STI and Derailleur tuning kits

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Branimir
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:36 pm

by Branimir

Cheers everyone!

My bike is sporting a 5700 groupset, and I'm kinda cheap and reluctant to dig into Ultegra or Dura Ace for upgrade, but I know the key parts are probably STI's and rear derailleur, regarding weight.

I came across this thing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-105-570 ... 564b0d6961

So I'm thinking of buying this set, can anybody comment on it? Is it worth it?
Actually I don't really care about the FD, since weight saving is not something to write home about, but it's there, so why not?

I weighted my RD=224g, FD=92.

Tuning kit is 69$, an Ultegra 6700 RD is 62Euros + shipping 10E (total of 95$).
6700 RD is 30g lighter than 5700.

Anybody used this Far Near tuning kit? I know bolts shave off some grams, but the pulleys are probably the ones that make the most difference.
Also, gold stuff would like purty on my black 5700 group.

On the other hand 5700 STI's are 493g, which is brick heavy, even my 1st generation 8 speed Veloce ergopower from 1994. weighted only 448g.
6700 STI's aren't much lighter, but 7900 are. Price of 7900 STI's is high, so that is not an option, and 6700 STI's don't bring any weight advantage.
But, I noticed it is possible to buy replacement STI band clamps, 7900 series, titanium ones, so I'm thinking on pulling a trigger on those, since that's the only sensible part of STI's that could be changed.
Anybody care to comment on "regular" band clamps (5700 and 6700 have the same one) and 7900 which is TI, and probably lighter. I haven't found any numbers on those, but I imagine they could shave 20 to 30g off of pair of 5700 STI's, maybe more?

I know my wheels are probably the biggest boat anchor, but I'll get to those later.

Thanks!

ps: This is the bicycle:
Image

It's not exactly WW material, but it's not far off, regarding it's age.
Frame+headset+fork=2599g, Columbus EL-OS
There are some interesting bits here and there, which I got either for cheap (new), or used (older stuff).
40cm Bontrager SSR VR-C compact handlebars 26.0mm = 289g
Dura Ace pedals (7850) = 274g (got this heavily used ones for 50$, they'll serve me long time
Madison Prime saddle = 219g (if I recollect, bought brand new from ebay UK BIN price was something like 48$ shipping included)
Dura Ace aero seatpost = 263g (early 90s seatpost probably)
3ttt quil stem, unknown model = 251g (really hard to find classic stems this light, it's not Ti)

Wheels are 2000g pair, will opt for something far lighter soon, tires are also heavy Vittoria Rubino's 700x25.
Bicycle weight is 9600g.

Hope to bring it under 9000g, which won't be a problem with 1500g wheels and Conti GP4000's.
So I'm looking at options to bring weight further down, here and there, I know some components limit me, like quill stem, but on the other hand, even those I have are considered light for it's time period :)

This I look to upgrade:
Bottle cages
Tuning FD and RD
STI tuning
1500g wheelset with Conti GP4000 and 50g tubes

Hope to hit 8500 with this upgrades :)

This is the full sheet, yellow stuff is the one I'd like to upgrade, though 7900 brakes would be awesome but they cost too much, and I don't want to compromise satisfying performance of 5700 brakes by buying Planet X superlight brakes...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 3c/pubhtml

A friend of mine started TIG welding frames, so maybe in the future I'll opt for a Columbus Spirit frame and fork, which would probably be much lighter than this frame, so I might transfer some components to that frame, so I don't think these upgrades are futile :)
My wife can have extra pounds here and there, but my bike cannot!

by Weenie


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tigoose
Posts: 234
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:23 pm
Location: Mal Born, Oz.

by tigoose

cool. i've got a similar bike and an al bike that i'm hoping to lighten without spending much. i'm running 8 speed on both tho. i'm looking at wheels such as bhs hubs, archetype rims with cx-rays. may even go downtube shifters too..

maxxevv
Posts: 2012
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:51 am

by maxxevv

The wheels and tyres will bring some 600~650g in savings. And do include some quality latex or lighter weight inner tubes. Those alone can save 50g a pair. Tyres about 40~70g a pair too if you're talking GP4000s x25 tyres versus your current Rubino's of the same size.

A modern carbon seatpost in 27.2 can probably save about 80g there. Saddles are personal, so won't suggest going light unless you know your own preferences.

Quill stems are kind of hard to replace. You could try searching of those long out of production Cinelli Grammo stems, those were light. Or maybe the current Nitto ones but I'm not sure how much weight you can save there. But the most direct would be to replace the steel bolts on them to titanium ones. Due to the long length of the steerer compression bolt, think a 10g saving might be possible there.

