After riding a few full suspension bikes and a relatively heavy hardtail, I’m consolidating my rides and have recently bought an On One 456 Evo Carbon.

I’m not really a weight weenie, but I do know that I love how a hardtail rides, and as I’m pretty light myself (just over 10 stone) I’m wondering if I will get an even better ride (nice) than my previous hard tail if I go lighter.

I bought the carbon as it came up at the right price, but I’ve never really been into weight reduction so that is why I’m looking to get a bit of advice.

I’ve not got pots of gold lying around, so I’m wondering how to reduce weight as cheaply as possible. The bike itself is the full bike as purchased from on one – it’s the deore spec one. I’m actually going to be adding weight to it to start with (dropper) so any advice on where to start to get the best weight reduction for the least cash, let me know.

Many thanks.

Wheels first – but have you thought about getting fitter?

Start with a Big poo before riding.
Tyres, wheels, stem, pedals, seat..

List spec of bike…
Budget?

I’m wondering if I will get an even better ride (nice) than my previous hard tail if I go lighter.

That depends on where you ride and how.

Fitting a dropper post suggests to me you ride some more challenging trails…?

If that is the case, I would not bother too much with weight saving, bar some wheels and tyres at some point, if you feel your current ones are really heavy.

I think that tyres make a much bigger difference to ride – tread, compound and volume…

Before you buy anything, actually weigh the bits on your bike – as some will be heavier than what you think and/or published, and some bits will be lighter.

Also consider where you’re going to use it most, so a tyre that will work in the Surrey Hills fine will be destroyed in a ride somewhere rocky (or, in the case of tyres, different tyres for different areas).

And ignore any thread on weight, where a Poster says ‘about X kg/lbs 🙂

Don’t bother, seriously. Perhaps don’t go carrying loads of crap around. Just ride it.

Do go tubeless though if not already, might save a bit of weight, should certainly ‘feel’ lighter anyway, but that’s not why you do it.

Wheels and tyres are the first place to start (give the most noticeable bang for buck in my opinion). Then the forks.

Replace everything else for lighter as it wears out or breaks.

If you were THAT bothered about weight you’d not be fitting a dropper, so don’t worry, you’re not a weight weenie 😉

Just decide what changes you’d like to make other than weight and work from that. Replacing kit just to save weight is expensive and rarely makes a noticeable difference. Fancy wider bars? Go wider and lighter etc.

Going 1x if you’re not already…

chum3 – Member

Going 1x if you’re not already…
and tyres

how best to reduce the weight of a bike?

1) stop weighing it.

2) lie about it’s weight (it’s what everyone else does), it’s a carbon-framed hardtail, and the tyres are tubeless (even if they aren’t) so it’s somewhere around 23lbs. see? it’s that easy.

3) replace worn out / broken bits with nice bits, there’s good chance these will be lighter than the original parts.

4) get out more.

Borrow some of the scales used on here. Some of those seem to lighten up bikes.

But to be honest, look at what is heavy on your bike, weigh stuff and see what you can afford. Wheels, forks and tyres are often heavy on budget bikes. But too light might compromise your riding. Depends what your bent is

Tom KP

Before you buy anything, actually weigh the bits on your bike – as some will be heavier than what you think and/or published, and some bits will be lighter

if you really want lose weight then this will give you an idea how little you might lose and how futile some of your efforts might be.

2 examples:

Fizik Cyrano carbon seatpost, same weight as the cheap OE alloy post the bike came with.

Cannondale OE stem- lighter than a £70rrp Deda stem which even has whizz bang Ti bolts to maximise weight loss.

In my experience only really fruitful with tyres and wheels, and saddle IF you don’t like the one you have for comfort reasons AND it’s heavy AND you can find a comfy one that’s light.

Cassette and chain easy place to save weight.

Up to a point, a heavy bike may descend better than a light one.

If all your mates are super-fit and riding light bikes and you’re struggling to keep up (and you care) then shedding some weight may be worth it. Otherwise, relax and save your cash.