I had this built up about 2 weeks ago and it weighs in at around 16.5lbs (LBS told me the weight, I still need to get a luggage scale) It's my first road bike but I already feel the addiction of wanting to upgrade and get it lighter..
I want to see how low $500 could take me. As you can see from my frame I'm not against chinese carbon at all (from reputable sellers, atleast) So, enough with the rambling, what do you guys think would be the best upgrades for me?



shifters/brakes/cassette/RD = rival and FD = force
wheelset = 1490g
skewers = 50g/each
saddle = 159g (got it for $40 new, too)
seatpost = 225g
bars = 220g
stem = 125g
tires = 207g/each

Planet X CNC brakes + KCNC Ti Pro Lite seatpost + Continental Supersonic tubes would cost you less than half your budget and should get you just under 16lbs.

Start looking at eBay for a prior generation Red crank. Should find a good specimen for ~$200, - ~$75 you can get for the Rival. Planet X brakes $1-150, -$75 for the Rivals. 50gmish tubes. Should be able to find a ~150gm seatpost for around $100, much of that can be recovered by eBaying the Easton. Those wheels get good reviews but are heavy. Just in the last month I've seen a set of Soul 2.0s and AC Mag 300s go for ~ $340 shipped. Both sets looked to be in tiptop shape. Once again, you'll recover a big chunk of your $ selling the Vueltas. Your bike is like a blank canvas to me. Why stop at 16lbs, or 15 for that matter?

Those QR's don't look light (but mayube they are) mt.zoom or kcnc would save about 75g over shimano so would be well under the $2/g target.

i'm thinking planet x TI skewers - 44g/set
planet x cnc brakes - 207g/set

that's about 163 shaved off for $124

as for the red crankset, wouldn't i need to buy a YAW FD as well?
what about a new 2011 k-force light for $361
crankset is 636g and BB 100, so that's another 100g off

another option would be brakes/skewers and 1240g +-30 38mm tubs from yishun for a total of 455 and 400-370g saved

just took my skewers off to weigh them, but is it normal for the rear to flex the chain-stays inward when it's tightened?

Didn't mean the latest version Red. Tryin' to stretch that $500 to do the most damage.

Skewere are a must. Cheap and saves around 50g.
Next is seatpost. You can get 170g seatpost for 60$ on ebay, cut off excess lenght and you will have 150g seatpost for 60$.
Planetx brakes are light, but braking power is not that great. You could try to get Ciamillos for around 180$ used.
For rims you can use veloplugs.
You cal also save a lot of weight by small things - fork compressor and top cap, cables. Ebay 90g saddle would save some weight. Check prices and try to stay within 1-1.5$ per saved gram range.

I've got the same frame and am aiming for just under 7kg with slightly heavier wheels on a reasonable budget.
Probable best value $/g savings.

Planet X skewers - 44g Pair.
Planet X CNC Brakes - 220g Pair.
Ti Stem Bolts (ebay) - x6 saved me 10 grams
Ti Topcap Bolt and Carbon Top cap (ebay) - Saved me 10g
Alu Cage bolts (planet x) - 1gram each, big saving if your current ones are steel.
Tubes - even 60g ones will probably be a big saving.

Then where I've got fairly cheap, lighter alternatives to parts you have.

Bontrager XXX Race Lite Seat Post (got mine on ebay for £41) - 400mm weights in 162g, cut should be below 150g
2011 SRAM Red Black Cassette (ebay for £90) - 11-26 is 176g inc lockring.

Probably also worth checking your seatpost clamp, cages and bar plugs. If you're happy with the fit of the saddle I would stick with it.

Can't tell in the picture but a braze-on FD with an ebay carbon clamp will almost certainly be lighter than a normal clamp on.

From there I would look at further tuning, trimming handlebars, etc. Then maybe 2011 Red Crank and lastly a lighter wheel set but with your budget I would start somewhere else.

Short term you could keep the post and tune it: cut off excess and get the EC90 Ti bolt kit from Toronto Cycles (that sure looks like an EC90 post you've got there...). Ti kit saves about 11g, plus whatever ends up on your shop floor...

http://torontocycles.com/Selling/Titanium.html

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