General weight loss questions

[Jmdesignz2]

another vote for tires first but need more info on specs of your bike?

[pdmtong]

stop spending money on this thing and ride it. trying to get something 20# to 17# is not economic.

save your money for you next bike and relegate this one for winter/rain/commute/errand

[illskittlz]

pics and specs of your bike?

[alcatraz]

I did something that might interest you.

I got a second hand bike that I started to upgrade one part at a time. Every part I got I carefully made sure that it was a good deal and extremely light (keep in mind structural stability).

Since I always had a bike to ride there was no rush in obtaining parts. I always went for the low hanging fruit first. Tires/tubes/seat/seatpost/clipin pedals/shoes/handlebar/stem/seatclamp/freewheel. Later I had to go for wheelset. Important is that you get stuff that is worth keeping.

What happens is that at one point you will have to get a new frame/groupset. When you come to that point you now have two bikes. You can choose to sell the old bike or give it to the wife like I did. (I'm not much taller than her and I picked a slightly smaller frame than I needed, fits fine)

The first bike I got cost me around 300usd and weighed in at 9.5kg. Before I switched frame it weighed 7.2kg.

After switching the frame/crank/groupset I landed at 5.9kg. The total price in parts is around 700usd.

The key I think is to give yourself time to upgrade to catch the deal as it appears, and pick each part wisely. Ask the seller to confirm the weight, don't always assume the manufacturer spec is correct.

Now I'm happy at 5.9kg and won't be chasing any more grams. Last thing I got was a set of carbon tt bars to use whenever the ride group is doing flat practice with inline slipstreaming.

/a

[Raccooningtanuki]

I have my first half-decent road bike, and out of the box it came in at around 25lbs

Ditching the stock wheels, seat, bars, I got it down to just under 20lbs, and now i'm starting to get into more minor details for weight savings.
I'd really love to hit 17lbs, but I don't think thats possible with my budget, but anything helps.

Right now, my bike has a super cheap basic crank, and while I can't afford anything too crazy, is a $150 or less crankset going to make much of a difference?

I plan on cutting my seat post down a bit, and may change out my tires, but not sure if doing that will make a noticeable difference or not.

Honestly, I doubt it makes sense to spend much money making your current bike weigh less. I'm guessing you spent 50% of the new price of your bike to get it down to 20 pounds. To get it to 17 pounds, you will need to spend another 50% of the new price of your bike. Spending an extra 100% of the price of your bike does not sound reasonable to me. And I'm guessing the frame on your bike is extra heavy, so its not really worth upgrading all the parts on this frame.

Start saving your money on all these upgrades and in 2-3-4-5 years from now, you can easily buy a 15 or 16 pound bike from the factory for $2000 or maybe even less. Its not too hard to get a real light and real good bike for not too much money. Go that route instead of upgrading your questionable bike. You said the bike has a super cheap basic crank. Those kind of cranks do not come on bikes worth upgrading.

Basic cranks come on good bikes. Manufacturers like to cut costs at brakes cranks do they not?