

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Many many hours later after extensive Drillium, hack, grind and shave - with removal of cantilever bosses, cable brake bosses, shortened headtube, shortened seat tube ends, drilled headtube, drilled BB housing :shock: , removed hydro hose bosses, grinded edges etc.......the bare Frame now weighs 1650g

Yep I know, it is insanity to drill holes on frames......but I am doing this with full acknowledgement of the risks and implications. Bike builders of old has been drilling gaping holes on BB housing and headubes - I am just applying the idea to practice :mrgreen:

Next, finishing the frame with a pretty coat.
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Complete with decals and coat - Yamaha Star Grey color code

And I am penalized with 16g of weight added in the final product. A weight penalty I am willing to absorb for a bit of eyecandy
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In the end, I managed to reduce 217gm from the original weight - not too shabby eh? XD

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Stage 2: The Front Suspension

Due to limited budget, I decided to use SR SunTour EPICON X1 100mm. I have had very good experiences with 26er EPICONs before so this was a no brainer.

Price: USD$ 147.00 NOS Gen 1

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Weight: 1610g (1593g after steerer cut)

Lower housing modification & hack
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40g shaved off the lower housing with removal of excess ridges which was meant to support heavier riders. Now this fork can only support 65kg max riders

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And so the initial weight after re-assembly was 1475g. Final weight is 1463g after further tune-ups. Oh yes, plain RED because I love the contrast vs the gunmetal frame color

In total, 147g was removed from the forks. Now operating 80mm travel and without rebound dampening springs which I can live without :mrgreen:

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Stage 3: Drivetrain

I have decided on running 1X11 Mega Wide Range for this XC Climber.

The Crankset:

The cheapest option for a Shimano Hollowtech Crankset was an Alivio M4000 Triple. Totalled at USD$85 (Crankset + 32t Oval Chainring + Aluminum Chainring Bolts + Ti Bolts)

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Shimano Alivio stuffs are made to be used through zombie holocaust so it is impossible to break this thing :D. The weight at 1004g matches the sturdy built

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Initial attempt at conversion to 32t single ended up at 615g - NOT good enuff...

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That's more like it!. Crank Arm length was reduced to 165mm from 175mm - this primarily because I am more of a Spinner than Cruncher - spinning higher cadence with shorter cranks is less painful to my Hip Flexor. And shorter cranks are lighter too. The spider was totally reworked and substantial chunks of aluminum were shaved from the assembly. The Chainring gets traditional Drillium treatment too

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For a $85 crankset to weigh a mere 487g makes me a happy man indeed :D thats 517g gone from the original assembly!


The Cassette:

I jumped into the Mega Wide Range bandwagon and the cheapest 11-50t available in the market was a Bolany 11-50t 11 Speed priced at USD$42

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WHAAAT!!!! 660g! :shock: this thing weighs as much as someone's full bike here...LOL!

And so I spent over 40 man hours on getting rid of the overtly excessive weights...with extreme Drillium, Grinding and MORE grinding hahaha

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First the Mega Cluster gets extreme makeover which resulted in 157gm removed

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Finally...
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395g isn't exactly a Weight Weenie standard, but for $42 cassette with a weight reduction of 265g overall...I would not complain :mrgreen:

The rest of the Drivetrain:

Rear Derailleur - Shimano Ultegra RD-6800 SS Short Cage! got a bargain deal at USD$49.00 for an almost new RD sold by a Roadie fresh from his new bike. I have always suspected that a short cage RD would perform better on 1X system due to the stronger Cage springs and shorter chains, for as long the reach problem is solved for giant cogs (of which the RD Extender addresses) - now is the time to test my theories...
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And so the RD was originally 197g and I decided not to go ape shit on modding this unit. Just grinding works on the cage and replacement of Pulleys to Meroca Aluminum. End results is 182g. (Once I have the funds I will go for DuraAce version)

The Rest -
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The remaining drivetrain parts are:
- Shimano tuned length shifter cables (Free - already owned)
- RD Extender ($7.30 New)
- Shimano Alivio M4000 BB51 (Free - already owned)
- KMC X11EL 116 Chains tuned length ($35 New)
- Shimano Ultegra SL-RS700 1X11 Shifter ($74) Purchased practically new from an owner of folding bike. This shifter actually uses the same shifter chassis for XTR M9000 11spd. So at this price it was quite a bargain

Assembled Groupset!: Mocked up dry run with my spare training wheels
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Hahaha, so a short cage RD does work on giant cogs. In fact the shifting performance was crisp and smooth. Even at 50t, the RD actually still have a bit of play to stretch flatter. And this means I don't really need a clutch RD because the SS cage tension was adequate to prevent chain slap.

Drivetrain Stage Done! Next is the brakeset ;D
Last edited by Erwandy on Sat Jan 13, 2018 12:46 pm, edited 13 times in total.

by Weenie


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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

Placeholder for Updates 01

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Klaster_1
Posts: 1390
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2016 10:25 am
Location: Paphos, Cyprus

by Klaster_1

What an awesome thread, please continue. Did you weld the cranks back by yourself?

