Old School Weight Weenie

[01Erion]

Hi, I'm new to this forum but I thought I'd share my WW journey. Last year I bought an older bike with no intention of ever being a WW. Boy was I wrong.
The bike is a 2003 Kona King Kikapu, 16.5". It was advertised at 21lbs which I thought was a bonus since this bike was immaculate. After bringing it home and throwing it on the scale I was sorely disappointed, 25.7lbs
This is when my journey began and I was bitten by the Weight Weenie bug! I was now on a mission to drop at least 4lbs...

This is how the Ad read:

Top of the line full XTR (not just the derailleur) Kona Kikapu. XTR cranks, XTR shifters, XTR brakes, XTR cog set, XTR front/rear derailleur, Race Face stem, Easton seat post, Mavic 317 rims, FOX TLT fork and FOX Float rear shock. We have a few handle bars if you want to swap too. As you can see from the pictures, it's in pristine shape, lady driven. Weighs about 21lbs

Here she is at 11657grams (25.7lbs) when I bought her.

[01Erion]

So the first thing I decided to address was the heavy cockpit by swapping in some carbon components.
Before


After

[01Erion]

At this point she was down to 11258 grams (24.82lbs). Meh
Had to keep going...
Decided to try some lighter tires so I threw on some 2.25 Racing Ralph and dropped another pound, down to 10805 grams (23.82lbs)

Now I was on the hunt for lighter wheelset and found myself a set of ZTR Podium MMX and set them up tubeless with Hutchinson Piranha 2.0 and Ashima Ai2 160mm rotors.
Front wheel

Tires



This got the bike down to 10160 grams (22.4lbs)

[btompkins0112]

Nice documentation of your WW journey!

[01Erion]

Thanks btompkins

[01Erion]

Next I figured I could lose a little weight if I found the right replacement for the Fox F80.


Hmmm maybe a Rock Shox Sid World Cup would do the trick...


And maybe a Dura Ace 12-27 cassette for good measure


So now I've hit my target weight at 21.7lbs. Why don't I feel satisfied??

[01Erion]

This is where I decide to address some smaller items.
Before

After
Full carbon saddle


Before

After
MT Zoom seat clamp


Before


After
Ness titanium QR skewers


Before

After
KMC X10SL


Woohoo! 21.0lbs

[01Erion]

The King Kikapu at this stage.

[Frankie - B]

Super Sweet, How does 21LB translate into KG? Thanks.

[01Erion]

Anybody run Hutchinson Piranhas tubeless? Don't bother, it could be dangerous... BOOM
After this happened I read that it has happened to others as well. The bead fails!

[01Erion]

Hi Frankie B. 21lbs = 9.5kg

[01Erion]

After the blow out it was a good opportunity to get some lighter tires and maybe a lighter cassette.
Brings it down to 20.28lbs or 9200grams

Maxxis Maxxlite 285



Dura Ace 11-23

[01Erion]

Sorry for posting in the wrong area of the forum...

My story will continue in the Gallery section eventually because 21lbs just isn't light enough

[krzysiekmz]

Another reason for tires to blow off the MXX rims is going over the max. recommended pressure. Happened to me while setting up the tire tubeless once.

You are cutting corners to cut the weight down fast, but it may hurt the functionality. Where and how you will use this bike is another story. It's a nice old school machine for sure!

Chris.

[01Erion]

Thanks for the comments Chris.

It probably seems like a quick drop in weight but these changes having been ongoing since early 2012. And you're right I definitely wouldn't want to use any components that would hinder the overall functionality of the bike.