Real world weight saving?

[Ozrider]

Easy and fairly cheap weight saving:
Tubes
Tyres
Bar tape
Cables / housing
Skewers
Saddle
Bidon cages
Bolts - replace stainless with Ti or alloy

I have to agree that small weight savings can't really be felt, but I do like having my bike as light as possible without swapping major parts.
However add all these together plus the other parts you want to swap could save over half a kg or more.

Probably the things you will feel most are tyres/tubes. Lighter wheels also impact feel more than other parts.

Being a heavier rider (90kg) I have to consider flex and weight limits on parts, but this being WW - light bikes rule.
If it makes you happy reducing weight go for it.





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[dastott]

Although this might sound like sacrilege here on WW but the heavier the rider surely the less impact weight savings will have, especially minor ones like 500g or so. For example if a 90kg rider goes from a 7kg bike to one weighing 6.5kg that is a very minimal difference in the total weight of the whole package. Probably only 0.5% of total weight when factoring in bike, rider and miscellaneous stuff like water bottles, pump, spare tub(e)s, tools, phone etc. Obviously, reducing weight from the body will yield the most gains, although nobody will deny owning high end bikes and parts is a nice feeling. But the thread is called 'real world' weigh savings.

[Ozrider]

@dastott
You are correct. However I don't consider 500g weight saving on a bike to be minor.
As I mentioned lighter wheels do make the most difference in feel.
I can't feel the difference between a full or empty bottle, but if I swap from training wheels (1660g) to my light Carbon tubulars (1120g) there is an instant difference in feel and perceived acceleration.
Each to his own I suppose.


Parlee Z5, Trek Madone, Jonesman Custom

[PLuKE]

Thanks for your replies guys. It all helps with making an informed decision.

Luke

[PLuKE]

kgt and prendrefeu i agree with both of you 100%. physics matters. psychology matters too. but i dont think this is what the OP wanted to know.

To the OP - If the Deda Supperlegera stem is significantly stiffer/more flexi than your current stem then its possible you may feel some difference in handling/front end stiffness after you upgrade, but realistically you probably wont unless its a big difference...especially if your new to cycling. It is possible you may feel less road buzz with the new seat post if your current seat post happens to be Aluminium (?) - carbon tends to dampen road buzz better than aluminium.

I doubt you will feel a big difference by dropping 130g but you might feel some difference. If you do then i bet you will notice it mostly while climbing out of the saddle...but sounds like you dont do much of that. Doubt you would feel or measure a difference on the flat...although physics does tell us you will need to expend more energy to propel that extra 130g during the course of a ride, realistically, you wont notice it.

If the short sharp climbs you regularly ride on are only a couple minutes long then you will be hard pressed to measure any time difference with any accuracy without a power meter. by that i mean maybe you will climb a matter of seconds faster (maybe 5 maybe 15 but id guess nearer 5) but without a power meter and weighing yourself regularly (and paying attention to how much water is in your giant water bottles you will never know if it was just wind, or some other variable. Add that 130g savings to other weight savings and you start to see a bigger (more expensive!) picture. in a race the few seconds difference up a hill may make a big difference if it means you hang with the break or not. Or if you're climbing more meters over the course of a ride/race then you may end up saving some significant amount of energy which may effect performance. After all most people can burn calories faster than they can absorb them.


Personally i love adding new bits to my bikes. i find it motivating and inspiring.

PS if your talking about Dura Ace 9000 cassette....there are cheaper ways of saving weight. plus a lot of people have had problems with the cassette spiders breaking on them. Shimano updated the design but i still had one break on me....keep your receipt!

My current setup is a carbon seatpost and alu/carbon wrap FSA stem.

I run 80mm Campy wheelset, which isn't really WW. My terrain is mostly flat, slight rolling roads, the climbs aren't long less than 1 minute for the longest,

I already run lightweight tyres and tubes, pedals are fairly light as is the saddle.

Thanks for your reply.

Luke

[eric]

Less than one minute for the longest 'climb' I would consider to be flat. For that you should ignore weight and focus on aero.

[dastott]

Are you riding on such roads for just the enjoyment of riding fast or actually training for similarly flat races? If the former, fitting some TT bars to your road bike might yield the greatest gain.

[PLuKE]

Like I said not to hilly. I hope to try a spot of racing next year, more than likely a crib, again flat as you like, maybe a road race if I can, that is little lumpy ground.

I think I have the most aero I can get now, without swapping out the frame.

Thanks for your input.

Luke