NBD! Defy Advanced 2 (want to shave some weight)

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

shotgun wrote:Nice gift! I myself also just purchased a Defy Advanced Pro 2, it's got a similar build to yours, except for hydraulic brakes, Ultegra cranks, and shorter cage. Sharing my weight loss path:

Upgrades thus far:
1. Reynolds Attack Wheels (saved over 400g from the Giant SL1 wheels)
2. Specialized Toupe Pro (from an old build)
3. Avid HS1 Rotors

Upgrades planned in the next few days:
1. Ti Bolts all around (down maybe 20g)
2. Ashima 140mm rotors (another 12g from the HS1)
3. Specialized Toupe S-Works (another 10g down)
4. Giant Connect SLR 1-piece cockpit (saves just 50-60g but I'd like a similar front end as my TCR)
5. SRAM Red 11-28 cassette (saves around 80g from stock)
6. Carbon Ti skewers (less 70g)
7. Giant Carbon Cages (less 25g from the bonts installed)

I reckon I can get mine down to 7.5kg (including pedals and stages PM) from all-stock 8.4kg without pedals. Not sure if I can go considerably lower than that unless I switch out the cranks.

Image


Cool, thanks for this, i may use it as a guide, at least go for the most bang-for-buck pieces at the get go.

Question about the 140mm rotors - this is my first disc equipped bike, and am wondering if I need to do any thing to the calipers to accept 140mm? There doesn't seem to be any kind of alignment mechanism - I guess this is something I can check youtube for.
I've also seen some people say that the Ashima 140's don't have nearly as much stopping power and most people have opted for 160 in the front and 140 in the back - can you comment on that at all? I assume you haven't fallen off any cliffs (yet) since you're still posting here :D

Thanks again, Love the multi color blue - wish I was able to find one in my size - but i'm still pretty happy with the black/green combo on the Advanced 2.

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shotgun
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by shotgun

Our Defy will take on 140mm in its stock form, which I think is more than enough for stopping power. I've installed Ashimas 160mm on my MTB. Braking performance was definitely less than Shimano rotors, but adequate enough even for off road. You could probably upgrade to larger rotors by adding an adapter, but I think it would be overkill.

To align just unscrew the bolts where the calipers attach to the frame and fork, spin the wheels to check if there's any rub. If there's no rub, just tighten the screws again.
2018 Giant TCR Advance SL0 Disc
2017 Festka Scalatore
1989 Battaglin Roche
1985 Alan Carbonio

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

Benno wrote:Yeah mine is a 2015. I lost a kilo off the weight just with wheels alone.
Image

I did Ti bolts and used the lighter steerer expander that was included with the bike. Also the seat is pretty light. I normally use ashima rotors because I like a grabbier brake. Skewers are from Tune and fairly light as well.
Be warned the very light stuff like Ti/ALU bolts, light skewers, light carbon seat are all pretty fragile and require a gentle hand and constant inspection.


Hey, curious what steerer expander you switched to? Im close to 7kg after wheels, skewers, rotors, crank upgrade.

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Benno
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by Benno

Congrats on the weight loss. You've done really well! Post some pics! I found my Defy rides much smoother with my new lower profile rims which was the whole point of buying a Defy lol.
Anyways technically I guess it isn't an expander. It is a metal sleeve that glues into the fork steerer. Like I said, my bike came with it in the accessories box.

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

shotgun wrote:Our Defy will take on 140mm in its stock form, which I think is more than enough for stopping power. I've installed Ashimas 160mm on my MTB. Braking performance was definitely less than Shimano rotors, but adequate enough even for off road. You could probably upgrade to larger rotors by adding an adapter, but I think it would be overkill.

To align just unscrew the bolts where the calipers attach to the frame and fork, spin the wheels to check if there's any rub. If there's no rub, just tighten the screws again.


Question about your rotors, did you have to swap out your rotor adapters? If so which did you get?

My bike came with 160mm stock and i've tried to put the 140 on with no luck, even removing the adapter (looked like it was going to fit, but the bolts that come with it were too long. i'm wondering if I need to get a different adapter, or some shorter bolts.

Thanks!

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Benno
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by Benno

Some shorter bolts.

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

Benno wrote:Some shorter bolts.

Any idea what length they need to be?

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Benno
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by Benno

I bought 20mm M6 and use a 2mm thick washer.

jeffy
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by jeffy

hmm. never knew that aircap expander existed.

i guess it is not removable so you have to be sure of your fit.

from googling the original bung is 46g

the aircap topcap is 7g, but can find any other weights

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

Benno wrote:I bought 20mm M6 and use a 2mm thick washer.



Thanks very much , was able to get the rotors mounted with these measurements!

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Benno
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by Benno

Glad it worked out for you. I feel the power of the 140mm rotors perfectly match the available grip for skinny road tires.
Jeffy - I didn't weigh the sleeve or bolt but the whole system is much lighter. My stem is already slammed so I don't have to worry about going lower.

