how to save component weight on bike

catch said:

I realise that the most effective and cheapest way to lose weight on the bike is to get the rider to lose weight. I have trained and am now 152 pounds at 5'10''. I am about to do a 110mile pyrennean climbing ride. I have a fairly light weight frame, mavic SL wheels, what would be the next component to change to most efficiently reduce bike weight - brake calipers, seat post, chainset?

Well what components do you have on your bike already? What you are using now will have an effect on what you choose to upgrade. Seatpost, bottom bracket, crankset etc etc....it all saves a little bit. I guess the real question is how much money are you willing to spend to do the upgrades? Your wheels for instance are fairly light and an excellent all-around wheel but you might invest in an ultralight set of custom tubular wheels or Campy Hypereons or something to get a wheelset down in the 1200 gram range. Then again, you could just suck it up and deal with what you have. We sprinters have little sympathy for you little guys anyway...152 pounds, sheesh
😄

NW
(5'11" 170 Lbs)

at your fighting weight may i suggest the strapping of another bike on your back for balast to prevent sprouting wings and becoming aloft up there.

it would suit your purposes well to address the rolling weight of tires and tubes.
some tires in the 200 gram wt range, and tubes of the 70g variety will reduce rolling weight to good effect.
if you already have these lighter items, consider pulling out the stops in this area and getting something special purpose such as conti supersonics, michelin pro race lights or veloflex pave and combine with latex tubes.

catch said:

I realise that the most effective and cheapest way to lose weight on the bike is to get the rider to lose weight. I have trained and am now 152 pounds at 5'10''. I am about to do a 110mile pyrennean climbing ride. I have a fairly light weight frame, mavic SL wheels, what would be the next component to change to most efficiently reduce bike weight - brake calipers, seat post, chainset?

lyotard said:

at your fighting weight may i suggest the strapping of another bike on your back for balast to prevent sprouting wings and becoming aloft up there.

it would suit your purposes well to address the rolling weight of tires and tubes.
some tires in the 200 gram wt range, and tubes of the 70g variety will reduce rolling weight to good effect.
if you already have these lighter items, consider pulling out the stops in this area and getting something special purpose such as conti supersonics, michelin pro race lights or veloflex pave and combine with latex tubes.

Good points all, but you over looked the standard practice of inhaling helium and riding with no clothes on....now that's lightweight.

NW

catch said:

I realise that the most effective and cheapest way to lose weight on the bike is to get the rider to lose weight. I have trained and am now 152 pounds at 5'10''. I am about to do a 110mile pyrennean climbing ride. I have a fairly light weight frame, mavic SL wheels, what would be the next component to change to most efficiently reduce bike weight - brake calipers, seat post, chainset?

Check out the listing on Weight Weenies:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

When done with the wheels/tires/tubes/rim tape, the next area I would start on would be anything left that's rotating weight - pedals, shoes, cranks/chainrings/BB, cassette, chain, lockring, etc. After that, then do the static components.

NRW77 said:

Good points all, but you over looked the standard practice of inhaling helium and riding with no clothes on....now that's lightweight.

NW

Drill holes. Lots of holes.
http://www.velo-retro.com/spivey1.html

Wurm said:

When done with the wheels/tires/tubes/rim tape, the next area I would start on would be anything left that's rotating weight - pedals, shoes, cranks/chainrings/BB, cassette, chain, lockring, etc. After that, then do the static components.

Total BS. It all will have the same effect. Go for $/gram only.

artmichalek said:

Drill holes. Lots of holes.
http://www.velo-retro.com/spivey1.html

rofl@ "Drillium" lol!

i must rush to Wurms defense, as he and i are kindered spirits in that we, uh, like wheels. and do not care about being opinionated either in the name of fun.

rotaing weight will have the most effect the further it is away from the center(axle) so tire 'n tubes are the heavy hitters here.

as for shoes, if you can save 100g+ from them, this would be welcome. ever had soaking feet in booties? could you notice the weight?

if the chain weight is reduced there will be less weight to pull as well , maybe small but this is is the alps.

perhaps you should advise such as oiling the chain and inflating the tires.

or is that "total bs?"

wilmar13 said:

Total BS. It all will have the same effect. Go for $/gram only.

Hypnospin said:

i must rush to Wurms defense, as he and i are kindered spirits in that we, uh, like wheels. and do not care about being opinionated either in the name of fun.

rotaing weight will have the most effect the further it is away from the center(axle) so tire 'n tubes are the heavy hitters here.

as for shoes, if you can save 100g+ from them, this would be welcome. ever had soaking feet in booties? could you notice the weight?

if the chain weight is reduced there will be less weight to pull as well , maybe small but this is is the alps.

perhaps you should advise such as oiling the chain and inflating the tires.

or is that "total bs?"

Sorry was not an attack at wurm at all. Only an attack of the fallacy of rotational mass reduction on a bike making a bigger difference than static weight. If you would like to take the red pill and leave the Matrix, read the thread about 300 gram reduction of wheels... otherwise you are free to stay in your state of bliss.

Hypnospin said:

perhaps you should advise such as oiling the chain and inflating the tires.

You just gave me two great ideas!

1) Inflate the tires with helium.

2) Use the thinnest possible chain and bearing lube to reduce the amount of resistance between moving parts.

If this was a car, we could switch to a thinner weight oil to reduce "pumping losses".

I always thought rotational mass was worse than static mass too. Who knew?

the biggest single gains i made on my bike in terms of grams:$ were:

- pedals. changed from standard looks to the new keo's. that is almost half a pound in the extreme case.
- saddle. there can be 100-200 grams difference. something like a flite SLR is one of the lightest on the market and not expensive either.

Shave and a haircut?

Pre ride enema?

RC2 said:

Shave and a haircut?

Great for wind resistance, but I doubt he'd save much weight, unless he uses a lot of brylcreem.

wilmar13 said:

Total BS. It all will have the same effect. Go for $/gram only.

I am not convinced the rotating mass makes that much of a difference when it comes to pure climbing at a fairly constant speed. Rotating mass comes more into play under periods of acceleration right? I think the $/gram is a good measure.

Speaking of which, I would really like to see a $/gram chart. ( i.e. switching from Ultegra to D-ace is x $/gram, switching to a compact carbon crank is y $/gram and switching from Ksyrium Elites to SSLs is z $/gram )

jitteringjr said:

Rotating mass comes more into play under periods of acceleration right?

Yup, certainly does. Swing a light bat, heavy bat. Which takes more muscle to put in motion? Which can you achieve a higher ball-bat contact speed with? Accelerating/decelerating a heavy object is harder than a light object. Keeping the mass in motion along a constant vector, no biggie, heavy tires are as good as light ones... but start/stop, sprint/brake, turn/turn/turn and that adds up.

artmichalek said:

Drill holes. Lots of holes.
http://www.velo-retro.com/spivey1.html

Will it hold with all the holes?

Pete

jitteringjr said:

Rotating mass comes more into play under periods of acceleration right?

Yes that is 100% true... But, and this is what seems to elude most people, you must have acceleration for it to matter, doh! Even Pettachi can't accelerate a bike at a rate that makes it meaningful (even the slightest little bit). If you don't understand that well then I will just have to let you keep thinking you accelerate your bike as fast as you do a bat you are swinging from motionless to full speed in .2 seconds. 🙄