Dengfu FM098 -- getting 7.5kg down to 6kg

[jordo99]

I'm currently building a Chinese carbon bike (frame/wheels/saddle) and getting it as light as possible on a budget ($3000)...when I bought my bike I had it sitting right around 18lbs...as of 6/9 it's at 17lbs and I'm hoping by the end of the year to have it under 14lbs (depends on the rim depth I decide on though).

You can view the whole album at photobucket




Upgrades for 6/9:
- [/b]Tuned expander and top cap/bolt with gum gum and fairwheel combo (-26g)
- Tuned SRAM Force RD with blue KCNC Ultralight pulleys (-10g)
- updated weight list above...anything in bold was individually weighed...total weight is now corrected
- Currently waiting for a few parts to arrive...carbon saddle will drop 100g and new skewers will drop another 80g.
- One last update...I'm currently working out pricing on a set of wheels from FarSports. If I go with their 38mm carbon tubular wheels (and tubular tires) I'll drop close to 750g on top of that.

Update for 6/21:
- Carbon saddle is 102g on my scale (-100g)
- Skewers are 43g (-76g)
- Upgraded to Zero Gravity Brakes 206g with shoes/pads (-50g) -- YES, I did get them for $50. I took a risk buying them "as-is" and it paid off!
- Replaced bottle cage bolts with stuff I had laying around (-6g)
- Ordering some new bottle cage bolts that come in at 3g for 4...should drop another 9g or so.
- I also got around to taking apart my crankset to weigh everything separately to get a better idea how where I can cut weight. (+32g over what I had before)
- I've also weighed the neco headset pieces

After all this, I still need to weight the frame, fork, spacers, stem, handlebars, cabling, shifter, chain, cassette and FD.
I'll also be weighing the shoes/pads on the ZeroGravity brakes when I replace the carbon pads for aluminum brake tonight.

For the upgrade/tuning path, I'm looking at wheels next, then the pedals and crankset. After that It's sort of up in the air...it'd probably be best to go with a different frame at that point but I'll likely keep pressing on with the handlebars/stem. Starting to wish I went with BB30 instead of BSA due to the extra weight but every time I ride with my friend I hear his BB creaking and I feel a little better about it.

Update for 6/26/2012:
Got a KCNC (11-28) Cassette off ebay recently.
Still trying to figure out what wheels I want to buy...thinking 50mm carbon tubulars.

Update for 7/5/2012:
added a few more weights for parts...still a lot missing but I have totals now:
7.34kg race weight (no pumps/bags but including garmin mounts and cages)
7.81kg training weight (minipump, Co2, saddle bag...etc)

Update for 7/15/2013:
Upgraded to SRAM 2013 Red group (cassette is Force and kept my brakes the same).
Upgraded bar tape to black Lizard Skins DSP 2.5mm (no 1.8mm at LBS)
Upgraded handlebars to Zipp SCL2 42cm
6805g race weight
7045g training weight

[tharmor]

What were the import taxes like when coming thru customs?

[Tomstr]

Interesting frame! I like the color scheme, was that an option from Dengfu?

You might want to mount the stem higher and flip it. It looks more pro.

[jordo99]

What were the import taxes like when coming thru customs?

I didn't have to pay any so I'm not sure. I think it might've been covered by them (shipping was $86).

Interesting frame! I like the color scheme, was that an option from Dengfu?

You might want to mount the stem higher and flip it. It looks more pro.

Matte 3k with sky blue accents were all done by Dengfu.
I'll be getting an Advanced Body Geometry done on the bike in a few months. I haven't taken it out longer than 25 miles yet but once I go on a 40-60 mile ride I'll have a better idea if what kind of drop I can handle on this bike and then adjust things accordingly and cut the stem. I'm not a big fan of how the stem looks now either but I'm sure I'll get it looking better in the near future.

[Tinea Pedis]

Out of respect for your thread, I have split out all the OT posts.

Apologies.

[tharmor]

Where was the frame shipped to? I've always been charged at customs when I buy something from outside the country. The bill came in the mail from the US gov and it looked like an invoice. just curious.

[jordo99]

Out of respect for your thread, I have split out all the OT posts.

Apologies.

Thanks, it didn't bother me so much as I just wanted to try and thwart it before it got started...I just come to this forum when I want to talk (mostly read) about WW stuff and go to RBR/Velobuild when I want to talk about Chinese carbon...so I was hoping that people could offer me advice on how to drop weight on the cheap in this thread instead of getting into a debate on Chinese carbon.

Where was the frame shipped to? I've always been charged at customs when I buy something from outside the country. The bill came in the mail from the US gov and it looked like an invoice. just curious.

