General weight loss questions

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Jixr
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 4:36 am

by Jixr

Hi everyone. Sorry, i'm sure these types of questions get a bit repeitivie.

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 differene?

And for platform pedals, generally, which are lighter, plastic or metal?

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.

Thanks
- Jixr

dmulligan
Posts: 314
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:16 pm

by dmulligan

Rubber can often be the cheapest and easiest way to lose weight. Look closely at that.

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by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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mrgray
Posts: 775
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:56 am

by mrgray

At 20 lbs I'd imagine you'd want to look at wheels first. Best best if you are interested might be to weigh wheels, front and back. Also list components. People might be able to give you some more feedback with more specific items.
Bobo S&S Steel Bike - 7.5 kg
Oltre XR2- 6.6 kg
Look 585 - 6.8 kg
Look 695 SR :D

victorduraace
Posts: 230
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:10 pm

by victorduraace

go clipless pedals (ROAD !!!) and get decent, stiff and light carbon shoes, used ones can be found pretty cheaply, usually bit cosmetic damage will drop price a lot, set up your cleats well
get fancy tire like conti gp4000s up front, nice clothes, fitting saddle, bartape and dial in your position just right
these will make you fly, unlike removing 2 or 3 pounds of bike weight
cheers

victorduraace
Posts: 230
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:10 pm

by victorduraace

Jixr, take some photos of the bike, weigh the wheelset, tires and we will try to help
if these are entry level cranks, getting set of HT2 tiagra/105 will be fine, although if you are not powerful, heavy rider,
they will not be very much stiffer, also square taper is less prone to creaking

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tochnics
Posts: 1130
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:02 pm
Location: around amsterdam

by tochnics

wheels always go first
Join the light side

a light bike does make you go faster unless you are slow

dmulligan
Posts: 314
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:16 pm

by dmulligan

He's already upgraded his wheels, besides rubber first then wheels.

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WesCarroll
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:13 pm

by WesCarroll

>And for platform pedals, generally, which are lighter, plastic or metal?

Wellgo R025 track pedals at 235g, (~$20) are nice if you like to ride with clips or half clips (they are one-side-up track pedals). Cons: really tiny for my size 12 feet, sharp edges mush into softer shoe soles hurting power transfer

I'm seeing Wellgo WR-1s on ebay that look like a good bet -- 200g for about $25

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

On a super low budget, search for deals on eBay or craigslist. Recently I picked up an scram red 22 cranks with only a few hundred miles on it for $150. You have to be patient and wait for the deals to come.
Last edited by AJS914 on Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kongbop
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:58 am

by Kongbop

Wheels always first and impact

RussellS
Posts: 916
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

Jixr wrote: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.

Jmdesignz2
Posts: 272
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 2:27 am

by Jmdesignz2

Not aware of any 15-16 lb bikes new for $2,000
Please let us know if you have some links?

RussellS
Posts: 916
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

Jmdesignz2 wrote:Not aware of any 15-16 lb bikes new for $2,000
Please let us know if you have some links?


Go over to Nashbar website. Look at their current list of road bikes. Brands Mekk and Guerciotti. There is a Ultegra Di2 bike for $2300 today with the 25% off sale. Ultegra mechanical bikes for $2100 and $1650. 105 bikes for $1200 and $1125. $2625 for the Guerciotti with Ultegra mechanical. Maybe 15-16 is a little optimistic. But 17 is probably accurate. You could upgrade the 105 bikes for less than $2000 total and easily get to 15 or 16 pounds. Of course your wallet will weigh more with all those extra dollars sloshing around in there. Nashbar has some fine bikes with nice parts for very cheap prices when you get one of their 20% or 25% sales. Every two weeks they have a 20% or 25% off sale.

Jmdesignz2
Posts: 272
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 2:27 am

by Jmdesignz2

@russellS - nope none of those bikes are going to be too close to 15 lbs let alone 16 lbs and $2300 is not $2,000 ;)

Did some online searching since you brought up Nashbar - my friends have a few bikes from bikesdirect.com
How about this bike - full Ultegra $1399 includes shipping to 48 - one could drop another $600 and get around 16 lbs easy I think

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... ce_xiv.htm - claims 16.5 but that's likely without pedals and the smallest size

by Weenie


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dchan1234
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:14 am

by dchan1234

Go for tires first, you might want to change your saddle out as well, those tend to weigh alot on stock bikes.

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