Been thinking of losing some weight off my covert, I love riding it but do struggle on the climbs.
I know most of it comes down to my fitness and lack of granny ring but Is it worth putting the bike on a diet.
It’s got sram xo kit, 32 tooth single front ring, fox 36 tallas & a reverb.
So where do I start?
Would wheels make a difference? Ive currently got the standard transition revolution 28, but I don’t know how much these weigh. They’re set up tubless with stans tape, ust single high roller and ust continental x king rear.
If so, any recomendations on wheels. I ride mainly trail centres cwmcarn, afon and llandegla.

Most recent pic.
http://pbckt.com/pf.RcGSLK

Cheers Therag

TBH you can’t really save weight unless you know what it weighs, you can easily spend money to achieve very little. Some OEM bits can be surprisingly light, others astonishingly heavy.

If you’re struggling with climbing though, then aye, add a granny ring IMO. I’ve got 2 single-ring bikes and I like them but for rides of serious distance and climbing, granny ring time.

Just found some results for these wheels, they’re stated as weighing 2277.
I don’t really want to add a granny ring yet, but never say never 🙂

Yep… your wheels and tyres are stifling your bike… on the ups and on pacey pedally trails anyway and i prefer lighter wheels for popping etc as well.

Rev 28 wheels 2277
High roller UST in 2.35 900
X King UST in 2.2 780

Total 3957g or 8.7lbs

We can forget tape and
gulp as you will need that
in the new set up.

Pro11 on Flow EX 1750
Mountain king pro 2.4 650
X king pro 2.4 630

Total 3030g or 6.7lbs

That is a whooping 2lbs of the wheels… and that at the outer edge…

I reckon it’ll cost you about £420 but its a pretty good return… IMHO of course.

Agree with the above- a 2Ib saving will feel maxing, esp at the wheels.. Saved just over a pound on my new wheels I got and was instantly noticeable.
I’d say that’s your first thing to look at, after that, seatpost, stem, grips and saddle.,

Pro11 on Flow EX 1750
Mountain king pro 2.4 650
X king pro 2.4 630

That wheel weight is incorrect – you won’t get a wheelset that light with Stans rims unless you use the Arch EX & some very light Sapim/DT spokes.

The old Flow/Pro 2 Hope Hoop wheelsets were ~1900+g. The new Flow EX is 20g a rim heavier, so you’re looking at ~1950g for that wheelset (bare). Plus rimstrips/gloop etc. No change from 2kg all in really.

I’ve got Crossmax SX’s (1800g per pair) on my Covert; with Fat Alberts. I rode a demo with the Transition wheels and I was astonished how heavy they were.

SX’s are as light as I’m going to go and be confident in them. You can easily find a pair for £300.

Easton Havoc look nice, but I’ve never heard a good thing about the freehubs.

Thanks for the info. I had arch ex & pro11s on my last bike, its been nice getting away from the clicking of the hopes, any expierance with superstar hubs? They are doing flows or crests for £200
The crests weight looks attractive, but maybe too light?
I’ve still got the original minions 700g I belive, which I took off to use the ust ones, not sure if these will run tubless.
The seat post is worth the extra weight imo so that’s staying.

crossmax for the win for the

Good to hear that scotchegg
Too much choice 🙂 Which crossmax do you rec. jedi. just found sx, sl sr

Although lighter wheels make a bike feel lighter and quicker, do they actually make it faster uphill? A heavier wheel exhibits more flywheel effect which smooths out your pedalling impulses, which is one reason 29ers tend to be faster on climbs. Your rear tyre is fast rolling and your front one not slow. If you have lockouts and/or pro-pedal on your fork and shock I’d use them and get in the habit of standing up for climbs. You’ll either get stronger at climbing or you’ll crack and buy a granny ring!

I know most of it comes down to my fitness and lack of granny ring but Is it worth putting the bike on a diet.

Yeah, thats it really. Spend the money that you’ve got saved on a road bike and get fit.

Isn’t the talas fork a bit heavier too? I had a non travel adjust fork on my Covert and never felt like I needed it, so maybe see if you can lose some weight there?

That wheel weight is incorrect – you won’t get a wheelset that light with Stans rims unless you use the Arch EX & some very light Sapim/DT spokes.

You can do, I’ve got a set of Alpine rims at 1,450g for the wheelset (King hubs with DT Supercomps) Could be lighter with Aerolites but they are £silly (got a set on my race wheels but can’t justify them for training/spare wheels)
Anyway, agree wheels & tyres are the place to start. If the budget will stretch to the Kings/Alpines setup go for it, faultless. If the budget won’t stretch get the same second-hand (bits of mine were)

Alpines would be a little bit on the flimsy side for a Covert, assuming the owner uses it in the intended fashion…

You can build a set of Flows onto something like a DT240, with a decent light spoke & get them to ~1750g, but if you push it hard you will notice more flex from having to use a light spoke such as a DT Revolution, and as a result they need a bit more looking after, as IME, they tend to develop a wobble a bit sooner & easier than with a bigger double butted spoke.

Tyres would be a good place to save a bit of chunk though. Weight & choice depend on how much hassle you want if you are running them tubeless. A good compromise might be something like a tubeless ready Hans Dampf, as they come in around ~750g, yet are a decent size, sidewalls arn’t too floppy & are easy to inflate tubeless.

Even sticking with a straightforward/sensible wheelset will net a worthwhile saving there… Pro 2 on Flow or Flow Ex with spokes to match makes a lot of sense for a bike like this but there’s no shortage of choice in the 1800g-ish-and-strong market.

That weight came from a quick google… i’d say it was on the light side… does anyone know if Superstar tesla hubs click like Hopes?? I would like to get away from the noisy hubs.

Crossmax on a Covert have to be SX… they are on my shortlist too..

Crossmax are over budget for now, was hoping to spend around £400 with rotors. I’m not in a rush tho so may wait to get those sx

Alpines would be a little bit on the flimsy side for a Covert, assuming the owner uses it in the intended fashion…

Depends on the owner. I’ve raced DH on mine but a) I do mince a bit and b) I’m 10st.
.
I would avoid Crossmax as I don’t like factory wheels, I prefer the old-fashioned hub/spoke/nipple/rim combos as they are so much easier to repair/get parts for.

Ive been looking at superstar wheels, pacenti tesla weighing 1680g for £259 and
Flows on Switch hubs weighing 1900g for £200.
Anybody got any expierence with these and are the flows worth while to only save 377g

Superstar do have a reputation for warranty eccentricities, so I’d go down the Hope route.

I prefer the old-fashioned hub/spoke/nipple/rim

But no other rim than Stans; weird.