Bike Weight Loss

SG said:

Hi all, I bought my MTB some years ago although it has an
aluminium frame it still seems to weigh a lot compared
with the stuff around now. As the bike cost about over
£1000 I am a bit reluctant to let it go without relooking
at the weight problem it seems to have. Its been suggested
that one area to look at are the wheels – I currently have
Mavic 221's – are they known to be heavy? Or should I just
take the loss and get a lighter bike?

Cheers Sam

I know it's very cool to have the lightest bike possible but
that doesn't necessarily give you the performance benefit
that the manufacturers claim you'll get. It depends.

Total weight of bicycle plus rider is useful to take into
consideration if you're doing a *lot* of climbing.

Weight on the wheels ought to be shed if you want very quick
acceleration, and then we're talking about tyres and rims
only (rotational mass).

But we're talking about very marginal improvements in the
above cases. Say you reduce the weight of you bike by a
whopping 400 g, by spending another £300 on it. That's half
a water bottle difference. OK, this is not related to the
question you're asking, but the weight trap is often costly
to get out of, and it's sometimes in the head.

One thing - you may get more joy by using tyres of lesser
rolling resistance, e.g. slicks. If you're not out in the
woods so much then the usual knobbly tyres slow you down
a fair bit.

Have you figured out *why* you want to reduce weight on the
bike? As pointed out earlier,it doesn't matter as much as
some would claim . . . /Robert

Can't speak to the wheels but I can offer a comment or two.
I have a heavy mountain bike. Fork is probably 5 pounds or
so. A cheap suspension fork from 1999. New super expensive
forks are around 3 pounds. I have a Thudbuster suspension
seatpost. 1 pound or more compared to half pound or so for
the super expensive light weight ones now. I have a super
comfortable 1.5 pound Brooks saddle. The plastic torture
devices used today are a half pound. My all steel loose cog
cassette is probably close to a pound. The more expensive
ones with the aluminum carriers trim a few ounces. LX crank
and derailleurs add a little extra weight compared to the
upper lines. Not much but some. Wire bead tires instead of
kevlar. A few more ounces. And of course the Blackburn
Expedition rack adds over a pound. But I like to carry lots
of stuff on the mountain bike.

Obviously, all of the parts on the bike add to the weight.
Fork is probably where you can make the most difference.
Maybe two pounds. You might be able to shed a pound by
changing the frame. Half pound to one pound in the saddle
and seatpost. A few ounces in the stem and bars if you went
ultra lightweight and carbon. Maybe a half pound or so with
lighter tires. Maybe a poound by changing the drivetrain to
an upper end group that emphasizes light weight. I could
easily shed six to seven pounds off my bike if I were
willing to spend $2000.

Changing rims as you plan might save you one ounce per rim.
Maybe two ounces per rim if you went with the lightest rims
you could find. Doesn't seem worth the effort to me.

If you want a lighter bike, you pretty much have to change
every part on the bike. You will probably be happiest
starting from scratch and buying/building a new bike and
getting rid of the current bike.

I have no comment on the goal of having a light weight
mountain bike.

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Quoted message said:

Hi all, I bought my MTB some years ago although it has an
aluminium frame it still seems to weigh a lot compared
with the stuff around now. As the bike cost about over
£1000 I am a bit reluctant to let it go without relooking
at the weight problem it seems to have. Its been suggested
that one area to look at are the wheels ? I currently have
Mavic 221's ? are they known to be heavy? Or should I just
take the loss and get a lighter bike?