I know its a heavy bike so is never going to be light but what sort of things do people change to lighten the bike up a bit.

Its running a CCDBC so how much weight could i lose by putting an Air Shock on?

Any advice welcome.

Thanks

Eat less pies?

I know its a heavy bike so is never going to be light but what sort of things do people change to lighten the bike up a bit.

Change heavy parts for ones that weigh less. HTH.

More helpfully, tyres/tubes/wheels are a good place to start – generally plenty to be lost there and in the case of tyres and tubes it’s relatively cheap.

Running Ust 2.2 Rubber queens tubeless so not a huge amount to be saved.

Have just worked out that an rp23 would save nearly 2 lb over the CCDB

Would be helpful if we knew the current spec so we can give specific pointers. Coil shock is obviously a chunk of weight, ti spring would save some weight if you want to keep the performance.

Have just worked out that an rp23 would save nearly 2 lb over the CCDB

so would some noodly short travel forks, depends whether youre happy to sacrifice performance for weight.

A Ti spring will drop a load of weight and bring it closer to an air can with no loss of performance. They are eye-wateringly expensive new but crop up regularly used at reasonable prices (around the 60-70 quid mark), and you’ll get that back if you ever re-sell it.

If you already have an RP23 stick it on (sounds from other thread you are) and see how you get on with it, personally I’d rather have the CCDB, weight and all.

Alpine is never going to be a light bike, youre knocking weight of the peripherals that are bolted to a supertanker. Mines got incrementally heavier not lighter (Saint cranks, coil forks etc) but all in the name of performance or reliability.

Are Cane Creek shocks THAT much better? Open question. I see the hype and the price etc and do wonder for mere mortals like us.

Wheels is the place to start. You can save a stack of weight changing the tyres and with it being rotating weight it makes a whole load of difference.

Go 1 x 10 – you’ll get rid of a front mech, its associated cable, one chainring and a shifter (use a clutch rear mech to obviate the need for a chain device.)

Carbon fibre bars/seatpost.

Lightweight saddle? Charge Spoon/Scoop?

Replace non-load bearing screws with aluminium ones.

My 2010 Alpine weighs almost cock-on 30lbs with an RP23 shock (which it came specced with and does the job as far as I’m concerned)

depends how interested in fettling you are and how sensitive you are to suspension set up and changes (not a troll, one of my quickest mates is the sort that justs get on and rides and is immune to the effects of different tyres, suspension etc). The adjustability of a CCDB allows you to make the most of a sus design. Longer travel single pivot bikes effectively fold in the middle, on slowish rolling stuff they can blow through a lot of travel. Low speed compression eliminates this without compromising other areas.

I’m not justifying an expensive purchase, my Alpine frame came new with a CCDB and I’d actually posted a thread where I’d intended to sell/swap it at the point of receipt to help pay for buying the frame, but I ended up keeping it.

Some people criticise them for being “dead” but IMHO thats because theyve got used to riding around and even exploiting the poor damping of most air shocks-that “poppy” feeling that people like is just using the lack of rebound to launch the bike.

If youre happy with the way your bike rides with its current shock then theyre not worth swapping to, if there are niggles in the way your sus works then you can probably tune it out with a CCDB.

My 2010 Alpine weighs almost cock-on 30lbs with an RP23 shock

so youve got lots of lightweight bits on and it still weighs 30lbs, proves my point about tinkering around the edges! If you want a light bike, dont start with a filing cabinet.

Running Ust 2.2 Rubber queens tubeless so not a huge amount to be saved.

800g each, hardly light. 2.2″ Mountain King Race Sport would save you more than a pound.

Tyres are the biggie – lighter for summer and less ‘intensive’ riding, switch to heavier when needed. If you have the money, run two wheelsets for such occasions – one light with skinnier rims, the other heavier and wider for bigger tyres.

Otherwise check bars, stem, saddle, seatpost – all can normally be swapped for something lighter.

XTR cassette is significantly lighter than an XT, but also wears faster and is 3x the price.

For silly money look at lighter forks – air spring, 34mm stanchions and 15mm bolt-thru instead of coil, 36mm stanchions and 20mm bolt-thru.

Go 1 x 10.

But it will always be a battle of light weight vs. performance on a bike of that nature.

Put lightweight tyres on it and you’ll compromise what the bike is meant to be. My 2010 Alpine weighs just under 33lbs, i’ve tried shaving a bit since i recently picked it up but i’m at the stage now where i’m happy with strength/weight.

