Is Weight Weenie scene dying

[prebsy]

I definitely think the hand tuned WW has gone away, definitely on this forum. I built a rather capable sub 9kg FS and it was all off the peg parts. It was more about part selection and meticulous planning but no real building or tuning and didn't really seem to interest anyone. I really appreciate the people that are willing to take a dremel to their parts, stip an entire paint job or have the capability to actually make parts. I have found different sources to get fill but WW is a much smaller part of it.

[andreszucs]

I definitely think the hand tuned WW has gone away, definitely on this forum. I built a rather capable sub 9kg FS and it was all off the peg parts. It was more about part selection and meticulous planning but no real building or tuning and didn't really seem to interest anyone. I really appreciate the people that are willing to take a dremel to their parts, stip an entire paint job or have the capability to actually make parts. I have found different sources to get fill but WW is a much smaller part of it.

Yes, it’s an acceptance process that companies have perfected components to be lightweight from stock, but I’d say we were the original ‘creators’ from 15 years ago to inspire them to design lighter products. These days, my credit is given to the R&D team of such companies for making them, credit to amateur bike builders, not so much since it boils down to how much money you are willing to blow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[F45]

I am lucky to get a WW in my village, he collects bikes, more than 50 in his house, some are vintage some are cheap and some are weenies.
He is quite extreme, made some tuning and mods, sadly he is not really gifted for handwork, but still put some carbon parts on derailleurs and did (badly) some dremelling here and there.
Synchros made crazy MTB wheels, 1200g for the set,tubeless, integrated rays, I never saw them anywhere, my friend told me there is a locale shop here, which would have a pair in stock, that weight is crazy,

Not really that crazy man. I built a 1200g 30mm wide set on Extralite hubs that came in heavy at 1190g and they're barely ww in my eyes. I could easily get lighter rims and get them below 1000g.

[hannawald]

I am lucky to get a WW in my village, he collects bikes, more than 50 in his house, some are vintage some are cheap and some are weenies.
He is quite extreme, made some tuning and mods, sadly he is not really gifted for handwork, but still put some carbon parts on derailleurs and did (badly) some dremelling here and there.
Synchros made crazy MTB wheels, 1200g for the set,tubeless, integrated rays, I never saw them anywhere, my friend told me there is a locale shop here, which would have a pair in stock, that weight is crazy,

Not really that crazy man. I built a 1200g 30mm wide set on Extralite hubs that came in heavy at 1190g and they're barely ww in my eyes. I could easily get lighter rims and get them below 1000g.

yeah, 1200g wheelset is quite usual - Bontrager Kovee RSL for example with 2 years crash replacement and lifetime warranty + normal weight limit. You can have it much cheaper with Berg Ratheberg 30 with 100kg weight limit or with DT240, CX Rays and some Duke rims (110kg weight limit and raced in world cup). Real weightweenie is lower today:) At least if we talk about xc wheelset and not some trail one. I don´ get why people accept overweight DT Swiss/Reynolds/Mavic wheels etc. Every reputable chinese manufacturer (Light Bicycle, Nextie, EIE...) seems to make better specced rims without reported problems...

[F45]

Agreed, hannawald. I weighed a DT XRC1200 25 rim at 450g. To me that's for a trail bike!

[BenSiskri]

I never think of WW as something MTB riders obsessed about - not like the roadies. Apart from pro/ really serious amateur XC racers.......

Going by the content on most MTB websites/ You Tube channels, your average MTB is more interested in going Downhill as fast as possible on the gnarliest trails possible - and repeating that all day, than looking for performance gains and shedding weight.

[spartacus]

My new MTB is 9lbs heavier than my last one. 9! And guess what, it's faster, safer, WAY MORE CAPABLE, and better in every way except maybe climbs on very smooth surfaces, which are not something I use the MTB for generally. For me MTB is dangerous and difficult enough as it is. I'll take my grippy tires, pike ultimate, and dropper post all day long versus shedding weight and making the bike worse (to me).

[SK5]

But this isn't about building the fastest bike it's about building the lightest bike . It can be fully capable but still weigh less . Also a lighter bike can climb faster but that doesn't matter to me .

[js]

I think that statement misses an important qualifier.

For many / most of us, weight weenies is now, was back when we started and always will be about having the lightest bike that we want to ride.

That last bit is of the statement is likely what sees the most evolution as each rider grows - and perhaps where we see the most differentiation of opinion between riders.

A single-speed hardtail with a rigid fork has always been an amazing way to build a light mountain bike and there are plenty of WWs who love riding them. But that's never been a style of bike I'd want to invest in or own personally, because I don't want to ride that type of bike with any amount of regularity. Same thing now for narrow rims and rigid posts.

Heck, I don't even want to ride narrow rims or tires ON ROAD anymore - road riding is more fun where and how I ride with tires that measure 28-30mm. But again, I'm going to make sure the front tire is a GP 5000 TT, because even though I'm willing to accept the extra 35g for a 28mm tire vs 25mm, I have decided the thicker tread on the front tire doesn't add enjoyment to my ride enough to accept that second 35g penalty.

It's always been the same goal - lightest bike you want to ride.

[JayDee81]

You are definitely right.
You can see a similar trend with road bikes as well, although it's not noticeable as much, because there are fewer compromises on the weight front. Nonetheless, in the past with road bikes weight was almost the only marker, now you have aero, rolling resistance, braking quality and especially aero. On the mtb front there are more things that bump up the weight but at the same time improve ride quality. You have suspension, telescopic seapost, wider bars and on top of that you have to take into account the durability of the parts, which is not a problem on road (unless you ride Roubaix...).

[spartacus]

But this isn't about building the fastest bike it's about building the lightest bike . It can be fully capable but still weigh less . Also a lighter bike can climb faster but that doesn't matter to me .

I'm just saying why I think it's not really popular to make WW mountain bikes, you're giving up real capability in ways that a light road bike doesn't.