Help me shed bike weight (and spend money...)

[Cat2forLife]

Wheels is number one. Lighter wheels are the biggest upgrade you can make.

[GrantRH]

AC are very light for Alu wheels. And wider. that was my first upgrade on my Epic. My latest upgrade was to the Di2 XTR, which is super light because of only 1 shifter and wire rather than steel cables. Oh yes, it includes the Carbon seatpost to hold the battery. Next upgrades will probably be handlebar and stem.

[VicanZA]

Dump the spaz and get with a hero..

[Spoke101]

Lekker, I'll first go handlebar and seatpost carbon.

 

Also cassette yes.

 

Then wheels. Not sure if I should go carbon vs perhaps ZTRs or American Classics as suggested.

 

Might go 1x11 when the Shimanis become available later in the year.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Hey man,

Try get a carbon crank (Sram XX or XO) some really good prices in the classifieds and you can drop 300g off that S1250.

Ti Seatpost and Saddle can drop another 150g off the stock stuff.

Otherwise wheels and tyres.

[JXV]

14.87kg is not light... but it is a 29er XL trailbike with big wheels, long forks. This bike is never going to weigh less than 11kg and still be reliable so be realistic. You could drop about a kilo for less than R10k but the next kilo will cost at least double that. The key is to prioritise the upgrades in order of grams saved per rand spent. I would suggest the following in order :

1. Consider going 1x10. Based on XT it saves about 400g and its free. lose the chainguard too. Conventional 2x10 or 1x10 with a clutch RD should not need this.

2. Your tyres are already quite light. Keep them but convert to tubeless if not already done. This will save several hundred grams but it will feel like more than that while riding.

3. Upgrade the cranks to something lighter. Not cheap but will drop quite a chunk of weight. I think this will be more effective (grams/Rand) than a wheel upgrade.

4. Upgrade the wheelset. There are performance gains possible in addition to saving weight.. Lots of options ...several hundred grams of weight saving is possible but this will cost a bit.

5. Cassette and freehub(if existing one is steel). I don't know the SRAM stuff so well but XT cassettes are much lighter than SLX or Deore due to using a lightweight alloy spider. the alloy freehub bodies tend to wear faster....

6. Carbon Bars and seatpost

 

Everything else will cost a lot more for progressively smaller benefits.

[DominionZA]

Wow, your bike is a bit heavy. My Titan Comp 29er is lighter at 13.4kg - and I thought this was heavy.

 

I too wanted to do some upgrades to shed some weight, but lost 11kg since April so figured that was the best (and cheapest) way

I can definitely feel the difference having 11kg less to lug around.

[SiriS]

Thanks guys, some great advice here! This thread will be my "trim down" guide going forward.

 

I'll keep you posted in progress.

[SiriS]

Hi, about to upgrade wheels, need some help please.

 

My LBS can get me ZTR Arch EX wheelset with a Stans hubs for approx R7500:

 

http://www.notubes.com/ZTR-Arch-EX-29er-Stock-Wheelset-P918.aspx

 

At CWC I can get Arch with Hope hubs substantially cheaper (assume price difference is hubs?):

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/ztr-29r-arch-exhope-wheelset

 

And I'm also interested in the American Classic Wide Lightning wheelset (seem light, strong, wide):

 

http://www.evobikes.co.za/wheels/wheelsets-mtb/american-classic-wide-lighting-29er-tubeless-wheelset.html

 

I'm confused as to the options and differences. What would you recommend?

[Mopkop]

Hi, about to upgrade wheels, need some help please.

 

My LBS can get me ZTR Arch EX wheelset with a Stans hubs for approx R7500:

 

http://www.notubes.com/ZTR-Arch-EX-29er-Stock-Wheelset-P918.aspx

 

At CWC I can get Arch with Hope hubs substantially cheaper (assume price difference is hubs?):

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/ztr-29r-arch-exhope-wheelset

 

And I'm also interested in the American Classic Wide Lightning wheelset (seem light, strong, wide):

 

http://www.evobikes.co.za/wheels/wheelsets-mtb/american-classic-wide-lighting-29er-tubeless-wheelset.html

 

I'm confused as to the options and differences. What would you recommend?

