Bike needs to lay off the twinkies

May 22, 2008 9:31 PM

What's the best way to put my new bike on a diet?

After a long search I finally got a new bike. I used to mountain bike avidly, and had two very nice, light and expensive bikes in my younger days. I'm older now, and have other things to spend money on, so I bought a reasonably priced but still awesome Trek 4300. It's a great riding bike, with good handling and nice trail manners. Still, it's a bit heavy and I'd love to help it lose about four pounds.

Dollar-per-pound, what's the best way nowadays to do this? Five years ago, suspension forks cost what entire titanium bikes cost now, so obviously the market has shifted and I'm a little confused on whether I should be looking at better brakes, seat post, wheels or what!

Hep meh!

posted by littlerobothead to sports, hobbies, & recreation (13 comments total)

As a general rule, a better (lighter) wheelset will shave weight, and make the bike feel even lighter than comparable savings elsewhere. I think there's often a lot of weight that can be lost in a seat as well.
posted by gofargogo at 11:17 PM on May 22

Go singlespeed and drop the derailleurs?
posted by beerbajay at 11:41 PM on May 22

unless you're a stick-insect, surely it's easier (and healthier) to lose 2kg from your arse than from the bike? I dunno, maybe you're ultra-fit, but most people aren't. I know I ain't.
posted by polyglot at 12:41 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Assuming this is the bike you're talking about, you could do a *lot* to make it lighter. Wheels/tyres, cranks and forks are three areas where you could immediately drop a whole lot of weight. However, you'd be looking at spending more than your bike was probably originally worth in order to do it.

In order of preference, I'd swap the fork to something lighter and better. It would be an upgrade that would increase the performance of the bike and your enjoyment of it in ways beyond simply saving weight, so that would be the obvious first choice. The RST is a pretty basic fork, so most anything will be an upgrade.

The wheelset on your bike looks to be of reasonable quality, but I doubt it's featherweight. Entry-level pre-built wheels like the Mavic Crossrides would be great, but then I don't know what your budget is. Tyres vary a lot between makes, and something that Maxxis Crossmarks would be a good sensible choice. As others have said, weight lost from the wheels can give the impression of snappy accelleration and responsive handling even if the weight saving isn't that great.

Cranks are another area where you can potentially save a lot of weight and by the looks of it, the one on your bike is a boat anchor. I'd personallly go for a Raceface or Shimano external-bearing crankset. Something like Shimano LX would be a fairly good price/performance point to jump in at.

Assuming you're not deterred by the fact that this could end up costing you more than the original purchase price, keep your eyes open for end-of-season and last-year's-model closeout sales from the online vendors. The odds are that last year's crankset or wheelset is going to be nearly identical to the current one at about 30% less.
posted by tim_in_oz at 1:42 AM on May 23

Gonna ride it or weigh it? What polygot said.
posted by fixedgear at 4:18 AM on May 23

fixedgear and polyglot are probably right -- that bike's never going to be feather light (without spending much more money than it's worth), so don't sweat the weight too much.

That said, tim_in_oz has the right idea for what to upgrade. Better suspension will improve the ride of the bike even more than saving weight, so if you're definitely going to invest somewhere, put the money into the fork. Cutting down on rotating weight -- wheels and tires in particular -- improves performance more than cutting down on stationary weight -- like saddle, handlebars, other components -- so that would be the second place to invest. I'd buy myself a nice set of tires before I worried about the wheels, though.

There are some discount wheelmakers, like Neuvation that make a pretty solid product at a very good price. You might look there. (I'm actually not sure if Neuvation makes wheels for mountain bikes, since the site seems to be down at the moment, but their road wheels are one of the better values out there.)
posted by dseaton at 4:33 AM on May 23

Thanks for the input, all.

@beerbajay: I actually rode some really nice offroad bikes that were setup as singlespeed, because that's what I initially wanted. One Gary Fisher was especially nice. Since singles and fixies are so hip now manufacturers are demanding a big premium, and I have no use for a hipness tax.

@polyglot: That's the reason I got the bike. But since I have no immediately replaceable mechanical components, I figured I start with the part of the equation that does.

@tim_in_oz: REALLY good info. My last bike was full XT, so I'm leaning towards at least getting XT derailleurs on this one. But it's true that I could easily spend the bike's asking price on hop ups that wouldn't do me much good. Thanks for taking the time!