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flashpunk
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by flashpunk

Benno wrote:Glad it worked out for you. I feel the power of the 140mm rotors perfectly match the available grip for skinny road tires.
Jeffy - I didn't weigh the sleeve or bolt but the whole system is much lighter. My stem is already slammed so I don't have to worry about going lower.

Not sure if you changed all your bolts to TI, if you did, do you have an inventory that I can order from?

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Benno
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by Benno

I didn't change all my bolts to Ti yet. Just the 4x M6 x 20mm caliper bolts with 2mm Ti washers. Also 4x M5 x 12mm aluminum bottle cage bolts. I had to modify the seat tube bottle cage so that I could mount it flush to the frame and delete the stand offs. You would need probably 20mm bottle cage bolts if you want to keep the seat tube stand offs.
Next on the list is Ti crank pinch bolts and alu front mech bolt. I order all my bolts from ProBolt. It does add up to a lot of $$ though and Ti bolts are very soft so require good quality Allen keys and a delicate hand. I mostly buy the dual drive bolts so if I strip the hex part I can always use a wrench.

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shotgun
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by shotgun

flashpunk wrote:
Question about your rotors, did you have to swap out your rotor adapters? If so which did you get?

My bike came with 160mm stock and i've tried to put the 140 on with no luck, even removing the adapter (looked like it was going to fit, but the bolts that come with it were too long. i'm wondering if I need to get a different adapter, or some shorter bolts.

Thanks!


In case of the MTB when I swapped to smaller ones, I just removed the longer adapter and shorter bolts.
2018 Giant TCR Advance SL0 Disc
2017 Festka Scalatore
1989 Battaglin Roche
1985 Alan Carbonio

loudboxer
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by loudboxer

Good thread… hope I can contribute some useful infos.

I do know the AirCap insert itself weighs 15g and the standard compression bung it replaced weighed 43g. (no bolt, no cap, weighed in the shop)

I’m working from a 2015 Advanced Pro 1 which came with mechanical Ultegra build and 685/785 hydro brakes (aka, the Red one). Hanging in the shop last October it was 8050g / 17lb 12oz (no pedals)

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Mods to date have brought the bare bike down to 7330g / 16lb 4oz.
-382g Hunt AeroLight Disc 28mm wheels (1499g/pr with TL tape) set up tubeless on Schwalbe Pro 1 with RT-99 centerlock discs
-101g 3t Ergonova Team Stealth bars
-69g Fizik R1 saddle
-56g DuraAce 9000 11-28 cassette
-39g DuraAce 9000 rear mech
-28g AirCap head conversion
-26g Giant SLR stem
-30g Various small mods: seat post clamp spring delete, carbon-rail clamp plates, removed seat post dust cap, carbon stem spacers.

The usual road-going bolt-ons bring it back up to about 7840g / 17lb 5oz
+248g DA7900 pedals
+90g Lezyne Carbon Road Drive pump w/mount
+80g Garmin 520 on an SRAM out-front mount
+25g x 2 Blackburn carbon cages with alloy bolts
+6g a couple sensor magnets

This is a robust, ride-it-hard fiddle-free endurance build. I've kept track of all the mods and weight deltas so far as well as weighed whatever parts I could easily get off the bike (argh, internal cables). Happy to share any of those particulars.

The seat-post clamp compression block is a beast at 46g… Looking at it, there’s some opportunity to drill material out of the non-contact surfaces. Haven’t done it yet so I'm not sure how much can realistically come off, probably dozen ish or so grams. Have a DA9000 front mech to go on soon (-27g) and may eventually do some bolt tuning. Also hoping Giant does an SLR-grade D-Fuse seat post. The SL isn't bad at 211g but would be a bit lighter with a full carbon head per the normal round-profile SLR posts.

Looking forward, the biggest substantive weight savings looks to be with new Dura Ace 9100 stuff. Would drop the fully-leaden on-the-road weight down to ~ 7610g / 16.75ish lb but will surely be $$$$ to do it:
ST-R9120 Hydro/Mech : 505g/pr (~145g off 685)
FC-R9100 50-34t : 609g (~84g off Ultegra)

I'm half-considering some Ti skewers... The Hunts are very nice internal-cam stainless+alloy skewers, but I'm open to suggestions for a good, solid, disc-capable Ti pair under 57+63g.

Also, thanks @benno your build has provided some solid inspiration.
:beerchug:
'19 Santa Cruz Blur TR, CC, X01, XTR, Fizik Tundra 2.
'15 Giant Defy D-A, Hunt + ProOne, Fizik R1. Endurance machine.
'06 Scott CR1 D-A, Ksyrium SL + GP4kS, Aliante. Climber. Mostly retired...

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