I have a 2010 CAAD9 frame (BB30) and fork, with Shimano Tiagra 9 speed, Shimano RS30 wheels, cannondale C3 handle bars, and Specialised romyn saddle. I am starting to climbing some bigger climbs ( 3-6 kms average 4-6%) and am looking to take about 1 kg off the weight of my bike without breaking the bank. I love the frame and want to keep for a few more years. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

1. I think you can do much better with the wheels, but that's where the most money is going to be spent.

2. The tiagra group is heavy from my recollection. Changing out a group set is also going to be spending a lot of cash. I always give my buddies the advice of never go below 105's for Shimano and never below Rival for SRAM

3. If you just started climbing like that - then I'm assuming you have 1kg weight you can drop off of your own body. That would be the cheapest way to go about it.

4. I think 1kg of weight off of your bike is going to be pricey no matter what kind of build you have. That's 2.2 pounds in statute measurements. A culmination of changes will probably yield the result you're looking for. Also - Do you mind if I ask you what the weight of your current build is? Even a bathroom scale measurement would be suffice when you're talking about removing a kilogram of weight.

5. Love that CAAD9 Frame. I had a buddy get it down to 15.2 pounds, one of the funnest bikes I've ever had the pleasure of riding.

_________________
Cervélo S2 2012 Red
Great minds think alike... sadly, so do the mediocre ones.

Agree much with CerveloBert

If you're wanting to reduce its weight, the best place to start would be the wheels. True: a nice set of wheels are expensive, however, all but the very nicest bikes are stocked with mediocre wheels, which makes swapping them out with a new bike's hoops (if you ever decide to do that) a no brainer.

The climbs you refer to are, let's say, average ones. Anyway, the C3 handlebar (which I had also on my Cannondale (CAAD10)) is pretty heavy, easy to drop more than 100 grams on that thing alone !

I've changed just about every part that came on my CAAD 9 with 105. The only real noticeable changes were wheels, tires and crankset. Try finding a good deal on wheels first.

I'm starting to get that whole 'life is too short to ride bad tires' snobbism now. Open corsa's roll forever and offer more comfort than any other tire I've ever ridden, 10/10! The tubs are a 12 out of 10

Good luck and don't forget to post it in the CAAD thread.

_________________

2011 Cannondale Flash F1
2010 Cannondale Caad9
2000 Cannondale Caad 4 aero
1999 Cannondale Caad1
???? Concorde SS

get a drill bit and put about 50 holes in your frame

J/K

wheels, then you can usually lose alot of weight in your brakes, handlebar, and crankset.

nothing is cheap!

my caad9 went down to 14.8 lbs from 19lbs,,but spent a little bit money courtesy of ebay,,used but not abused Full sram red groupo then all used carbon cockpits and used zipp 202..