Are there really that many sub - 12 pound bikes out there that get ridden.

You haven't been around here long enough.

Donald rides a sub 4kg nearly daily.
Gumgardner has a near sub 4kg that's a rather large frame (58-ish? It's custom)

There are plenty of people here on this site, on light-bikes.de, on velo-optimal (french) and other sites that ride sub-12lb bikes on a daily basis.
Jason at FWB can attest to knowing plenty of people that ride sub 10lbs every day.

All real, not hypothetical.

I'll state this though: the best ones are the builds that aren't just bought parts, but contain a majority of custom or tuned components.
Money can't buy you everything, Mr. Veyron.

_________________
Exp001

Thanks for the jab.

And Jason helped me with my CA - sold me many of the parts for it - except the frame and wheels.

And the question was meant to start a dialog so we could get some ideas on real usable sub 12lbs builds. Not meant as I think everyone is full of it and really rides a 22 pound Huffy.

For example, on my CA I have a Schmolke Seatpost and 3T cockpit (arx) and would like to shed some weight up there. I would like the cockpit to match and I can't figure out what stem to use with the Schmolke TLO bar. Most stems have logos and markings - and the 3T arx would not really match to well. I have read about the AX Zeuss, not too many positive reviews out there.

Maybe painting, or sanding my 3T would work - just to make it all black.

That was the purpose of the thread.

The jab wasn't just at you, there are a number of folks who've come onto WW lately with more interest in spending $$$ (or Euro, or Pounds) than time and thought on their projects, and they've tended to project a fear of "don't do anything to it! think about the warranty!" onto others rather than "hey, I can make this lighter if I use my head, a little effort and ingenuity." It's a bit annoying, and it portrays this forum as a place where it's all about the "bling" when that couldn't be further from the truth. It's great that you can afford the nice stuff, and I would like to one day be in that financial position, but my sincere hope is that it is not the sole force behind your efforts to build a light, daily-use bike.

If the purpose of this thread is for tuning, there are countless threads of information on the how-to's and examples of what was done and what can be done. From sanding, to cutting, to anodizing vs. painting vs. powder-coating and far more. Years worth of helpful information.

To get to the really light builds you'll need to think about breaking "out of the box" that people tend to put themselves in.
If you really want things to "match" don't limit yourself to the brand. Break out the sand paper, re-paint, re-anodize or just straight up cut the components that you have individually selected for your desired goals. If someone takes a look at your bike and proclaims any kind of irk because the components aren't of the same brand, it's clear they don't actually ride and are more interested in posing or useless showmanship rather than improving their performance.

Warranties can be limiting.

_________________
Exp001

My bikes sub 12 and gets ridden daily rain or shine.
At 5.2kgs it's no where near the crazy light bikes that some people own round hear.
I'm 85kgs and ride between 200-400kms a week depending on work and around 10km of climbing a month. My bike is at a weight and spec that I find it totally reliable. If I was 20kgs lighter I could use a 4.sumthing kg bike in the same manner. As it is Im too heavy for alot of the uberlight bars and seat posts, etc. I use a kilo wheelset and they hold up fabulously. Lighter wheels would be nice but I doubt they'd last long with me on em

If I can build an 11lb bike thats a daily
I'm pretty sure smaller riders can get away with 10 or even 9lb bikes Used in the same fashion

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http://fairwheelbikes.com/c/forums/topi ... parlee-z5/

My 2008 Lynskey titanium R320 has over 25,000 miles on it. While its not sub 12 at 12.57 lbs if I went with a carbon frame it would be since my titanium frame weighs 1244 grams. BTW I love my current road bike too much to ever replace it and if I did it would be another titanium bike.

_________________
-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

From someone who has spent far more than he should on a bling Storck a bit of positive feedback on the Ax Zeus stem. My 69g 100mm Zeus is very stiff. I absolutely love it. It looks really hand made and individual. Really classy. In my view one of the best things the excelllent Ax make.

I took my 11.3 pound Cervelo R5ca out for a 116 mile (7,500 feet elevation gain) ride yesterday.

I also have never had a problem with an AX Zeuss stem. I have them on a number of bikes. I know a guy who had a problem, I think he over torqued his and it cracked. I use tubular glue instead of carbon paste where the handlebar gets clamped. I stick to 3nm and it works very well.

I ride the XXXX out lof my 11# EVO, crazy rough roads, hills, at least two races a month, ect.

_________________
Curt Brown
2012 Cannondale Supersix EVO SRAM Red 10.8#'s
2012 Cannondale Super X 14.1#'s and dropping....
2011 Cannondale Carbon Flash 1 17.2#'s
1999 Cannondale F2000, SRAM XO 18.9#'s
http://cbevo.com/2012_cd_supersix_evo_31.html

I have a Z3 sl that is 11.9 lbs that I ride regularly and if I didn't have any other bikes I would ride it everyday without hesitation. In fact the only reason I ride the other bikes is based on what ride is planned. If every ride had enougth hills, I would ride it every ride, but for me, I have fun choosing which bike to use based on what the ride is going to be that day. (that part of the fun for me)
It is as dependable as my 14.5 & 15 lb builds (with the exception of the recon alu cassette that shifts a little poorly, but that dosne't mean it is fragile, either)

It seems from my experience that 12lb can be very attainable now, even 11.5 lbs..
(56cm+ with pedals and everything, it still seems funny that weights are even talked about on builds that do not have pedals, cages etc...but I digress )

If I added (or changed) ;
-a differnet set of OTC (over the counter ) wheels like an AX with extralight & Ti spokes (my current light-weight set is 995gm)
-a different frame (not even exotic) (my current Z3 is about 1030gm)
-aerolite pedals

The weight would be about 10.4 lbs and still ridable.

That's just my experince, FWIW

That's the first I've heard of using tubular glue where the handlebars get clamped.

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I try to keep up with Sedluk on my R5CA. 11.1lbs. with custom 11-29 Campy SR cassette /10.9 with light recon cassette that shifts like crap. Have the Extralite aluminum stem, it replaced my overtorqued cracked AX Zeus....