what is making my bike heavy?

[Rockinthecasbah]

that dart fork looks like a culprit , you could put better fork on an shed a pound or two, also those cranks might be on the heavy side, and the rims, and the derailers arent carbonfiber so they would have to go, then the frame you could replace that with a ti, carbon fiber or whatever is cool this week frame and save some grams, or...... you could just ride the bike, make sure you keep everything properly lubricated and adjusted ,and just ride

[G-Ride]

It all depends on the type of riding you will do. Your bike is probably fine unless you are planning on competing in XC or endurace races. That said, that is actually pretty heavy for a hardtail. I have mine built up pretty beefy (more of a parkbike or a FR hardtail) with heavy, durable components, heavy fork, and double-walled tires and it's only 28-29 lbs.

Someone mentioned tires. Without looking up the weight of yours, as a rule, you can probably save at least a pound going from a steel beaded tire to a kevlar bead. You are also using steel spokes, and I'm assuming 14g. Very heavy. Unless you will be doing drops or jumps, going to 14/15 or even 15/16 double-butted aluminum spokes will probably save you close to another pound. There's another half pound in your rims if you went to an XC wheelset, and probably another half pound in your cranks/BB. As others said, this could get costly.

Here's a good site for weight listings. http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

[Rockinthecasbah]

like northshore said it is cheaper to go to the gym then to change your whole bike to unobtainium parts

[slowSSer]

don't buy upgrades, ride up grades!
-Eddie Merckx

if northing's broke, then why upgrade? 28 is respectable. just go ride! you'll discover that if you're not breaking parts that you're upgrading/changing things to suit your riding needs. tires are a huge example of this.

edit- I had a case of upgrade-itis with my first bike. now i just break stuff.

[Red Hot Sloth]

I just weighed my bike for the first time the other day while I was at The Path on their digi scale. It weighs 37.4 pounds. Its my do-all ride, as my hardtail rarely sees the dirt any more. I built it up fairly beefy, and since the original build two years ago has progressively gotten heavier. Thats cool with me though. I use 2ply tires, steel beads, dh tubes, heavy a$$ wheelset. But it payes off for me. I'm not truing wheels all the time, I'm not fixing flats every other ride, it is quite stable at speed. If I were to get a lighter set-up I would be compromising durability which I don't want to do. I'm a fat a$$, so if I feel I need to lighten up my ride, I just start riding a little more and loose a few pounds, and I'm good.
Like others have stated, don't worry about the weight unless you plan on getting into some serious racing action.
Enjoy the bike you ride

[sdyeti]

I'd rather break a SRAM X.5 derailleur than an X.0!!
That's why I won't go X.0 or XTR...Sometimes (okay most of the time) the lightest components are the most expensive.

I think most of the components you are using are fine. If you want to race, then maybe think about lightening your bike up. Other than that, you shouldn't be at any disadvantage.

[station]

Originally Posted by mechmann

funny how all the little tiny things add up!

to make super light bikes, people go to all kinds of trouble including aluminum and ti hardware, aluminum brake rotors, not using all 6 bolts on the rotors... the list goes on.

weight weenies don't always win the race though! unless you are below 8% body fat, it is always better to lose the weight off yourself!

whoa, 8%? What is normal? I'm like 21%.

[station]

Crap, I just found out that I'm fat. I'm 6'2" 190 lbs. 22% body fat.

[hobie]

cool. ya i am not racing i am just wondering what is on the heavier side of things as far as components about my bike.

it sounds like the wheels with kevlar tires would be significantly lighter along with a crank. the rest would be smaller increments in weight savings. thats the kind of info i was wondering about.

i dont plan on upgrade unless i brake something, like the seals blew in my front fork, so i got a credit from REI and put it towards a better fork. (at least the one jim at northdridge recommended)

and i will lay off the rags and understand that last nights article about a 27lbs FS bike being too "heavy" is all BS. thanks!

[station]

Originally Posted by mechmann

lol... i wasn't calling anyone fat!

i was just saying that in my experience, i got faster by getting leaner. making my bike lighter doesn't make much difference (better rolling tires make a bigger difference than bike weight IMO)

i don't know what my body fat % is. according to BMI i am borderline overweight, but i am pretty sure my body fat is less than 12%. i still have fat that i could lose, if i could just be more disciplined...

crap, maybe I have it all wrong. I'm going to have to get google involved.

[Edog]

Start by peeling of all the stickers, that will really help.

[Red Hot Sloth]

Originally Posted by station

Crap, I just found out that I'm fat. I'm 6'2" 190 lbs. 22% body fat.

Holey schnykies!!!
I think I'm about 50% body fat..thanks Station!