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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

Klaster1 wrote:
Thu Dec 21, 2017 3:42 am
What an awesome thread, please continue. Did you weld the cranks back by yourself?
Thanks, updates will be uploaded in 2 hours time from now. The crankset was re-welded by a Radiator repair man LOL. I have no equipment nor skill to weld Aluminum

User avatar
Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

The rest of the Drivetrain:

Rear Derailleur - Shimano Ultegra RD-6800 SS Short Cage! got a bargain deal at USD$49.00 for an almost new RD sold by a Roadie fresh from his new bike. I have always suspected that a short cage RD would perform better on 1X system due to the stronger Cage springs and shorter chains, for as long the reach problem is solved for giant cogs (of which the RD Extender addresses) - now is the time to test my theories...
Image Image
And so the RD was originally 197g and I decided not to go ape shit on modding this unit. Just grinding works on the cage and replacement of Pulleys to Meroca Aluminum. End results is 182g. (Once I have the funds I will go for DuraAce version)

The Rest -
Image Image
Image Image
Image

The remaining drivetrain parts are:
- Shimano tuned length shifter cables (Free - already owned)
- RD Extender ($7.30 New)
- Shimano Alivio M4000 BB51 (Free - already owned)
- KMC X11EL 116 Chains tuned length ($35 New)
- Shimano Ultegra SL-RS700 1X11 Shifter ($74) Purchased practically new from an owner of folding bike. This shifter actually uses the same shifter chassis for XTR M9000 11spd. So at this price it was quite a bargain

Assembled Groupset!: Mocked up dry run with my spare training wheels
Image
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Image

Hahaha, so a short cage RD does work on giant cogs. In fact the shifting performance was crisp and smooth. Even at 50t, the RD actually still have a bit of play to stretch flatter. And this means I don't really need a clutch RD because the SS cage tension was adequate to prevent chain slap.

Drivetrain Stage Done! Next is the brakeset ;D
Last edited by Erwandy on Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:19 am, edited 2 times in total.

glam2deaf
Posts: 712
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:36 am

by glam2deaf

This is insane! I love it.

TheRookie
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Midlands, United Kingdom

by TheRookie

May as well delete all the photobucket photos a single you now have to pay for them to show in forum, all we get is the photobucket logo.

Good luck with the project, my hardtail (Merida frame 100g lighter than yours) got down to about 9.7kg without spending a fortune, in fact if I put everything off my Litespeed back onto it it would now be 9.3kg, nothing too fancy. I run a M970 XTR rear mech which is an identical weight to yours (alloy jockeys)and an Ultegra shifter as a ten speed.
Impoverished weight weenie wanna-be!
Budget 26" HT build viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110956

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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

TheRookie wrote:
Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:33 am
May as well delete all the photobucket photos a single you now have to pay for them to show in forum, all we get is the photobucket logo.

Good luck with the project, my hardtail (Merida frame 100g lighter than yours) got down to about 9.7kg without spending a fortune, in fact if I put everything off my Litespeed back onto it it would now be 9.3kg, nothing too fancy. I run a M970 XTR rear mech which is an identical weight to yours (alloy jockeys)and an Ultegra shifter as a ten speed.
Yep I am changing the hosting for the pics now. Photobucket SUCKS.

I would love to see your Merida rig, sounds sweet.

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Klaster_1
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Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2016 10:25 am
Location: Paphos, Cyprus

by Klaster_1

TheRookie wrote:
Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:33 am
Good luck with the project, my hardtail (Merida frame 100g lighter than yours) got down to about 9.7kg
Hey, I had exactly the same! Here's the build and a photo, it would get much lighter with parts from my new FS bike:
Merida TFS-100D frame (~1.85kg).
Sunringle Black Flag Pro 26" (~1650g).
Manitou R7 Pro (~1550g).
Ashima Ai-2 / Avid HS-1 160mm rotors.
Conti X-King/Race-king setup tubeless (super painful setup).
Shimano BR-M615 brakes.
Sram S2200 crankarms.
Rotor BSA30 BB.
Abosulte Black 32t oval chainring.
Shimano CS-M771 11-36.
Shimano ST-M980 shifter.
Shimano RD-M640.
SRAM PC-1091 chain.
Shimano PD-M770.
Hylix seatpost.
Noname CF saddle.
Easton Heaven 710mm CF bar.
Kalloy Uno 7 90mm stem.
J&L QR ti skewers.
Ti bolts everywhere.

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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

Klaster1, that looked like a pure endurance race workhorse. Loved the fenders :D You run a rather long handlebar for 26er eh

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Haha oldschool! The cassette work is insane.

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Erwandy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:14 pm

by Erwandy

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Stage 4: The Brakeset

And so I went to buy a new Shimano BR-M477 new for USD$62. Pretty much the most common Non Series Shimano on most new bikes.

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As expected the brakeset is way over 500g at 561g to be precise.

Inline with the insane modfication theme of the whole project, the mod for this brakeset took another gruelling 40 man hours to reduce the weight. Stage by stage pics below:
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The end product weighed at 365g exceeded my expectations :mrgreen: That is like 30g lighter than an XTR M9000 Race set hahaha. But honestly I do not know how it will perform, only time will tell.

Mods were:
- Four Ti Bolts tuned to length on calipers
- Two Ti Bolts tuned to length on levers
- Removed steel pivot bolts and replaced with Aluminum Rivets
- Extreme grinding on every surfaces

And also due to the VERY slim profile of the Chassis & Levers, I expect a hard crash on the handlebar would snap those things off. This is a risk I am willing to absorb and if it does happen I will just send it over to my Radiator repair man for Aluminum welding hahaha - rinse and repeat until to a point it is beyond repair.

NEXT:
Other components.
Last edited by Erwandy on Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

02GF74
Posts: 724
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Sunny UK

by 02GF74

It's project insanity alright.

Did you not consider a Chinese carbon frame?

Also the thinning of the brake levers and clamp make me wince, let us know how they work out.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

There are 40 man hours in the photo's alone. And eveb nore when this chap wears out his chainring and cassette. hats of to him but I am glad it is him.

Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

How did you get the road and MTB shifting bits to play nice?

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by Weenie


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