Best places to lose weight on a bike.

Hello STR!

Well... being a weight weenie has made me a paranoid person and I was thinking; where is/are the best place(s) to lose weight on a bike? Usually concerning weight and price is the main issue for me. I love Mountain Biking but I'm not very educated within the mechanics and parts of the bike. I know the parts of the bike, and what they are called. I just don't know where to start!

My very first instinct was to see if I could switch out my Crankset to a 2x9. But after looking a weight differences, I would only be losing about 200 grams. I also saw some Carbon Fiber 2x9 crankset that weighed 700+ grams and was super expensive, so I don't know whats up with that.

Now that I'm writing this topic; I'm starting to think that the wheel set is a good place to start? (In terms of cash needed and weight?)

My current build is the 08 Pitch Pro with Avid Elixer R's and a WTB Shadow V Saddle.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?arc=2008&sid=08Pitch

Thanks!

Edit: I weigh 160, and my bike currently weighs in at about 30lbs. Trying to cut down some weight on both.

Edit2: I'm 160 and 5'8". For some odd reason my calfs seem to be very bulky but muscular. Sometimes I see guys out there riding and their calfs are relatively skinny but they are super fast! And no... my calfs aren't filled with a thousand tons of fat...

 

My A$$ and My Waist....

Sorry...that title was just killing me

Oh constructive...wheels are always a good place to start

 

Rims, tires are the easiest and since it's rotational mass weight (something like that :?. There should be other threads here about that so you may want to do a search for more info. Good luck!

 

I've often been tempted to ask for owner pics in the Weight Weenie forum on the other site. I have visions of some 300lb guy spending a fortune to build an 18lb ride. Sort of missing the obvious.

Oh ya, wheels, as stated. Cranks are another.

 

if you wanna cut weight that matters on the bike, cut the ROTATING weight, that stuff makes more of a difference then "dead" weight (like you)

Start with wheels, pedals, cranks and then move onto the dead weight like fork, bars, seat post, saddle, etc

 

Also, the farther from the axis of rotation the rotating weight is, the more it matters. So 100g off the rims makes a bigger difference than 100g off the hubs, for example.

 

It's an AM bike. Is the $$$$ it's going to take to shave a 1-1.5lbs. really worth it. I say save that $$ and buy a light wt. XC bike.

Though, I will say a quality wheelset is worth the $$. You'll change bikes and frames but take good wheels with you.

But throwing a ton of $$ trying to make AM bike superduper light isn't really worth it 2 me.

Cheap weight loss. Tubes and tires..

 

Your ass, get off it and ride....

Cut the seatpost/bars, Lighter rubber, grips/saddle, wheels can get pricey#-o. Be realistic though, spending thousands on making your bike lighter will NOT make climbing easier or you a better rider. Your bike is a six inch AM rig and 30 lbs is pretty light for the category, not to mention Spesh tires are some of the lightest out there. Just suck up the weight and get used to the workout if you want something with that kind of descending and you will start shedding some pounds:lol:. On the other hand if you really want light just get a hardtail or similarly uncomfortable short travel race bike and you'll have something that will go on top of the car much more easily, but will still need to be motored uphill.:bang:

 

my bike climbs noticably better when it's in race form:?:
but 1lb makes more of a difference on an 18lb bike than a 30lb bike.
i deffinately say tires and wheels first.

 

I have no problem pedaling that bike up hill; I just have an obsession with grams. GRAMS GRAMS GRAMS! Hah.

A weekend ride at Aliso usually includes 3+ Climbs up Mathis and 2+ Climbs up Cholla at least. I like climbing as much as I like descending... yes I know... I'm wierd. I love that rock face on Cholla where you can go around it. So fun to cut through the middle.

Edit: Oh DISCO, I know less weight will not make climbing easier... I'll just go faster. Just like everything else, Mountain Biking is always as tiring as it was when you were new to it. But the difference from then and now is how fast you are!

 

"Best places to lose weight on a bike.
Hello STR!

Well... being a weight weenie has made me a paranoid person and I was thinking; where is/are the best place(s) to lose weight on a bike? Usually concerning weight and price is the main issue for me."

The best place weight on a bike is the tall mountains. Level trails will only work if you push yourself (Intervals and such)

 

go get a carbon bike

 

oh yea, like someone mentioned above, tires will make a noticable differnce in weight!

also small amount of weight does make a BIG difference depending on where it's located on the bike. I noticed I could roll/coast a lot more since I've gotten my new wheels (same tires). Also when I swapped out the stupid RST fork for a Rockshock Reba, it made a HUGE difference in weight, the front end is WAY lighter that I now have problems keeping it planted on climbs sometimes!

 

If you make the bike lighter, it won't go as fast downhill!

 

just ride more.
my bike weighs 41+ pounds with 1350 gram tires and i do los pinos loop with it (6000 of climbing)

 

some good responses here.

Rotating weight is key as mentioned.


No one is mentioning 'unsprung weight' tho....
Lighter parts at the end of suspended parts make your suspension able to be more active.....

basically newtons F=MA applies. Take more force to move heavier objects. Lighter suspension parts = more active suspension = better ride

Oh, i thought we were talking race cars... same stuff applies

 

Toss the water bottle, lose as much as 1.5 lbs.

Good news - bad news:
A lighter wheel accelerates faster. Top end speed is not affected.
A heavier wheel coasts longer.

 

This is when you should start to worry about grams...

 

Someone beat me to it but any real weight savings will be made by the rider losing weight.

If anyone stresses over a couple grams here and there... they need a life.

Have the same problem when driving my car at the race track. Guys tear everything out of the car and then look at me. I tell em if I should drop 50lbs off my ass and then not have to go through all the trouble of tearing my car apart.

 

I swear. Every local bike shop should sell balances, and fish hook scales at below cost to their customers. The resulting weight-weenie return sales will be more than worth it.