Hello everyone

A new year and a new light weight project (last one was a poor attempt at a Cannondale Flash Carbon)

I couldnt turn down a fabulous brand new Cannondale Carbon 2012 56 Super six 105 this xmas, as it was a stunning price!

I always approach these projects slightly differently from some. I want light, but not at any price. I have only a limited amount of money to spend each month on my bikes.

The challenge is to try and match the complete bike weight of my good friends bike whos bike i envy! I will be weighing it very soon (i have digital fishing scales on order from ebay £4!). But its a 2008 Trek Madone 6.9 56, XXX carbon wheels 1400g, GP4000s 23's, Frame and fork are top xxx carbon, so is the seatpost, bar and stem, full dura ace 7800 except the chain and cassette which is Sram RED, Look keo Iron man carbon Ti (95g).
I am guessing his bike is below the legal limit, so this is going to be hard to match on a tight budget.

Im guessing you lot are up for the challenge?

So what have I got and one already?

I have contacted Cannondale and got a very fast and useful answer on the frame weight, i was kinda a bit over sold the bike as i had assumed that the changes in Cannondales line up for 2012 meant the 2011 supersix himod (890g) became the base 2012 supersix and the new super light supersix evo took over as top dog.
This however is not the case. The 2012 super six is new. Has a down tube like a drainpipe and a large 31.6 seatpost (not good for my bum which is coming from the beloved Synapse carbon ive just parted with), and a weight cannondale tell me in a email is 1050g for a 56, they also told me that the evo weighs 710g which is more than their adds say (695g).

So im a a disadvantage from my good buddy already as i do believe his frame is about 850-900g. not good.

i didnt want to remove the bb30 bearings etc so i havent been able to check out the real weight of my frame. sorry.

I have been able to plunder my higher spec 2010 Syanpse Carbon Ultegra for some bits before i sold it, so i swapped:

Wheelset
tyres and tubes
cassette
chain
crankset

So the supersix now has fitted:

2010 Mavic R-SYS wheels (1390g ish)
2010 Ultegra 12-25 cassette (although this will be going)
2010 Dura Ace 7800 chain (although this will be going)
GP4000s 23 tyres
Bontrager superlight inner tubes (75g ish)
2010 FSA SLK carbon compact crankset (593g ish without rings)

I have also added:

2010 100mm bontrager XXX carbon stem (145g ish)
2010 31.6 x 350 bontrager XXX carbon seatpost (180g ish)
2010 Fizik Aliante Kium saddle (235g ish)
2010 Look keo Carbon pedals (115g ish)
2012 Planet X carbon bottle cages X2 22g each
2012 A2Z ali bottle cage bolts 2g each vs 10g each for standard ones
2012 KCNC road super light Ti seat clamp (14g ish vs a horrid one that came on the bike that looked like cast iron made by the saturday boy in his lunch hour id guess it was 30-40g).

So, as you can see ive made a start! the bike is brand new and i wont be riding it until the summer as i have a CAAD 9 to get filthy on, so any further bit i remove i can sell brand new!

I have a few £100 left from the sale of the Synapse plus a little more.

Ideas please?

IMG_1416 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

IMG_1417 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

IMG_1433 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

IMG_1434 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

IMG_1435 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

IMG_1437 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

DSC05596 by runningrunningjump, on Flickr

You know you can post all the links in one post.......

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lots of pictures of parts being weighed on my flickr account. just go through one of the other images posted here.

Brakes (save 200g right there), saddle, seatpost, bar&stem.



do it logically with a cost per gram saved calc.

ps the SS has looked this way for three years now - the things you mention are not new.

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dangerous curves ahead

Thanks for your break down! much appreciated. youve put some expensive kit on yours! ive been weighing bits today, (see my flickr) its nice to see my SLK cranks are 80g lighter! but everywhere else your kicking my bum!

Ive just weighed the whole bike with pedals but without chain (300g ish) and its 7.36kg but thats with a bontrager saddle fitted. but still with 105 on.

ive just bought some 7800 dura ace brakes from ebay, and some brand new pads, so will be fitting them next week. ive weighed the 105's and they are 190g each (280g total) and i believe the 7800s should be 232g so thats another -48g!

This kinda ties my in with dura ace 7800 now i guess so im going to work my way though the parts as money becomes available.

the bontrager xxx carbon seatpost turns out to be 32g heavier than they say 212g vs 180g, but i have a fair bit spare so i could attack the bottom 10cm off! plus look at getting a ti bolt for it. looks an odd size.

anyhow, its all fun!

hi there.

a few more pictures added to my flickr account showing parts changed and weighed

have got second hand dura ace 7800 shifters and rear mech now.

498g 2012 shimano 105 shifters
428g Shimano Dura Ace 7800 shifters

226g 2012 shimano 105 rear mech
182g shimano Dura Ace 7800 rear mech

Ive also ordered some Ti road KCNC skewers which should save 60g+ over the Ti Mavic ones!

good times

Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you reverting to an earlier series?

7800 was (and is) a good groupset, just wondering why you decided to aim for that rather than (say) Planet-X calipers, Sram Force Shifters and front mech, Red rear mech, Hollowgram Si cranks, which would be quite a bit lighter than full DA 7800, and very affordable (in relative terms of course).

EDIT- and a lighter cassette, the Ultegra one is heavy