@dseaton: Thanks for the pointer to neuvation. It wasn't immediately clear to me whether they sell mtb wheels or not either, but I'll keep checking.
posted by littlerobothead at 6:49 AM on May 23

It sounds like you're doing some off-road riding, but if you also ride on the road, a set of road tires that can take 80 psi or so will really make the bike go fast. There would be some weight savings, but the main difference is reduced rolling resistance.

I'm not sure if the cool mountain bikers still ride them, but a few years ago offroad tires that were fairly smooth in the middle were all the rage. The idea being that you need less tread when you're going straight than when you're leaned a bit into a turn (on dry trails, at least). This may be a decent compromise.

The other recommendations here are good.

Oh, and this is coming from a guy who rides a lot on the road but could still stand to lose about the weight of a cheap mountain bike without sacrificing any limbs or important internal organs, FWIW.
posted by altcountryman at 7:41 AM on May 23

I agree with polyglot and fixedgear, but: you can save weight most cost-effectively in the wheels--lighter tires and ultralight tubes to start, butted spokes with alloy nipples if you want to throw some money at it, new wheels with fewer spokes, ultralight skewers and cassette, etc. if you really want to throw some money at it.

Seatposts, saddles, cranks and pedals are another good place to save weight (bars and stems somewhat less so), but, again, you're paying a pretty significant premium for the weight savings. And all that gram-shaving stuff, the titanium bolts and carbon bottle cages and whatnot? That stuff's for rich people, or people with sponsors.

(And I'm not really qualified to speak about suspension upgrades, so I haven't mentioned 'em. Go rigid, and quit riding on my lawn.)
posted by box at 8:13 AM on May 23

Especially if you need a long seat post switching to titanium there should save some weight. Carbon fiber handle bars save weight and are supposed to minimize some of the beating your body takes.
posted by Carbolic at 8:27 AM on May 23

Buying new derailleurs isn't a particularly good way to cut weight or improve performance. Ever wondered why most bikes come with a slightly nicer rear der than than they do front der? Because we in the bike industry know that this is the thing consumers look at when they are shopping, not because it is necessary for performance.

Cutting weight by buying smaller, lighter tires will negatively affect off-road handling characteristics. Super tiny, super light MTB tires are still pretty popular on the European WC scene, but in general, the US market and the MTB market in general have been trending toward fatter rubber for the last few years.

Taking it one step further - rather than reducing weight, reduce hassle. Upgrade your wheels to a UST standard, and you will really cut down on flats. Additionally, running a UST tire system will allow you to run lower pressures, which will increase traction and better your handling on the rough stuff. You could also look into a Stan's system for your current wheelset, but most non-mechanically-inclined people find that to be too much trouble. If you do want to make the bike lighter, look into a set of wheels that reduces rotating weight while also allowing you to convert to a UST system. If you buy a really nice set, you will be able to take them with you when you eventually upgrade to a higher end bike.

Honestly, I would just ride this bike into the ground and use it as a learning opportunity. Once you really wear everything out, use what you have learned about your riding preferences to pick a new bike. You will probably find that you have some pretty specific ideas about geometry that you didn't have when you started.

Oh, if you want a singlespeed MTB for a reasonable price, look at the Redline Monocog bikes. The parts aren't particularly high end, but the bikes are solid, the geometry is good and they are really fun to ride. You will feel like you are 8 years old again.
posted by chuke at 8:31 AM on May 23

Oh, and you should check out the MTBr Forums

This site is filled with good info for beginners and everyone else, too. The community is pretty robust, and there are specific forums for beginners, weight weenies, racers, women's specific info, and regional boards that will enable you to find the fun trails and great people to ride with.

Have fun on your new bike!
posted by chuke at 8:37 AM on May 23

what are you looking for?
speed comes from many things, 1 fast legs, 2 good wheels and tyres, 3 a well fitting bike.
weight is in there, but it follows all of these things.
however changging components such as pedals or bars can change the feel of the bike as well.
most of the items mentioned by people above are designed to save 10 to 20 grams.
if you really want to go down this path, i recommend making a table, with components in the left collumn, alternative component in the right collumn, and then cost to change next to that. from a weight perspective i would expect the only thing on your bike that would be worth the effort, is wheels and tyres. so forget about changing seat posts, derailleurs and the like! just ride it until the current tyres wear out, then replace at least the tyres and the back wheel and you will notice a weight, performce and speed difference.
posted by edtut at 5:53 PM on May 23