Weight weenie

[Dalifted1]

Ok here is the deal I ride a santa cruz heckler but it came with like a super heavy and rugged spec mostly. I ride alot of all mtn and would like to shed some weight. The wheelset is a mag 30 on saints and they feel pretty heavy. Crank is a saint as well as brakes. easton 70 bars and post, vice stem and a 5th element. I have a talas that is stayin on it. What would you change out to try and shave some weight. I dont want to spend a ton of cash but i know that i dont need parts this heavy duty. The bike weighs in at about 35 pounds right now. would tubeless tires be a good upgrade as well for weight?

[knowles]

What is wrong with 35 lbs?

[NSTP]

I t would be more than 35lbs. with those wheels and saint, closer to 40lbs.
Any how, change the wheels to DTswiss 5.1D rims, on something other than saint hubs, unless you must keep the saint derailleur. For the cranks choose from Shimano XT or Hone, or Race Face Atlas, or Truvativ Firex. All are light and strong. The bar, stem and post are all light, the shock is heavy. A new Fox DHX air would be great, but quite an investment. Brakes are a good weight, but go to a 6" rotor in the back. From the info you gave, that should keep the bike light and tough.

[roasterthetoaster]

You could safely get a lighter wheel set, and cranks. A Ti spring would be a good start too; however, I don't know what a spring is worth. Tubeless would be a smart up grade. As said above, 35 lbs is pretty reasonable for an all mountain bike.

[Dalifted1]

it is bang on 36 pounds. I run a 2.6 on the back and a 2.3 on the front right now but need a new rear. Are the saint cranks that heavy? I want to swap out the rims for sure the front rim is on xt would it be cheaper to just sell it or lace up a new rim. The saint I guess could go. I have xtr dual control as well. I shifter works both for rapid rise and regular correct?

[fitchy]

get an xc bike you you really care about weight. those are my only suggestions

[knowles]

Originally Posted by fitchy

get an xc bike you you really care about weight. those are my only suggestions

Those?
THAT is only one suggestion...singular not plural.

[zahgurim]

wheels--> Mavic 521s laced to Hope pro2 or bulbs, would be a light/strong wheelset, and would be the most noticeable upgrade. Mags are heavy...

Maybe lighter cranks, too. XTs? And a DHX air would save quite a bit of weight, too.

[Dalifted1]

its not that it seems super heavy it just seems to pedal like shit alot of the time. Would it be cheaper to just lace up new rims to my hubs or swap it all out and hope they sell?

[knowles]

I don't think it would be too hard to sell those wheels and it shouldn't be too much more just to get complete new wheels.

[Dalifted1]

thanks boys.

[trail worker]

The key to weight savings is rotational first, everything else later. Anything that spins is rotational mass..pedals, tires, tubes, tires etc.

Rhyno lites are the cheapest and lightest "all mountain" rim out there. You simply can't beat $29 for a rim that (should) stand up to the riding you'll be doing.
If you changed out both rims for Ryho lites instead of your mag-30's you would end up saving around 1.4lbs of rotational weight. Additionally, if you swap that 2.6" tire from the back and put on a lighter 2.35" tire, you'd probably shed another half pound. In total, you'll probably save around 2 pounds right there.

As a rule, a 6" rotor will weigh around 1/4lb less than an 8" rotor. Keep the 8" rotor up front and get a smaller rotor in the back, since you don't use the back brake as much as the front while riding, I bet you won't notice.

you could save 1/2lb with some light pedals, I think that wellgo MG1 is the lightest pedal most people recommend.

The thing about weight savings is that all these little weights don't look like much on paper, but when you add it all up it's usually a fairly big weight difference!

[miufahkiu]

My brother rides a Heckler, which weighs in just under 31lbs, so that's certainly a realistic goal. Here's a brief summary of his setup

Fox Float 32 fork
Fox DHX Air shock
Mavic XM321 rims
DT Swiss 340 rear hub/Shimano Deore front hub
Truvativ Holzfeller cranks
Avid Juicy 7s
SRAM X.7 shifters
SRAM X.9 rear derailleur
Raceface Atlas stem
Raceface Deus bars
Thomson Elite seatpost
WTB Rocket V Team saddle

I'm in a similar situation that you are - my bike weighs in at 35.4 lbs, and I'd like to put it on a diet. It doesn't bother me when I'm descending, but on the flats and climbs, it does feel a little sluggish. The fact that my brother always beats me on the climbs doesn't make it any better. The crappy thing is that there isn't a single part that you can replace to get it down to 30lbs; however, certain parts are much more cost effective in lightening up your bike.

The first thing that I've done so far is change my tires from wire bead to kevlar bead; that swap alone saved me a couple of pounds (before it was close to 40lbs). There seems to be split opinions on the performance of kevlar tires vs. wire tires, but so far I haven't had any problems with pinch flats while running them at 40psi. There have been a couple of occasions where I though traction was lacking though. Also, if you don't need the width of a 2.6" tire, consider running 2.35" tires as additional weight savings can be had there. If you typically run higher pressures, consider using lighter tubes as well since you won't need the pinch flat resistance of DH tubes. Replacing your tires and/or tubes with lighter ones is the most affordable and effective way to slim down your bike.

The next investment I would make is a new wheelset. I'll combine two wheel/hub suggestions of the DT EX5.1D rims and the Hope Pro II hubs. This is a big investment, so I'm waiting until I have some cashflow before I make a purchase.

Someone posted a list of crankset weights a couple of weeks ago, and I remember seeing a pretty big weight savings in the Raceface Atlas cranks - at least 300g savings over the Hussefelts I'm currently running, and I believe around 200g lighter than Saints. Again, replacing a crankset is pricey, especially if you want something that's the same calibre as the Saints, only lighter.

I'm not sure what seat you've got, but the WTB PowerV saddle that I've got weighs in around 500g. Comparitively, the RocketV Team is 300g. 200g is still a considerable amount of savings, so this shouldn't be overlooked either.

In short, I'd try replacing your tires and tubes first. If you can swing it, go for a lighter wheelset. At that point, I think you'd already notice a huge weight savings, and you could make additional changes as you see fit.

[0_o]

Originally Posted by Dalifted1

its not that it seems super heavy it just seems to pedal like shit alot of the time.

+5 psi per tire does wonders.

[Chunk]

Originally Posted by 0_o

+5 psi per tire does wonders.

For what, less rolling restance? At what cost? Less traction.

Yea, no thanks.