Not much WWism going on here these days

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dgasmd
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Location: South Florida

by dgasmd

I have been in this forum for a while and it seems most of the true WW attempts to lighten bikes up died pretty much around the introduction of the electronic group sets. Just have not seen anything new in a long time. Heck, even most of the bikes I see posted as WW builds have many common components and hardly any effort in the WW Department really. Find it to be a shame. So many cool bikes used to pop up almost daily if not weekly here with 12 Lb weight and tons of little things re-done and such.

Please, bring back some flare for the rest of us at home living vicariously through some of you................ :beerchug:

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1415chris
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by 1415chris

People realized that aero is the king these days ;)

Denavelo
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by Denavelo

The need to make a bike light was more prevalent years ago. The point of tuning a part was to get the bike lighter, which is no longer needed now. You can buy a frame under 700g, and build a 11lb bike with regular parts. This wasn't possible when frames were weighing 1200g without a fork. Once the frames started getting lighter, people realized you didn't have to sacrifice time and effort into making a light bike.

The bike industry dictated everything. Make bikes lighter. the perennial "750g" frame line every bike manufacture put in our faces the last 5 years, killed the WW tuning.
Rob English "Mudfoot" 29er | Focus Izalco Max | Firefly #194 Stainless XCR | Firefly #277 | Neilpryde Bura SL 11.9 | Crust Evasion Lite

xena
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by xena

dgasmd wrote:I have been in this forum for a while and it seems most of the true WW attempts to lighten bikes up died pretty much around the introduction of the electronic group sets. Just have not seen anything new in a long time. Heck, even most of the bikes I see posted as WW builds have many common components and hardly any effort in the WW Department really. Find it to be a shame. So many cool bikes used to pop up almost daily if not weekly here with 12 Lb weight and tons of little things re-done and such.

Please, bring back some flare for the rest of us at home living vicariously through some of you................ :beerchug:


There is been plenty of tuning parts etc going on . Check my bikes out for a start and go from there using the search button. Recently we have seen some great ww projects happening.
Xena a demi god among the digital demimonde that is WW community

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

Denavelo wrote: The point of tuning a part was to get the bike lighter, which is no longer needed now. You can buy a frame under 700g, and build a 11lb bike with regular parts. This wasn't possible when frames were weighing 1200g without a fork. Once the frames started getting lighter, people realized you didn't have to sacrifice time and effort into making a light bike.


To be honest I have more interest for the builds in which someone took a frame which isn't necessarily the lightest and used tuning, component choice and other custom methods to bring it to the same weight, or lower, than a build where someone just bought everything. I also see plenty of "builds" in the gallery thread where there is little-to-no modification done. In that case: nice bike... but.... what's the difference between seeing it on WW and going to the manufacturer's website? :noidea:

Also seeing light builds using clinchers is always wonderful. Tubular vs. clincher debate aside, going tubular just for the sake of going light is a funny little crutch. :wink:
Exp001 || Other projects in the works.

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de zwarten
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by de zwarten

I do not agree. I still see a lot of bikes in the gallery which stand out trying to be light, in an original way.

I think they get less attention because this forum is popular, so you see more 'of the shelf' bikes so the WW bikes are quickly at the bottom of the page.

kevosinn
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by kevosinn

There is a few right now going on. A sub 4kg attempt on a TI litespeed, xena's trek and his guru as well as my new sub 4kg project all have some heavy tuning.
Www.crypticcycles.com Custom carbon frames, bar/stem combos, repair and component tuning.

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LouisN
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by LouisN

We haven't seen a stealth Parlee in a while so I agree this forum has changed lately :lol: .

We see more and more hyper specialized, (uber pricey) off the shelf brands that do great stuff, and I think it's normal to see lots of bike builds that look alike.

Still nice to see different kind of projects here and there.

Louis :)

Denavelo
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by Denavelo

I just think the forum grew in the last few years, minimizing the amount of special builds.. At the same time, bike parts got lighter and easily accessible to everyone. Buying light parts 8 years ago, cost lots of money. Manufacturing in Asia stepped up and you can get KCNC, POP, Extralite etc for way cheaper these days. So the build progress goes, light frame, Enve wheels, off the shelf weenie parts and you have a daily ridden and reliable 11lb bike. Why tune cranks and parts for a few pounds, when you can just buy the light stuff to begin with? THM Clavicula SE cranks are an example.
Rob English "Mudfoot" 29er | Focus Izalco Max | Firefly #194 Stainless XCR | Firefly #277 | Neilpryde Bura SL 11.9 | Crust Evasion Lite

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

This thread reminds me the good old days when we all wanted to upgrade our car stereos at modest costs. Today all cars come with proprietary stereos with integrated HVAC controls. So the stereo upgrade market is dying!