Lincoln, Nebraska in the USA. I have no clue what was up with shipping but the tracking number I was given showed that my package was stuck in New York and was awaiting customs when it arrived at my office, with San Fransisco stuff on it. haha. I'm guessing that they mixed up my tracking number with another customer's or something. Only took 5 days if I remember correctly; for sure no longer than a week and it appeared well packed. Only complaint I had was that the plastic insert to protect the rear stays was already cracked when I opened up the package...no damage to the frame or even a dent to the box (still had the original Chinese packing tape so I knew it wasn't re-boxed) so it seems like it was broken during the packing process.

[btompkins0112]

Nice looking! Look forward to seeing more pics when your fit gets sorted as the stem makes me want to vomit......

Anyways! It looks like the crank, cassette and wheels are the biggest offenders in the weight department so I would personally start off there.

Good luck and be sure to update with more pictures!!!

[astranoc]

Interesting color!

Those skewers are anchors too.

[prendrefeu]

I like the paint scheme you went with, and I think the only thing 'holding it back' right now is the stem's position, and perhaps some deeper wheels... Overall, looks like fun!

[jordo99]

Nice looking! Look forward to seeing more pics when your fit gets sorted as the stem makes me want to vomit......

Anyways! It looks like the crank, cassette and wheels are the biggest offenders in the weight department so I would personally start off there.

Good luck and be sure to update with more pictures!!!

Thanks for the advice on dropping weight. I have an idea what I'll do for wheels and the cassette but not for the cranks.
Anyone with advice on what to look for in a good value crank to drop weight? I'm thinking no more than $500 and probably not upgrading for a year. I'm thinking that some Zipp cranks (I've seen them as low as $400 used) would be a nice upgrade but I'm not well versed in WW cranks

I would likely upgrade the frame before I got WW enough to spend $1000+ on THM cranks though.

I like the paint scheme you went with, and I think the only thing 'holding it back' right now is the stem's position, and perhaps some deeper wheels... Overall, looks like fun!

I plan on upgrading the wheels in 3-9 months depending on what life throws at me and how I'm riding (I'll be stuck inside all winter so there's not much point in buying them in 3-6 months and riding them on the trainer so I'll only buy that early if I find a really good deal).

Interesting color!

Those skewers are anchors too.

They should only be around 57g (according to the site) though I haven't weighed them and they could be 57g/each.
I've actually been looking at J&L skewers on ebay. There are some that come in at 30-40g for around $30 but require an allen wrench to install and that's what I'm thinking of going for. They've also got a set of Quick Release skewers for 48g at around $30. All are Ti axels with the 30g/48g ones having 7075 aluminum ends.

Anyone heard of J&L skewers...30g total for $30 seems like a great value to me and probably one of the easiest ways I can drop weight.

[prendrefeu]

Thanks for the advice on dropping weight. I have an idea what I'll do for wheels and the cassette but not for the cranks.
Anyone with advice on what to look for in a good value crank to drop weight? I'm thinking no more than $500 and probably not upgrading for a year. I'm thinking that some Zipp cranks (I've seen them as low as $400 used) would be a nice upgrade but I'm not well versed in WW crank.

Look into KCNC K-Type, the 715g weight includes the BB. You may be able to find it elsewhere for a little less, but FWB has excellent customer service, sponsors this forum, and is very WW-friendly.

... and this build over here is a good example of someone working on a tight budget. There are plenty of others like that around the forum if you poke around, but that recent build is very useful for others.

[Venom]

Since you already have the Chinese frame, you may want to consider getting some Chinese wheels too. I just ordered two sets from Ican. I got a road carbon clincher set at around 1300 grams and a mtb set at around 1400 grams. The wheelsets were $350 and $450 plus $130 shipping for both sets. So less than $1000 for two sets of carbon clincher wheels. Not super WW light, but better than what I currently have on a couple of my bikes. As you probably already know, there are several companies that sell these on alibaba.com.

[jordo99]

Thanks to the both of you

...For wheels I'm already fairly convinced that Chinese carbon rims will be the best option for me. I still have lots of time to work out the details but I'm thinking that I'll buy some 38mm-50mm clinchers and then buy either some of the nicer, lightweight Chinese hubs or go with a powertap and something like Tune up front. I'd buy the spokes and have the frames built at my LBS.

Powertap will depend greatly on whether or not pedal-based power is released (and affordable for me) by the time I commit to buying a set of wheels over the winter.

[kulivontot]

Have weighed the whole bike yet? Something doesn't quite add up to 7kg