Calnago wrote:...I have actually replaced lighter weight parts (especially bars, stems, and yes, even wheels) with heavier counterparts with the result being far better ride and handling characteristics...
I second this @ only 71kg. That's not to say that some of the lightweight stuff does not perform as well as the heavy counterparts. THM's products come to mind. Their brakes, fantastic; THM M3, fantastic; Scapula CT, superbly comfortable, and well handling. On the other hand, I have a shallow, 1080g wheelset that makes the bike twitchy on fast straight descents; however, my RZRs at 110g lighter, are rock stable.
With the ease of hitting sub-12 lbs these days, I think there's a point where the bike is light enough and doesn't warrant the need to get it lighter via tuning. Granted, that's a moving target and I used to think sub 6kg was light enough, now I grab my 6kg bike and think it's a boat anchor.
As far as this forum goes though, I think the forum has grown a lot over the years, and it's a place that's known to have nice bikes in the gallery. So, if only 0.0001% of the cycling population is willing to tune their parts (let's assume that's a constant over the years), then their showcases in the gallery are going to be diluted by the influx of "normal" bikes by our increased community size.
If I choose to keep my Scott Foil, I can say that I'll be swapping all the bolts that I can and will be looking for ways to save weight via some minor tuning. In contrast of one of the above posters with his Fuji aero bike, I think the proprietary parts justify the need (and ease) of tuning more than almost anything else.
