Budget hill climbing bike- any ideas?

[Beanicyclist]

Hi all,

For next October I want to build a hill climb specific bike. I currently own one aero road bike and a fixed gear for commuting. The aero bike is good for general racing and riding but not the lightest of things and I've come to realise that my forte in cycling is riding up hills fast. Very fast.

Anyhow, I'm looking at a budget of around £2000-£2500 and I've got a whole year to do it in (will have to save up the money over the course of the year). I'd like a dedicated ultralight racer that is also practical for everyday use when some parts are swapped out. The problems that I'm facing involve the frameset, groupset and finishing kit. I'd like to have SRAM force as it's the lightest for such a budget with some Hunt hill climbing/ yoeleo tubular wheels or something like that (sub £1000 category?). The frameset will need to be lightweight but also great value and so will the finishing kit, all carbon or at least lightweight alloy if possible. I'd ideally not like to resort to extremely risky chinese parts, yet I know that some chinese companies have more trustworthy reputations than others (eg. yoeleo, as mentioned, with it's large number of customers and own website) so won't mind resorting to items such as their wheels, saddle etc. The main issue is finding a relatively cheap carbon frameset which is dedicated to be as light as possible; as I'm really light stiffness probably won't matter as much- any reccomendations or tips on easy weight savings?

-BC

[mattr]

Stiffness is probably more important than weight for most UK hill climbs.

[REGICYCLE]

They can be hard to find but second hand Cannondale Supersix frames seem to find a lot of love on weightweenies... I'd say you could pick up Sram Red mechanical fairly cheap second hand as well.
Not sure if you are wanting it to be new gear or not but thats just my 2c

[tymon_tm]

I have two. one, if you like digging stuff up, befriend ebay. tons of great deals on 2nd hand bikes from johns who put tons of spacers on them and never really get to ride'em. I just got a 2-3 year old (?) Canyon Ultimate on 105 with like few hundret kms tops - for less than a grand. it was so dirty it looked like a piece of shit, but I drove to see it myself, took it to a manual car wash, hosed it with a karcher and voila - I've almost a brand new rig, with a groupset I've already found a buyer for at ~350euro, wheels with tires I'll easily seel sell for 200-250euro, and some remaining bits like a saddle, stem and bars - another 100-150euro easy. which means I just got a top carbon frame for like 200-300euro... gonna put some old Ultegra/DA bits I've lying around (a new cassette and chain is like 100euro), some 1,4-1,5kg alu clinchers (maybe Vision Trimax - 500 euro max, or I'll look for 2nd hand again) and it should get me below 7kg mark and under 1k euro

second one - 2,5k pounds is hardly a "budget bike" (it's what, 3k euro?) and that means you can look for off season deals on bikes with a 3-3,5k price tag

[prebsy]

They can be hard to find but second hand Cannondale Supersix frames seem to find a lot of love on weightweenies... I'd say you could pick up Sram Red mechanical fairly cheap second hand as well.
Not sure if you are wanting it to be new gear or not but thats just my 2c

Old SS himod would be a great idea. look for like 2012, they got heavier after that. PF30 means super light bb and crank options, those things all add up.

I built one in 2017 it turned out pretty light with minimal WW parts and rode very well. The tire clearance was a killer for me but wide 23s are fine. https://weightweenies.starbike.com/foru ... p?t=144320

[Beanicyclist]

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I’m definitely gonna get second hand parts wherever possible. I’d like my own new wheels though- ideally some low depth carbon rims with titanium spokes or something. Should I build them myself though or get some already built up? I’d like to spend at most £900 or so for them, whilst having some practicality too (I was looking at the Hunt hill climb wheels but they seem too impractical for everyday use on the crappy roads in my area). SRAM force seems like the best groupset option to me but it’s hard to find any SRAM groupsets cheaply imo. Bars’ll be some light alloys maybe, with some kind of cheap Chinese carbon saddle and a wolftooth 1x setup.
Any great rims that you guys know of? And what hubs/ spokes would you recommend? (Don’t know a lot about wheelbuilding but have a mate who can build them up for me.)