And I think the aero craze, electronic components, and the movement towards proprietary parts are also killing WW upgrades. And many of the stock factory parts have decent weights which doesn't help either.

I've been wanting to lighten my bike however I have very limited options as to where I could drop weight. The brakes I have are direct-mounted and I don't think the rear EE direct-mounted brakes will fit due to my frame design. Besides EE the next lightest one (direct-mount) is Dura Ace at 298g. a pair. I have invested in a Quarq power meter so no tuning can be done there. The BB is a boat anchor at 156g. (Praxis) but I want a reliable BB that is maintenance free. My seatpost is aero and proprietary. It is already at a decent weight at 156g. after the cut. The bar is 194g. and stem is sub 100g. And of course I have Shimano Dura Ace Di2. The saddle is at 212g and I don't want to go full carbon. The cassette is XG-1190. The skewer is at 29g. The only two things are wheels and headset. I've ordered a pair of Campy Boras. I'm investigating on the use of the Fuji SL headset in my frame which will save me 100g. Bottom line is my WW options are very limited.

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kgt
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by kgt

It's clear that our forum does not value low weight as that important as it used to.
A 7.5kg aero bike with electronic transmisison and heavy high profile clinchers will be considered by many forum members as better-faster-more advanced bike than a 6.5kg 'traditional' frameset with low profile tubulars. And a 1215gr Bora wheelset is now considered a much better choise than a 1025gr LW Gipfelsturm.
Marketing always tries to attract more or new clients by openning new 'territories' and that influences everything including our forum.

O tempora o mores!

mimason
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by mimason

Did you not read the thread about peeps reducing and eliminating valve stems to achieve a couple grams of stupidity in the form of pain in the ass tire pump ups? I think WW is there but just passive aggressive. ;)

Or its WWexit.
Last edited by mimason on Thu Jul 07, 2016 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SLCBrandon
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by SLCBrandon

One option would be for the OP to do a project like they want to see and share it here?

xena
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by xena

Off the shelf " no offence" is boring IMO. Some of the tuning and bikes posted recently have been great.
Kevin has been building his own WW bikes and since his posts we have had a few WW bikes with tuned parts and to be honest I almost gave up on this site until I started seeing some tuning happening again.

If you have the cash you can easily buy a WW bike but for me its the tuning and trying to find clever ways to save weight and also the fact that those that have WW bikes themselves with tuned parts are keen to help and also keen to learn.

Kevin pointed out the TI litespeed build . That's been great and some fantastic work going on and Kevin himself with his latest build and his sub 200grm :unbelievable: bar stem combo and god knows what else he will do is exactly what this site is all about for me.

Don't forget we have experienced posters like Prendy etc who know their stuff and always add valuable input to threads.

Fuchs [not seen any Fuchs posts of late] and donalds bikes both WW icons that have inspired me and many other's on this site.

Anyone know what's happened to FASTDAD? his OK?

IMO the tuning has remerged of late and this site is all the better for it.
Xena a demi god among the digital demimonde that is WW community

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Calnago
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by Calnago

I agree with some in that these days it's tough to better the best off the shelf stuff. Plus, you have the added benefit of knowing (hopefully), that's it's been thoroughly tested and quality controlled. Being a heavier guy 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. If I were to try a sub 800gram frame, it would have to be from a very reputable manufacturer that has done all kinds of testing on the thing for the safety aspect. After that, it would have to feel solid on the road at speed down a twisty descent. If it doesn't meet those criteria, then it's a fail for me personally. Not to say it won't work for someone else, say 50lbs lighter than me.
There is still an art to building a good bike for a particular person. I've seen tons of money thrown at bikes and just shake my head at how they've turned out. But done right, it can be absolutely gorgeous and fulfill it's purpose and be mouth wateringly delicious in it's exclusiveness for whatever reason that may be. And you don't have to spend a ton of money to have a superb build either. It's about frame selection (right size for whoever is riding it), parts selection, and how it all comes together as a whole. Whether it is or isn't the lightest build, or most highly tuned build, or most expensive build... a good build is a good build, regardless. And I can and do appreciate them when I see them. If you want to tune the hell out of something, have at it. It can be fun for sure, but I think the "drillium" days are kind of nostalgic at this point.
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by Weenie


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