Felt AR3

[Wull]

Here's my Felt AR3 which I was contemplating selling as I've been wanting a much lighter bike for climbing but I've decided I'll try and make it lighter myself,hopefully


The current weight is roughly 7.6kg without pedals.

Goal : 7kg





The current spec is as I bought the bike,I've changed nothing except bar tape.

FRAME : Felt aero road UCH advanced 100% carbon fibre monocoque

fork : carbon 1.125 steerer tube,crown,blades & dropouts

HEADSET : FSA integrated , w/aluminium 25mm conical spacer, 2x 10mm headset spacers, felt carbon fibre top cap & 7075 anodised aluminium bolt

STEM : Zipp SL145 100mm

HANDLEBAR : Felt VS aero 2014 triple butted aluminium ,w/ aerodynamic wing top section,w/ ergonomic drops

BARTAPE : fizik

SHIFTERS : Sram Red double tap 20 speed

FRONT DERAILLEUR : Sram red braze on double

REAR DERAILLEUR : Sram red

CRANKSET : Sram red GXP 50/34 172.5mm

CASSETTE : Sram red black 11-28 ( 0.185 )

BOTTOM BRACKET : Sram GXP compatible external bearing

BRAKES : Sram red black

CABLES : Sram red by Gore brake & derailleur

SADDLE : Felt devox with carbon rails

SEAT POST : Felt aero UHC advanced carbon fibre standard offset bladed monocoque design 300mm

SEAT POST CLAMP : AR aero 3D forged aluminium , 2x 5mm x 0.8mm CP steel bolts

WHEELS : Fulcrum red wind xlr cult 50mm (1.66kg) 1.59kg claimed

TYRES : Giant P-Slr1 25mm 0.220kg

SKEWERS : Fulcrum 0.155kg

INNER TUBES : Maxxis 0.140kg

I have no clue to what most of the above weigh,I'm going to try and find out but I weighed the bike the other day and it came in at 7.6kg with no pedals,and I'd like to get to 7kg,I reckon I'd be happy with that and would keep the Felt for longer.

Apparently the wheel set is 1600 grams but I can't confirm this,I did weigh them made up and the weight was

Front wheel with tyre,tube,skewer and air = 1.135kg
Rear wheel with tyre,tube,skewer and cassette = 1.525kg

The cassette will be roughly 180 grams, the 11-26 Sram red black which I have lying around is 165 grams so the 28 I'd have thought would be 180 at the most,making my rear wheel weight without cassette being roughly 1.345kg.

So my total weight from wheels,tubes,skewers and tyres alone is 2.48kg. That seems a lot to me,I'm fairly certain I could lose a lot of weight from just the wheels alone,different tyres and tubes possibly. I don't want to really go down the tubular route due to punctures etc.

I know the Sram Red group set is the lightest if not one of the lightest so
I don't think I'll need to change anything with that.

The bike weighed 4.89kg without the wheels and pedals fitted.

So I'm pretty knew to this game hence why I'm here,so if anyone can give me some info and help and out me in the right direction that would be much appreciated.

The goal is 7kg or lower,if I could get it to the UCI limit of 6.8kg I'd be proper happy

[Wull]

Fulcrum Red XLR CULT 50 clincher wheel set

Front



Rear



Skewers



Giant p-slr1 700x25mm




I stuck the winter wheels on the Felt tonight and the plan is to get my Trek up and running pretty soon so I can strip the Felt down for the winter,weigh everything then rebuild over the winter with some lighter parts for next spring,and hopefully reach the goal.

The winter wheels are heavy barstewards,a set of Alexrims S500 which I never even knew would be 10sp compatible as they were fitted with the 8sp cassette from the Trek bike.

[Wull]

Sram Red black OG 1090 11-28 cassette



A few more pics after the first outing on the winter wheels, Alexrims S500 weighing in at 2.1kg





Hopefully soon I'll have the Trek put back together so I can strip this down,weigh all the parts and then rebuild with some new lighter parts.

[Wull]

The winter rebuild is nearly done,just waiting on some outer cable to arrive then I can finish it off and then crack on with stripping down the Felt.

I really want to weigh all the parts and then see where I can go from there for achieving sub 7kg. I might have a set of tubs coming later in the week which'll help greatly towards achieving that weight.

As for the winter bike the rebuild was done on a budget so I wasn't trying to achieve much lightness but I think with the winter wheels fitted it'll be roughly 8.5-9kg.

A few questions if anyone can help, what other options do I have for seat posts with it being aero? Is there specific lightweight aero posts available? I've had a quick look and what I keep seeing is normal conventional looking seat posts that won't fit.

[bencolem]

As you say, you won't save much weight doing anything to the groupset, the seat post is set and your stem is decent so it really leaves the handlebars, saddle, pedals, skewers and then the big one - the wheelset. It's an aero bike so those wheels are pretty well suited to that frame - but you can get full carbon 50mm clinchers for less than 1,500g easily enough, a lot less if you go tubular.

[Wull]

Winter strip down has started,still a few parts to remove but I managed to weigh a few more bits.





I can definitely lose a few grams with a set of new bars next season,I'm amazed as to the feel these feel so light,but the scales don't lie,so a minimum of 50 grams could be saved I reckon.