Price wise the cwc deal is great and the wheelset is excellent and the hope hubs are lekkerrrrrrrr BUT its about 300g heavier than the americans and you want to save weight. Theres a review thread here somewhere on the americans and from what ive read theyre flippen good.

 

IMHO Id get the americans and do the 1*10 conversion as a start. This should give you the cheapest/biggest weight drop without having to get stem/bar/seatpost etc.

 

Oja and  dont forget to get the 42t expander for the cassette, check out www.rapide.co.za . This will make life just a little bit easier

[SiriS]

Price wise the cwc deal is great and the wheelset is excellent and the hope hubs are lekkerrrrrrrr BUT its about 300g heavier than the americans and you want to save weight. Theres a review thread here somewhere on the americans and from what ive read theyre flippen good.

 

IMHO Id get the americans and do the 1*10 conversion as a start. This should give you the cheapest/biggest weight drop without having to get stem/bar/seatpost etc.

 

Oja and  dont forget to get the 42t expander for the cassette, check out www.rapide.co.za . This will make life just a little bit easier

 

Thanks Mopkop

 

Good point about the weight, although I understand the general riding experience will be better and an upgrade from my current wheelset, regardless of which option I choose.

 

I often see these CWC prices on ZTRs, are the Stan hubs in other words that much more expensive?

 

Must admit, I'm drawn towards those American Classics...Will go check them out later today at Evo Bikes. 

[mtbride]

Rims, tubeless and 1 x 10/11 is the biggest gains.

 

Then handlebar if you go carbon, but it's alot of rands per gram.

 

Stem and seatpost is big bucks for small reductions in weight.

 

I got my Anthem X1 Large from 13kg to 11,6kg with these changes, except seat post.

 

I did not go carbon on anything, so if you want to go carbon you can gain even more weight drop with stem/bar/post.

 

Cost me approx R8500 so far, which included new Schwalbe Snakeskin tyres in order to go tubeless.

 

I got the AC Wide Lightnings rims b.t.w.

[Shebeen]

If you want to be a weight weenie it's a dark road with no return!

 

Just looking at the specs I'm surprised it's that heavy.get a luggage scale, start weighing stuff individually.to measure is to know

[SiriS]

I'm quite relaxed about the weight. It's a project, which I'm tackling in small steps. Bar/post will be first weight specific change.

 

Possibly 1x11 Shimano when they're available depending on price.

 

Wheels, sure any weight gain is great as rotational so apparently makes big difference in feel, - at this stage just want to make sure I buy a good wheel/hub combo. Carbons to expensive, The R5k-R8k range works for me. :-)

[mtbride]

I'm quite relaxed about the weight. It's a project, which I'm tackling in small steps. Bar/post will be first weight specific change.

 

Possibly 1x11 Shimano when they're available depending on price.

 

Wheels, sure any weight gain is great as rotational so apparently makes big difference in feel, - at this stage just want to make sure I buy a good wheel/hub combo. Carbons to expensive, The R5k-R8k range works for me. :-)

 

Choosing a wheel set is dependent on what you weigh for starters.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Thanks Mopkop

 

Good point about the weight, although I understand the general riding experience will be better and an upgrade from my current wheelset, regardless of which option I choose.

 

I often see these CWC prices on ZTRs, are the Stan hubs in other words that much more expensive?

 

Must admit, I'm drawn towards those American Classics...Will go check them out later today at Evo Bikes. 

No, just that CWC have really really good pricing on them. Hope hubs are brilliant. 

[SiriS]

Choosing a wheel set is dependent on what you weigh for starters.

 

Yip, 83kg. So theoretically I could do ZTR Crest (86kg limit on standard wheelset), but after plenty of reading up on the subject I decided to be safe and go for Arch Ex. Peace of mind.

 

Then saw the ACs that are lighter, wider and easily take my weight.

 

Decisions...