24,7 lbs CAAD7 on a diet!

[Lopro]

I have just come back from my bike ride throughout Europe, Copenhagen to tunisia, about 3400 km in 25 days. I rode my Cannondale which currently weighs 11.2 kg / 24.7 lbs, niiice . Now it's time to put my CAAD7 optimo on a diet!

I study veterinary medicine, a very expensive study, so money is small, and it will be a long project. This is my first WW project, in the past I have driven vintage road bikes and fixed gear, and still do.

as it looks right now:


08-22-2012
spec: @ 11,2 kg / 24,7 lbs
Cannondale CAAD7 Optimo size 56: 1264g
Cannondale Si fork: 531g
Mavic Aksium Race 2009: 1885g
Headset: 80g
105 50/34 crank: 870g
105 BB: 95g
105 shifter: 520g
105 FD: 105 g
540 SPD: 330g
540 breaks: 360g
Tiagra 12-30 cassette: 335g
Tiagra RD ?
Ultegra 10sp chain: 255g
Exteme stem: 140g
Black comp T6 bar 40cm: 320g
Brooks B17: 530g
seatpost: 240g
Tyre Durano plus 28c: 1060g
Wires: 260g
Tubes: 210g
And more

next week upgrades:
Shimano 7950 crack - 735g
Shimano 7900 shifter 320-365g ?
Shimano DA 10sp 11-25 - 185g
Veloflex Master 22mm - 400g
Controltech Lightning Full Carbon Road - 340g
Kalloy UNO "seven" super lite roadstem 110mm - 107g
Ritchey Carbon WCS Classic bar 42cm - 220g
105 RD - 235g
Cut seat post - ?
New saddel sub 200g?
remove stand, panniers etc.

[lechat]

Digging that tail. (fox?) As far as weight loss, it's hard to know where to begin. You could lop of a lb. with a wheel and fork change. If weight is priority #1, I wouldn't choose Shimano.
As far as $, eBay is the way. My Caad7 sits at 13.7lbs, ready to ride. And it's entirely a 'Bay build, save for the wheels. Be patient and replace things when opportunity allows. With a bit of savvy, you can sell your existing components for as much, or nearly, as the upgrades. Good luck.

[mrfish]

I would just take off the stand and other unnecessary bits and leave it at that. I know it's weight weenies, but in my view there's not much point in setting out to build a light touring bike, since you're going to load it up again with panniers then ride on gravel roads etc. Rather I would look at upgrading parts as they need to be renewed. Now if you wanted to run it as a race bike now and again and not go touring, then I'd just swap the wheels for something lighter.

[Lopro]

Down to 7,9 kg / 17,4 lbs

Pictures and spec later

[Lopro]

[CaptainP]

A bit of acetone on the stem would do miracles!

[Lopro]

Unfortunately is the red color under the clearcoat. However, it is to be painted matt black later. Picture is from first test tour at Vesterbro

[horse]

Some abuse of that frame. Those frames are as light as a CAAD10 and won't tolerate much of that without breaking.

If you're looking to load a frame like that, you'd better look to one of those ubiquitous super heavy duty entry levels available these days. There a few a dime floating around on the market and the roads these days.

[elviento]

Having ridden a CAAD7 I am going to concur with Mr. Horse as this is a light and thin walled alu frame which unfortunately is prone to dents, especially since it is 6061 alloy. If we are already in 11kg territory, then a 1.5lb-ish frame is much more fitting.

Again, not trying to knock on the bike, as the CAAD7 was quite a fantastic frame and Astaloa won the 2003 world championship on a CAAD7.

[horse]

6061/7005/2014 alloy, doesn't matter. The tubes won't dent from indirect load. But fatigue would result from improper load close to joints and junctions in the frame. Same argument as a well-fitting bike would last longer than an ill-fitting one.