[REGICYCLE]

As this is weightweenies others would probably recommend getting some wheels built, but as I have no experience in that kind of thing, i'll put these forward
http://www.wiggle.com.au/prime-blackedi ... -wheelset/
Sorry about the aussie link but i'm not sure what you think about these? A friend has the 1st gen rims and the braking track is comparable to fulcrum and campagnolos textured surface, and is very effective. They are claimed 1253 for the set which is pretty good for that price point.
Regarding Sram Red... maybe talk to your lbs about what they have in their 'closet' as often shops have old stock hanging around, such as a 10spd previous gen front derailleur, or cranks (which would work fine with 11spd)
Ah I forgot... the No. 1 second hand parts market... Weight Weenies For Sale section. already on the first page there are about 5 which should interest you
https://weightweenies.starbike.com/foru ... um.php?f=5

[Rudi]

As said already, second hand frameset will be your best value option. You can certainly get handbuilt tubular wheels for less that £1k in the UK. I'd def look into that. There are several places around and you can talk to them about your needs and how much you weigh etc. You won't get that with factory built.

I've had no issues with the Hylix brand of chinese carbon, seatposts and bars. Kalloy Uno stems used to get a lot of love on here as well and I've had no issues with them either. Both are cheap for the weight.

All in, I suspect I paid less than your budget for the hill climb bike in my signature.

[Beanicyclist]

Thanks for the tips everyone,

I'll get my friend to build up some wheels for me soon. Frameset wise, I'll look at some cannondales and treks etc. and will buy second hand.
The premise of Di2 also seems more tempting now due to the crisp shifting under stress (which I've had some issues with on my mechanical ultegra this season), as well as the use of a tri- base bar. I'll definitely go 1x so will try to find a cheap crankset and get a wolftooth chainring for it. I've had a look at all the links and think that the hylix kit seems quite good too.

Any advice also on stripping paint? And what hubs/ spokes would you reccomend for this sorta thing? (I'm about 60kg, so stiffness and weight limit isn't really that significant for me).

Thanks for your time and advice!

[Beanicyclist]

@Rudi I just realised who you are! I find it very impressive that you could go on to win the National Champs in such a way! The article about it partially inspired me to embark upon this project. I'm not doing the nationals this year but did go to the Cat and Bec on Saturday and want to one day reach the top of the field.

[Rudi]

No worres. Technically I am her husband/she is my wife so it wasn't me that won, just me that built the bike

If you want the Hylix base bars, I have that exact set sitting doing nothing in my garage. I'd let you have them on the cheap no problem. Same with the saddle (although that wasn't actually used for sitting that much, which is probably jsut as well as there isn't much to it).

Stripping paint - there was some stuff called carbolift that was popular on here a few years back. Not sure it exists anymore. I just got on with sanding, started fairly low grit and finished with 1200. If it is a project for next year then you have tons of time. You can also play the long game on the 2nd hand thing and wait for the right price rather than panic buy.

[Beanicyclist]

Yeah I heard about carbolift and it seems like a good option if I can get my hands on some, otherwise I'll just get sanding!

I've also found that getting the seperate wheel parts and building them from scratch is way cheaper and more convenient. I'm thinking some 30mm carbon rims (Yoeleo maybe? Does anyone have any experience with them?) and some Bike Hub Store Ultralight hubs with some decent sapim spokes and fancy gold/ red nipples. Should cost me around £500, with the cost of building them and getting tubs maybe around £650.

I'd like to get the base bar and saddle off you if possible, yet I don't want to buy them quite yet. Definitely up for it though and they'd go to good use next season!

I can't get access to the buying/ selling page on this website... Does anyone know how to?

[bm0p700f]

I found a alloy frame on eBay and had it anodised purple. Anodising is very light and protect the frame. Scoured ebay for light bits and ended up with schmolke bars, extralite stem, woodman seat post, saveed alien, saddle, ultralite pedals, record carbon square taper cranks, modolo carbon down tube shifters, record carbon brake levers, fibreltye rings and I built some wheels that are under 1900g with cassette, tyres and QR's. Total weight 6kg and cost probably around £1200. If I fitted light tyres I could drop 200g. The frame weighs 1600g.

So scour the classifieds and eBay.

Hill climb on Sunday.

[MichaelK]

I've got a tub of Carbolift sitting somewhere in my garage. Might let it go for the cost of postage.

Kinda on the fence if I want to strip the paint off my Supersix Evo for next years hillclimb season or sell it and finally go aero disc brake. It's a 52cm.

IIRC you need 30 posts and 1 months membership to see the Classified section.

[bm0p700f]

A light bike did not help me on Sunday. Felt rubbish and I got a puncture in my tubeless on the way to the hill climb. Sealant did not work as the tube got damaged as it deflated.