[hobie]

Originally Posted by SnookDawg

Case in point, I went from a sub-27 lb hardtail to a 30 lb FS 29er and am climbing faster than before on the trail.

what is making you climb faster? the 29s?

i thought that hardtails were always better climbers than FS?

[station]

Originally Posted by hobie

what is making you climb faster? the 29s?

i thought that hardtails were always better climbers than FS?

so they are. There is a lot of debate about this one but a 29er hard tail is tough to beat up hills. Those huge wheels roll right over ruts the 26er slows you down on and the hard tail transfers all the power to the wheel.

[station]

Originally Posted by mechmann

RE: FS efficiency...

allison's voodoo has a VERY efficient pedal platform and even a lockout so it can act like a HT allowing for zero suspension during maximum climbing efforts. also the Specialized Epic is supposed to be amazingly efficient using the brain shock.

I second that.

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by station

Crap, I just found out that I'm fat. I'm 6'2" 190 lbs. 22% body fat.

I'm guessing you're lower on the body fat than you think. 22% and you'd more than likely be over 200 lbs @ 6'2". Most average people who aren't overweight (no big belly, perhaps you played sports in school but it's been a while and you generally consider yourself height/weight proportionate) are probably in the high teens percentage wise.

As for bike weight...well, my girlfriend discovered that 43 lbs = the MTB equivalent to a Sherman Tank for XC riding. She borrowed a Specialized Big Hit for her first ride, and finished the ride...but it's common sense that had she been riding a bike that was 12 lbs lighter, she would have been less fatigued. Flinging around a heavy bike drains you, but you might not notice it unless you ride a 43 lb bike and a 23 lb bike back-to-back. It's night and day.

Then again, most people tailor their bike choice to their riding style and their size.

I'm 210 lbs, so I can't afford to buy thin little weight-weenie parts. I will break them. I look at the weights of parts and I buy "average" weight most of the time. IE, if I see 10 handlebars ranging from 100 to 220 grams, I look for ones I like in the 160-gm range. There are variables here, of course, but you get the idea.

4 easiest places to save weight IMHO are frame, fork, wheels, tires.

Gruppo might be a 5th, but the difference between something like XT to XTR is negligible.

I haven't weighed my bike, but I'd guess it to be around 27 lbs.

It's a large KHS Team ST, 203mm Avid BB7's, XT/XTR, Sun/Ringle Disc Jockey wheels, IRC Mythos tires, Duke SL 100mm fork.

Lightest bike I ever had was a Manitou HT, complete bike w/ XT was 23.1 lbs. I weighed about 180 at the time. After 1 summer of riding, I snapped the chainstays at the BB clean through. What good is a 2.9 lb frame if it's broken in half?

[SnookDawg]

Originally Posted by hobie

what is making you climb faster? the 29s?

i thought that hardtails were always better climbers than FS?

I attribute it to a couple things:
- the rear suspension on the RIP9 is active while climbing, meaning the wheel tracks up and over obstacles (rocks, water-bars, ruts) without spinning or losing traction
- The larger wheel does roll a little better over some obstacles in my opinion
- I built it up with light wheels so even though it's a bigger bike with bigger wheels it still accelerates fine and climbs like a rocket

I think a FS bike with a good rear suspension design climbs better than a hardtail for a rider like me. Hardtails can be built up lighter weight, all other things being equal, but the increased traction more than makes up for this in my experience. A good rear suspension won't break traction and spin out or bob even when you are out of the saddle and standing on it, except for on the loosest surfaces.

EDIT: probably worth pointing out I leave the platform off on my RP23 (lowest setting) for the max shock activity, I am 180 lbs

[hobie]

Originally Posted by SnookDawg

A good rear suspension won't break traction and spin out or bob even when you are out of the saddle and standing on it,

that was my problem on a few hills at marshall canyone last week. i would try to be out of the saddle because the hill is sooo steep then the rear wheel would peel out.

or if i was just pedaling in my lowest gear and when it was really steep, i found myself pulling againts the bars extremely hard but keeping my butt in the seat to keep weight on the rear tire. i found it kind of awkward.

[Shu]

Originally Posted by Pho'dUp

But the quick cheap way to lose some weight is in tires and tubes.

and the counter point to that is pinch flats

I'm personally not a fan of tubeless systems and HATE fixing flats on the trails so I deal w/ the tube/tire weight

[hobie]

Originally Posted by Shu

and the counter point to that is pinch flats

I'm personally not a fan of tubeless systems and HATE fixing flats on the trails so I deal w/ the tube/tire weight

i had my first pinch flat sunday. i was practicing bunny hopping and i tried to jump a curb and the rear tires landed on the point of the curb and pssssss...good times