Colnago CLX 2.0 + '12 Chorus 11s

[summiluxer]

Hi everyone,

In my mind, this is my first "real" road bike. I had been riding on a generic aluminum frame for a couple years before seriously hurting myself in another sport (compound fracture of the leg). I just moved up to the Bay Area as some of you might have already seen me talk about! I'm really happy to be here and I'm trying to get back into the shape I used to be in (ready to flip that damn stem over! )

This bike is no WW - the bike originally was built up with Ultegra 6700 but I took the plunge for the Chorus 11 - I'm not sure exactly how much weight it's dropped since then (pre Chorus 11 weight was 17.5 give or take). I would like to at least get it down to 15lbs eventually, is that even feasible?

I just wanted to get feedback on what future mods might be slowly making their way onto this bike, I love it! Here's the build:











I want to be able to drop some weight over time, but reasonably so, mainly without incurring too high of a cost. Here are a few things that I'd like to stick to in general: clinchers/tubeless, Speedplay pedals, flat top handlebars. If you have pointers on how I can either increase performance (do those jockey wheels even help?) or reduce the bike's weight on a skimpy college-student budget, please let me know.

[thprice]

Nice bike, wish I had that when I was a student!

Wheels look to be a good place to start reducing weight. Fulcrum 5s are about 1750g.
Should be able to get custom wheelset under 1400g.
Replace QR Skewers and go with 70g tubes, e.g. Conti Light, should combine with wheels to loose approx. 450g (i.e. 1 lb)

If you are hesitant about custom wheels, another option is Campag Neutron.

[dereksmalls]

You have the model up from my CLX so I've gone through some of the same things.

Lighter bars/stem/wheels/bottle cages/chain cut your seat tube if you can.

Things I've done so far are lighter bar tape (Lizard Skins), lighter wheels (Fulcrum 5s to Enve 45 clinchers - saved 400grams), lighter seat (but will go lighter on this to 89gm carbon version), lighter cages, tuned speedplays (ti bolts, bowties, spindles), but I haven't made the leap yet to lighter stem and bars as I need to save up for those first off and I haven't cut my seat post yet but there is a whole heap I can take off that. I wish someone made after market posts though that were lighter and stuff.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=96621&hilit=colnago+clx

[summiluxer]

Nice bike, wish I had that when I was a student!
Should be able to get custom wheelset under 1400g.
Replace QR Skewers and go with 70g tubes, e.g. Conti Light, should combine to loose approx. 450g (i.e. 1 lb)

Thanks - certainly took forever to save up. Damn, you're saying I can save 450 by just changing tubes and skewers? And what specs for a custom wheel set would you say is good?

You have the model up from my CLX so I've gone through some of the same things.

Lighter bars/stem/wheels/bottle cages/chain cut your seat tube if you can.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=96621&hilit=colnago+clx

I was actually thinking about cutting that ridiculously long seat tube, it's way too excessive haha. Great build on yours btw, what spindles did you go with?

[thprice]

The combination of new skewers, tubes and wheels should all combine to lower the weight:

Skewers: Lots of aftermarket skewers are about 40 to 45g. Bikehubstore, Far & Near, Token, etc. Typical manufacturers skewers are 100g or more. Suspect you have 50 - 60 g to save at a cost of about $50.

Tubes: Normal tubes are 100g each. Continental Lites (and others) are 70g. Two tubes provides another 60g saving for a spend of under $20.

Wheels are a little more interesting. All sorts of options:
a. Build your own: Bikehubstore.com has all the parts. e.g. Kinlin 270 or 19W rims, Sapim Laser spokes and Bikehubstore Super/Ultralight hubs .. around 1350 to 1450g and $250 budget + an additional $150 for wheel building tools = $400 all up. A bit of work to complete your first set, but very satisfying and the tools should last a lifetime.
b. Custom built. There are a number of professional wheel builders on this blog, including rruff, ergott, zen, etc. I'm sure if you enquire, they will ask all the relevant questions to build a wheel set to suit your needs and budget.
c. Off-the-shelf, there are numerous around 1400-1500g e.g. Campagnolo Neutron and many, many others. Cost typically starts at $600.

[dereksmalls]

I was actually thinking about cutting that ridiculously long seat tube, it's way too excessive haha. Great build on yours btw, what spindles did you go with?

I went with Ward Industries - awesome spindles and very nicely priced too.

Oh another thing is lighter brakes - I'm eying up eventually the KCNC C6 - the C7s whilst awesome are out of my price range.