No idea what kind of cages you're using but a quality carbon one such as the Arundel Mandibles weight about 25g each.

You can work on those bottle cage screws too and swap for Ti will save about ~2 gram per bottle cage screw.

As for your bars, depends on your fit preferences and also budget. But 26mm ones aren't that common amongst the weighweenie genre with the exception of maybe Schmolke. A decent quality 31.8 clamp one will be under 250g, even for aluminium. They do come as low as 180g for the more commonly available ones. There are however even lighter ones ...

The tuning kit will save some weight and add some bling, though amount saved might not be worth like an Ultegra replacement $/gr wise.

RimClencher
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:00 am

by RimClencher

Chinese carbon cages are much cheaper than Arundel Mandibles and do the same job. Here or similar prices on ebay.

I use aluminium screws for my cages (Al is half the weight of Ti). Available in various colours on ebay for a few dollars.

Considering the overall weight of the bike, you may as well wait until the tyres you have wear out before replacing them with something lighter. As for inners, I've had some faulty Supersonic inner tubes from ebay, so if you don't have a trusted source maybe try Panasonic R'Air tubes (66 g) or another brand.

I'd save up for new wheels before buying that tuning kit. It might look pretty, but will get you only relatively minor weight gains compared to a set of wheels. New wheels are going to feel amazing.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

I doesn't make a lot of sense to spend money to make this bike lighter. Enjoy it, and replace parts when they wear out.

Then get something lighter when you can afford it.

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kman
Posts: 1117
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:51 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

by kman

I agree, this is a heavy bike thats always going to be pretty heavy. Make upgrades that will make the bike better to ride or that you can keep and transfer to another bike. Wheels tick both boxes there.
No idea why you would use Ti bolts for something like a bottle cage. Aluminium is cheaper and lighter and easy to get in pretty colours.
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
-- Frank Zappa

maxxevv
Posts: 2012
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:51 am

by maxxevv

Problem is that Alu bolts do corrode quite easily in a moist environment if you don't do routine maintenance often enough. Also they have a finite fatigue life, not to mention they are pretty soft.
I have seem breakages for them used on bottle cages, and it wasn't pretty especially when they corrode and bind to the threads.
They are alright if you know how to take of them.

But not everyone does, so I don't recommend them.

User avatar
Branimir
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:36 pm

by Branimir

Cheers, thanks for the replies.

Cockpit is a bit heavy considering bars+stem, but going with threadless type of stem and 31.8 bars means I need an adapter for threaded to threadless stem clamp, and they come in 150g at least, so in the end, adapter+stem+bars could result in a similar weight as to my current setup.

I'm aware of some lighter quill stems, as Cinelli Grammo as mentioned, but they are hard to come by and cost ridiculous money. There are few other Ti stems, think 3TTT made few, but they do flex.

Marin wrote:I doesn't make a lot of sense to spend money to make this bike lighter. Enjoy it, and replace parts when they wear out.
Then get something lighter when you can afford it.

Agreed!
I'm looking to save some weight sensibly, I know it ain't never going to be UCI illegal :)

I don't mean to spend money on a carbon stem, or some other parts like that, the whole upgrade thing would cost much more than the bicycle itself, but I figured I could do some upgrades that would lower weight and improve overall enjoyment of the bicycle, while not breaking the bank, call it budget upgrades, maybe? I thought there are some other minor things that could be tweaked, like derailleurs, but I'll skip that one for this time...

I'll probably start with the tires when these wear out, and with wheels when my budget/wife allows. Hehe
My wife can have extra pounds here and there, but my bike cannot!

dogg
Posts: 291
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:37 am

by dogg

as has been mentioned, i would sway the alloy deraileur bolts. i have one for my FD, coincidentally a 5700 unit. and i don't really trust it. even torqued up much higher than is probably recommended for, the der. still flexes about on the mount. it'd be gone if i could find the stock steel bolt...

i don't really see anything wrong with spending money on this bike as long as its on stuff that could be transferred onto a new frame, wheels, carbon seat post, some cranks, etc

but that said a cheap-er upgrade you might want to keep an eye out for might be a 1" carbon fork. i see them on ebay occasionally for <$100, old alpha qs, columbus etc.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

You could spend 100$ on Aliexpress and get a carbon seapost & bar, Ti skewers and a 10g seat clamp. Should net you 250g - which is a lot. You won't feel it when riding, but you still might enjoy them.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



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