My spec:
16″ alpine frame 2010
rp23
Hope headset
coil lyriks
Thomson stem 50mm
Easton havoc carbon bars 750mm
Ruffians
Thomson post
Chromag saddle
Avid elixers 203mm fr and 180mm rear rotors
X9 shifter and rear mech
Sram cassette (xt ish weight can’t remember model)
Carbon Sram S2200 cranks with spider removed and 34t mrp bling ring fitted
E13 lg1+
Dmr vaults
Stans flow ex’s with yellow tape for tubeless on superstar switch hubs
Minion 2.5 dhf exo fr, Hans dampf super gravity rear
Also have an x fusion hi lo which obviously bumps the weight up when fitted.

There are places i could lose weight but i love the forks more than i hate their weight and everything else would be marginal weight losses for maximum £££££. I have my ti slackline if i want to have fun on a lighter bike, this is more my mini dh bike which will occassionally get used for the odd gravity enduro if the venue warrants a bigger bike.

If you want a light bike, dont start with a filing cabinet.

I love Orange suss bikes and aim to buy an Alpine, but that statement is correct.

You could always swap your frame for the latest incarnation – doesn’t it save something daft like a kilo?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/making-by-trail-bike-lighter-its-not-easy

I have fiddled around and knocked the square root of naff-all off my bike see thread above! I am now down to 33.2lbs from 33.6lbs – I’ve got a lighter wheelset in the post and thats as far as I can go without going down the air forks route (no thanks).

njee20 – Member

2.2″ Mountain King Race Sport would save you more than a pound.

600 gram tyres on an Orange Alpine?

seriously?

why not replace the rear shock with a bit of wood? – balsa is nice and light.

🙂

in an attempt to offer some serious help, Saint cranks are actually the strongest things in the universe, possibly overkill on a bike with lots of lovely suspension. Slx / Xt cranks will save 100g or so…

Pedals are often surprisingly heavy, but they have the advantage of being almost consumable, so you don’t have to wait long before they need replacing. I like nukeproof electrons, they feel nice, they’re cheap, they’ve lasted very well, they weigh 340g.

saddles: they’re a personal thing, if you’re not hapy with the comfort, you’ll be buying a new one soon-ish anyway, get a light one.

(a charge scoop with Ti rails is very comfy, and around 240g)

I’ve been down this road many times in the past. It’s hard to make a heavy bike light without compromising it in some way, and/or making it a ridiculously expensive exercise.

You’ve already got the tubeless Rubber Queen setup in place, so you’re not going to lose any more weight in the wheelset without chasing mere grammes at great expense. If it’s a Patriot and it’s being ridden with gusto then stick with your wheelset as it’s obviously up to the job.

It’s always helpful to look at the weights of bars, stems, saddles and seatposts – I’ve saved 450g by swapping a heavy saddle and post for an SDG I-Beam setup. However, the last place you want excess weight savings is in your bars, so you have to either settle with something suitably beefy or be prepared to spend on carbon bars – again, you’re chasing tens of grammes here.

You’ve identified that there’s a whole lot of weight in the shock, in this case 2lb which is pretty substantial…but then you have a CCDB on there for a reason. If you switch to a Fox Float, are you going to compromise the poise of the bike? If you’ve got the cash to spare then maybe consider a CCDB Air?

Then there’s cranks, pedals and brakes to look at…

CCDB (now with Ti coil not shown)
RC3Ti coil
Saint cranks
XT, 2×9 with bash guard and Stinger
GD post
haven bar+stem
Pro2s with hefty Sun 31mm rims and Minions
Easton Flatboys (something like 580grms a pair 😯 )
No interest in gardening 😀

never weighed it, guessing ~35lbs?

Instead of compromising my AM bike, I worked out that if I left it alone and bought myself a Spesh Camber complete with Revelations and an XT drivetrain I was saving money…

I now have two FS bikes, with six and a bit pounds between them weight wise. Win-Win.

The point of the it is that i want to have a lighter all day bike as i can’t afford to maintain and buy 2 bikes.

Spec is currently:

X Fusion Vengeance Air HLR
Flows with Team Green Pro 2 evo’s
Tubeless Rubber Queens
CCDBC
Hope Race Evo M4 Team Green Brakes running 203/183.
Hope TG BB
Renthal Bars
Reverb
Gobi XM
XT Cranks with 34t renthal ring and MRP G2 SL Chain Device
XTR Shifter
Renthal non lock on grips
Superstar Pedals
Xt Cassette

Weighs in 33.06lb

Just putting an RP23 on drops it to 31.53lb.

