Introduction, Upcoming Winter Project (9.98kg KHS Flite 500)

[Crazylegs]

Hello!

I've been lurking here for a few weeks and figured it's time to make my introduction. Name's Crazylegs (or so that's what the clubguys have crowned me as), and I have been an avid bike rider since April this year. All summer I had been training vigorously and joining local club rides with my 1974 Raleigh Grand Prix, factory steel wheels and all. It has to weigh 30lbs/13.6kg, at the LEAST! Having been a lifelong fan of racing, any racing, I decided to begin training for bike races this upcoming spring due to it's relatively low cost when compared to auto racing. Long story short, I quickly became quicker and started hanging and pulling with the fast guys on much more modern rides with little to no issues, hills and all. Anyways, a couple months ago the club guys finally convinced me to get a more modern bike. Ended up making payments on a mid 2004 KHS Flite 500 since I just landed a new job. However, one day I came in to the shop to put down another payment and the manager pulls me to the side and explains that someone had anonymously paid off the rest of the bike for me. I was very shocked and awed.. Although I don't know who paid it off, it was definitely someone from the club so I will just assume that it was an awesome gift from the club itself. Now that I have a second job, I plan on hotrodding my new gift from the club to top specs for my future cat 3 self, changing everything out, except for the frame. The frame stays in honor of the club.

The plan so far..:
Obtain full Sram red Groupset then work from there.

The paragraph above brings me to these questions:

1.) With a $2,000-$3,000 budget, is it realistic to lose 7lbs/3.175kgs from my current specs to bring it to 15lbs/6.8kg? Can it be done for cheaper? If so, which parts would you recommend?

2.) Any particular products you would definitely recommend that are made of both lightweight and quality, and will fit within the budget?

3.) The 'List' is a little overwhelming for a complete weightweenie newb such as myself. Would you mind sharing with me your build so I can get an idea on what parts to look for, please?



Specs:
Frame: 54cm 2004 KHS Flite 500. Material: 6061 Aluminum: Weight: ?
Front Wheel: Sunrims MZ 14: Weight: ?
Rear Wheel: Mavic Aksium Race: Weight: 1014g
Front Tire: Vittoria Zaffiro pro: Weight: 250g
Rear Tire: Vittoria Zaffiro pro: Weight: 250g
Brakes: SORA: Weight: ?
Front Derailleur: Tiagra: 103g
Rear Derailleur: 2004 Ultegra: Weight: 225g
Crankset: TruVativ Elita, 30/42/52 teeth: Weight: ?
Bottom Bracket: TruVativ ISIS cartridge, 118.5mm spindle: Weight: ?
BB Shell Width: 68mm English
Handlebar: 3T T.H.E. Weight: ?
Headset: 1 1/8" threadless WTB : Weight: ?
Handlebar Stem: Aluminum, Adjustable: Weight:?
Brifters: 105: Weight: 493g
Saddle: Selle Italia XO Trans AM: Weight: 263G
Seatpost: Kalloy micro-adjust: Weight: ?

Total Weight:
22lb/9.98kg according to the shop's scale.

The KHS Flite 500 in it's current state:



My 30+lb commuter/training anchor and future cat 5 ride:




Hope you like the pictures!

[xjbaylor]

Very cool story. If I had a 2-3k budget and was building a bike I intended to race I would skip the SRAM Red and go with Rival or Force...better yet I would piece together the group I needed. If you are racing you will go down, and the chances of destroying shifters, derailleurs, bars, etc. is pretty high. I personally run Red Shifters, Red crankset, Force RD and Rival FD. Planet X brakes were cheaper and lighter than Red, though the new Red brakes are awesome.

If it were me, I would get a good set of wheels and a good drivetrain. Then get a fitting and work with your LBS to determine stem length, setback, bar width, etc. IMO that would be a better use of your money than going straight to a full Red group. Keeping a little money aside to replace things as they break couldn't hurt if you are on a tight budget.

In the end, a budget build will typically use parts that are not quite the best overall, but the best value. Starting with Red is putting a big part of your budget into very minor gains over something like Force. That money could go a lot further by taking one step down the drivetrain ladder.

[AGW]

As someone who also got their start on a 25+lb rig (and dropping a healthy number of underpowered madones and tarmacs)...