From Stock to Rock!!! Upgrade Time.

[ChariotsOfTires]

So I purchased some upgrades for my rig, but lack the experience to install the stuff myself. So I hooked up with some friends over at MtnBikeRiders.org to help with the intall. Here is the article they posted. I learned a lot from RL and his knowledge of bikes. I think I can work a bit on it myself now.
The pre-upgrade weight is a little off. I had road tires on it when it was weighed, not my Mtn tires and Slime tubes. It probably weighed closer to 30 lbs.
Thanks to RL and Jeremy for hooking me up.

http://www.mtnbikeriders.com/2008/04...han-you-think/

Going from 24 to 27speeds, its easier than you think!
by RL Policar
One of our readers, Randall had recently bought some goods to upgrade his Specialized Rockhopper from 8spd to 9spd. He was able to purchase most of his parts from Pricepoint.com.
His current set up and new parts.

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SRAM X-9 Front Derailleur (bottom pull)
SRAM X-9 Rear Derailleur
SRAM X-9 Trigger shifters
SRAM 990 9spd cassette (for MTB Wheelset)
SRAM 970 9spd cassette (for Road Wheelset - commuting purposes).

His old set up was around 28lbs
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First thing I did was remove his wheels, then his old parts like this Alivio rear derailleur. I also removed all his chain, cables and housing.
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He bought some new SRAM X9 shifter pods and an older XTR brake lever, so that meant the old stuff came off.
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Looks pretty bare. While the bike was stripped, I went ahead and cleaned it up. Degreased the chain rings, wiped down the frame and removed any dirt from the bike.
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Then I started to install the new stuff along with the cables and housing.
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Here’s the drive train looking sexy with its new SRAM goodness!
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I then installed the rest of the cables, the new wheels and tuned up the bike. That included adjusting the derailleurs, the brakes as well as the angle of the levers and shifters on the bars. Here’s the final product.
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Oooh its still nice and clean…
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Like my cable job? I wanted to make sure that it was visually appealing by trying to get it as symmetrical as I could.
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I installed new brake cables and housing on the bike, so basically this old rig felt like it was right out of the box.
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Check out how much weight his bike lost…it now weighs 25.5lbs…not bad!
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I’d like to thank Randall Robinson for letting us the project with his bike. And last time I checked with him and his bike, they are a happy couple! - {End Article}

[roadkillross]

sick. looks mui sexy

[speckledtrout]

looks slick. nice work.

[Zippy]

Almost 3 pounds lighter. Surprising how much weight that took off. Nicely done.

[ChariotsOfTires]

Originally Posted by Zippy

Almost 3 pounds lighter. Surprising how much weight that took off. Nicely done.

It really is probably more like 4 lbs. The road tires I had on it when we weighed it lose atlease a pound to the Slime tubes and Mtn Tires.

[Winger]

Nice! It must be awesome to ride that now.

I'm interested because I'm trying to lighten an older 8 speed bike.....where was the weight savings? ....how did you get 4 pounds out of the components you replaced?

The wheels look like an obvious major weight area (Maybe 1 or 1.5 pounds?), but the other components don't seem like they'd add up to 2.5 - 3 pounds of savings.

Don't get me wrong....I'm not critisizing. I'm just curious so that maybe I can replicate the same results. When looking at my own bike, I was focusing on replacing items I assumed were heavy, such as the seat tube, handlebars, crankset, fork. I had ignored many of the items you replaced & you scored some impressive results. BTW, I replaced my wheels for a 1lb savings.

I also noticed he cleaned the bike after the initial weigh in.

[ChariotsOfTires]

Originally Posted by Winger

Nice! It must be awesome to ride that now.

I'm interested because I'm trying to lighten an older 8 speed bike.....where was the weight savings? ....how did you get 4 pounds out of the components you replaced?

The wheels look like an obvious major weight area (Maybe 1 or 1.5 pounds?), but the other components don't seem like they'd add up to 2.5 - 3 pounds of savings.

Don't get me wrong....I'm not critisizing. I'm just curious so that maybe I can replicate the same results. When looking at my own bike, I was focusing on replacing items I assumed were heavy, such as the seat tube, handlebars, crankset, fork. I had ignored many of the items you replaced & you scored some impressive results. BTW, I replaced my wheels for a 1lb savings.

I also noticed he cleaned the bike after the initial weigh in.

The cleaning was minimal actually. I clean my bike pretty good after each ride cause it hangs in my living room.
I really think the major part of the weight is in the wheelset and the cassette. Both were new and I hand wieghed them (standing there with the rear wheel for eachset in either hand) and there was a noticable difference. The Rear Derailer probably isn't that much difference, but the 8 speed cassettes I started with was a stock Shimano HG-40. Its a base model Rockhopper, so the stock components are low end. The more I think about it the more I am convinced its the wheelset and cassette combo.

[ryandood]

25.5 lbs? What size is your bike? Is this weight with the new wheelset and road tires or some other combo? Mine is a 19 and I unofficially weighed mine in at 29ish lbs after my upgrades. It looks like the most significant upgrade your bike has over mine is the new wheelset.

Maybe I should find a legit scale to weigh my bike now...

Nice job with the bike btw.

[JOx2]

nice make over!

[foofighter]

that's a very nice project and how tall are you? that seatpost is jacked up HIGH

[ChariotsOfTires]

Originally Posted by ryandood

25.5 lbs? What size is your bike? Is this weight with the new wheelset and road tires or some other combo? Mine is a 19 and I unofficially weighed mine in at 29ish lbs after my upgrades. It looks like the most significant upgrade your bike has over mine is the new wheelset.

Maybe I should find a legit scale to weigh my bike now...

Nice job with the bike btw.

Size on the bike is a Medium.

Originally Posted by foofighter

that's a very nice project and how tall are you? that seatpost is jacked up HIGH

I'm 5'10" with a 31" inseam. The tube is just under its highest point for me. I am about as tall as you can be for this frame.
The seat is higher than I ride with it in these photos.