Anyone want a CCDBC?

Pull it to bits, chuck the bits on the scales, find out what’s heavy and what’s not. You can build a lighter, strong bike along these lines but you need to be pretty canny about it.

njee20 – Member

800g each, hardly light. 2.2″ Mountain King Race Sport would save you more than a pound.

On an Alpine? Makes no sense to me, it’ll just knacker its capability without actually making that much difference to weight. It’ll still be a lump hammer, just one you can’t actually hit things with

Agree that tyres arent really an option changing as rubber queens are pretty light for the handling, grip and abuse they can take.

On an Alpine? Makes no sense to me, it’ll just knacker its capability without actually making that much difference to weight. It’ll still be a lump hammer, just one you can’t actually hit things with

Never said anything to the contrary, just that you could save a pound. The OP seems to be considering changing to an RP23 which will cost about double per gram saved and have similarly negative effects on performance.

An Alpine’ll still do the job it’s supposed to with an RP23, but it won’t with unsuitable tyres. It’s still a compromise but tbh there’s a lot to be said for an alpine with propedal.

Ive got a ti spring (550lb) off my Alpine’s CCDB that I could sell if you were interersted.

Emails in profile.

Anyone want a CCDBC?

as said above why not try a ti spring?

I was thinking about an rp23 due to the fact I could make a bit of money selling the CCDB and get a second hand rp23 cheaper.

Plus, I’m more of a setup, and leave kinda guy and the RP23 feels good to me.

New Pikes would shave a good chunk of the X fusion fork weight 😉

FWIW I’m running an RP23 on my 2010 model, Float 36s and Continental Mountain King II 2,4 folders which are a claimed 680 grams.

The shock and forks are the original spec, and despite what they nay-sayers claim I don’t find that the tyres have compromised performance. I prefer them over the OE spec High Rollers that it came with, which I found very draggy especially when climbing.

scottfitz – Member

as said above why not try a ti spring?

Titanium springs are lighter than steel springs, but don’t expect miracles.

my 400 x 2.8″ Steel spring weighs 450gram.

Mojo ‘claim’* that a Ti replacement weighs 293 grams, for that they’ll charge me £200.

they’re lighter, but don’t save that much weight, considering the price…

(*do you believe them? because i don’t)

Are Cane Creek shocks THAT much better? Open question. I see the hype and the price etc and do wonder for mere mortals like us.

Yes, they are. It turned my Five from a mediocre bike into an awesome one. I couldn’t believe the traction it gave, both descending and climbing. Historically I’ve never got on with Air shocks, where as I literally just stuck the CCDB on and never touched it again.

Putting an air shock on an Alpine when you already have the CC seems a complete waste

£120 new

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VectioX-Titanium-Spring-for-Rockshox-Fox-Bos-X-Fusion-Cane-Creek-Shocks-Ti-/350890198580?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item51b2af8634

or 60 quid used

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-ti-spring-400×250

(currently adorning my Alpine, cheers pegglet)

but if the OP likes his RP23 then its a no brainer, lose weight and gain cash by selling the CCDB.

American Classic All Mountains plus Hans Dampfs running tubeless would save you around 1lb but in the right place and arguably give you more grip and a wider carcass. Unless you ride somewhere really flinty and need UST that is.

An Airshock will make an obvious difference but it depends whether this is your big trail bike or your little DH bike as to whether it makes sense.

Hope’s IBR and chainguide might shave a decent amount.

MT Zoom XL carbon bar but not if you’re doing BIG jumps.

All of the above might get you to 30lb but you’ll be around a grand worse off and you could buy a Canyon hardtail for that and just leave the Alpine for what it’s intended for 😉

Personally it sounds like you have the wrong bike for the riding you want to do. Get something more all day. Yes it is not as ‘cool’ to have something like a giant anthem if what you actually want is to fly uphill, along and down as fast as your fitness allows this is the type of bike you want. Something like an alpine is huge overkill for anything but uplift days or the alps. Bunging light bits on it means it will be a bit of a nothing bike.

You’ll also likely be surprised. I had an anthem and a nomad. Strava never lies. I’m faster on the anthem on virtually every segment, including descents. Thats with 1390g wheelset and 2.1 racing ralphs. Nomad now gets an annual trip to morzine and the occasional uplift.

If however you are like some of my mates who are rapidly becoming ex-mountain bikers having a cool bike that looks the business is more important to you than actually riding it then keep the alpine….

Strava never lies.

😆

Are you quite sure about that? 😉

Selling the frame will save a lot of weight.