Felt devox saddle with carbon rails,a claimed 160 grams but a tad heavier than this. There's a few saddles I've been looking at that claim to be sub 100 grams so a minimum of 80 grams could be saved there.




Forks with bearings in place,I ain't going to change these but good to know what they weigh.

Felt Devox saddle 185 grams > lighter saddle - 80 grams
Aero bars 315 grams > lighter aero bars - 50 grams
Skewers 155 grams > titanium skewers - 110 grams
Wheelset 1665 grams > much lighter tubs - 550 grams

Total that could be possibly saved : 790 grams

Now I think after weighing my current wheelset the bike weighs in total 7.49kgs

So theoretically I could achieve a weight of 6.7kg without pedals.

I'd be fairly chuffed with that

[Wull]

Well that's the Felt stripped down and ready for the rebuild with new parts for next season. The tubs I previously mentioned fell through,they weren't as light as I thought but I've since paid a deposit for a set that weigh in @ 1.64kg with tyres fitted.

My current set up with the Fulcrums,tyres and tubes come in @ 2.24kg.

So a saving of 0.6kg on the wheelset alone. They come with titanium skewers but I don't know their weight,probably 50g at the most saving me a further 105g.

So if I go down the route of purchasing a lighter seat and bars I reckon the end result will be 6.58kg without pedals.




Frame weight including seat post and bottle cage ( can't remove due to insert being loose )




Winter bike up and rolling,maiden voyage!! 9.6kg

[Wull]

Sram Red GXP compact 50/34 640g

Sram Red 10sp rear mech 160g

Sram Red 10sp shifter 300g

Sram Red brake calipers with pads 265g



Sram Red front mech 85g

Sram 10sp chain 250g

Various parts for the seat etc 145g




Not got these wheels yet but pics supplied from the seller. Total weight including tubs 1.64kg

I forgot to weigh the bottom bracket but I believe its roughly 105g.

Still to get is a lightweight seat and depending on what that takes it to I might keep the current bars and save a bit of money.

Sram Red 10sp groupset with 11-28 cassette including bolts roughly 1.99kg
ARC tubs 1.64kg
Felt AR3 frame,seat post and fork with bearings and outer cables 2.08kg
Bars 315g
Zipp sl145 stem 145g
Felt Devox seat 185g
Fulcrum skewers 155g
Various fixings etc 145g

Total without pedals 6.65kg

I'm not sure if I'm missing anything out but with a lightweight seat and lightweight skewers I should see a further reduction of 125-150g so a theoretical total weight of 6.5kg without pedals.

My current pedals weigh 295g

Total weight 6.79kg

That'll be close to the UCI limit,I'd be proper happy with that. And I wouldn't need to buy lighter bars.

Once I've got a lightweight seat I'll stat rebuilding the Felt,with new cables etc and a service. And have it ready for the spring,I can't wait?

[Wull]

Sorry for the poor pics,was in a bit of a rush,and I've still got a few things to do but as she sits minus brake pads and pedals the weight is 6.725 kgs.

That's with the ARC 3/5t VXS tubs fitted and titanium skewers.

So with the pads and pedals it'll be over 7kgs,I can still reduce a fair bit of weight by replacing the saddle and bars,I'll see what I can achieve with a lighter saddle then decide what to do next.

I'm looking forward to trying the tubs out.

[bencolem]

Top effort - good weight weenie'ing their, looking good.

[Wull]

Top effort - good weight weenie'ing their, looking good.

Cheers

My plans for next year have changed slightly but if I do end up buying another bike I might keep this and convert it to TT set up,hence why I'm reluctant to change both bars and saddle,purely for cost reasons. But with that all being said I'd really love to achieve 6.8kg with pedals fitted.

I'm currently using my winter bike and with all the gear etc it was weighing 11.6kg and felt like a bus,this Felt will feel super light when I get back out on it.

[mannequinforce]

Any updates? Would love to have an aero bike in the future! And the AR seems like a good fit!

[Wull]

Any updates? Would love to have an aero bike in the future! And the AR seems like a good fit!

Sorry for the late reply, I've not been on in a while due to my mother passing.

Change of plans now, I'm cycling for charity for the whole of 2016 and saving weight has took a back seat.

I have however just purchased Sram Red 22 as most of the 20 groupset is worn so it made sense, the plan is to go eTap further down the line so purchasing 11sp just now will set me up perfectly for the eTap.

My challenges for 2016 are

Cycle 12,000 miles
Lejog unaided and solo
24hr event
Everesting

I'm raising money for pancreatic cancer Scotland.

[Frankie - B]

I'm sorry for your loss.

the red 11 groupset will not disappoint you.
Lego seems like a real nice, once in a lifetime, experience. what bike are you going to use for that?

[Wull]

I'm sorry for your loss.

the red 11 groupset will not disappoint you.
Lego seems like a real nice, once in a lifetime, experience. what bike are you going to use for that?

I'm not entirely sure, I'm considering doing it with the absolute bare essentials which means I can use either the Felt or the next bike I fancy purchasing - Cannondale supersix evo hi mod.

But failing that I'll purchase some sort of tourer which will carry all my essentials etc. Its a good while away so there's plenty time to decide.