I've never been that bothered about weight, although the very light bikes I've ridden always felt a bit skittish (they were rigid admittedly).
Does it really matter? Me & my mates went through this 20 years ago & the general consensus was, 'if your that bothered about weight, have a shit, shave & a haircut before you go out on the bike'.
Never understood that argument - yes do that and you'd lose weight, but if you save a pound of weight in your bike and do that you'll still be a pound lighter.
I've got a couple of very light (10kg-ish) FS bikes and I'm a big fan. There's something about attacking a trail on a light bike that you don't get on a heavier beast. Personally, I'm no epic downhiller, so short travel XC bikes suits me well and there's a fair amount of choice in these if you want a light bike.
My son's bike is a sub-10kg FS and this had a fair bit of effort put into it to get the weight right down. When you're a very light rider, there's no point in slogging around on 15kg of pig iron if you don't have to and running a light bike will translate pretty well into performance improvement.
it's a full sus but not as we know it:
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22 lbs
Got an 857 frame in the garage you could buy from me. Newer so must = lighter eh? 🙂
<Edit> actually it's the carbon swingarm so it must be lighter!
...only on a nice warm day. If it's like my old Pace elastomers, suspension was a dream during the winter season 🙂it's a full sus but not as we know it:
And even then only about 40 mm 🙂only on a nice warm day
i once had a 24Seven DH bike, which weighed between 45 and 50lb. That was a brute.
PS. The stumpjumper bloke with the weird build. He has spent over £12000 on that...
i once had a 24Seven DH bike, which weighed between 45 and 50lb. That was a brute.
Positively svelte...
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North of 50lbs...
On the aformentioned CX bike weighing 3kg more (albeit with 35mm gravel tyres rather than slicks) it takes 90 seconds more with similar power.
Is a pointless comparison. They only time it matters is when you're racing, and you wouldn't choose that bike to race on, you'd choose the other one. So saying this bike that weighs 42% more than the light one, and takes longer up a similar climb...well duh...
In the real world 90 seconds isn't worth worrying about.
i think the point is that if you are a racing snake it may be wise to reduce a few lbs on the t=bikeNever understood that argument
if you are carrying substantially more weight than your height demands probably a lot less point trying to be a weight weenie re bike.
That's why I said people aren't doing it to be quicker. It feels better.
Incidentally, my 'new' Trek Superfly build is 28lbs, and that's an XC bike with some fairly light kit on it (and some middling). The wheels kill it at 1800g but getting much lighter than that costs £££.
Anyone got any hot tips for light 29er wheel builds that aren't megabucks? I have some Hope hubs I could use and an old XTR rear - but I'd need to pick up a 15mm XT front to go with it.
I use WTB KOMs - really light rims that aren't silly money. I have had one split on me, but I genuinely think that was a dud, and I've done a few thousand km on the others now with no problems to speak of.Anyone got any hot tips for light 29er wheel builds that aren't megabucks?
Guessing the number i23, i25 etc is the internal width?
I wonder for my XC bike how narrow I could go? The bike hasn't got much clearance so I'd be using 2.2s or less. It suggest i-23s are 440g each, which would make my light wheel build only about 200g heavier than my 26er wheels used to be, which would lead to a 1400-1500g wheelset. Hmm.
Is a pointless comparison. They only time it matters is when you're racing, and you wouldn't choose that bike to race on, you'd choose the other one. So saying this bike that weighs 42% more than the light one, and takes longer up a similar climb...well duh...In the real world 90 seconds isn't worth worrying about.
I disagree.. We are discussing the merits of a light bike. Plenty of folks will do an mtb event on a 30lb bike and will be at an obvious disadvantage against someone on a bike that weighs 50% less. Obviously I'll pick the most suitable bike for the event but people are arguing that there is no advantage of a featherweight bike..so I assume don't have such a choice
Losing 90 seconds over 6 min of climbing whilst bimbling about with your mates is irrelevant, but in a race over a couple of hrs or more with multiple climbs I'd say it was fairly significant.
not the forks on my FS weigh near as much as my hardtail.....
coil lyriks vs a carbon 26er with sids and no gears.
But the FS is also made of carbon - that counts for something.
meanwhile fullsus is quite a wide catagory - i wouldnt fancy taking njees trek down where i take my ibis 😀 id almost bet on me carrying it at least the last 200m 😀
Yes, indeed: https://www.wtb.com/products/komGuessing the number i23, i25 etc is the internal width?
When I split my i23 I swapped for i25 and was amazed with the difference. Next time, I'll go bigger again, I think...
I have a pair of 2015 Scott Spark's 900RC.
Both just under 22lbs.
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4502/26334388319_0d54ec8339_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4502/26334388319_0d54ec8339_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/G85CaV ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/144752456@N06/ ]mark tilley[/url], on Flickr
When I split my i23 I swapped for i25 and was amazed with the difference. Next time, I'll go bigger again, I think...
Hm. What tyres?
Looks like if I built my Hope hubs up with Sapim Laser and KOM i-23s it would be very roughly a 1600g wheelset. Not great but not bad for the cost. Might be worth saving up for carbon rims.
Re lightness - on technical climbs lighter bikes are much easier to manhandle up, which leaves more energy available for making progress.
I have a pair of 2015 Scott Spark's 900RC.
Why do you have two?
tp, sure, but you've just agreed with me, but from the other end of the same argument.
Nothing says 'life has turned out pretty well' quite like 2 matching super bikes on a driveway like that!
But yeah.. Why 2? Although perhaps a better question is 'why not'
I have a pair of 2015 Scott Spark's 900RC.Why do you have two?
Couldn't decide between black or yellow grips by the look of it 🙂
Thred needs moar pitchers
tp, sure, but you've just agreed with me, but from the other end of the same argument.
I'm confused as to what the argument is then! All I'm saying is a light bike makes a difference, in reply to someone who asked how much difference it made earlier in the thread.
Obviously you choose the most suitable bike for the occasion, but to do that you need a suitable bike to chose from in the first place.
Ha ha
I have 2 because one is mine and the other is my sons.
Large and medium.
They do everything you need.
Stock wheels also.
Could go lighter.
Nothing says 'life has turned out pretty well' quite like 2 matching super bikes on a driveway like that!
Never mind that, he's so minted he can even afford/justify matching proper heavy duty stands for them 😉
It feels better.
Exactly this for me. I don't race and I ride on my own but as well as the lighter bike giving me marginally better Strava times it feels better. Feels better to turn, accelerate, jump over things, lean over etc,. etc,.
And as I ride a bike for fun the how it feels to ride part is considerable.
I have 5 of those stands!
I've got a magic set of scales ...
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... and no, the front wheel is not on the ground. Has my Genesis Day One Decade at 10.5kg, which is pretty much bang on as advertised.
Nick
"Out of curiosity, if you take the rider as a constant how much of an advantage would a 22-23lb bike have over a 31-32lb bike in either average MPH or secs per hour?"
I have a Cannondale Scalpel (22lb) & a Cannondale Trigger (27lb) and the difference is massive. When xc racing I went from top of bottom 1/3 to top 3 positions in my local events. The weight difference helps massively, but also the geometries then come into play - and my Scalpel is designed with climbing in mind. But its not just about speed - but because I use less energy with a lighter bike I can ride for longer too.
If its a social ride around a trail centre with mates on heavy bikes then ride what you want. But if you want to put in the miles or speed is important then weight will be a big advantage. Also makes a difference (especially if racing) where the weight saving is -- especially with unsprung weight like your wheels.
Nickwatson more pics please
Maxxis Ikon 2.2. Good, light tyres - downside is that the sidewalls are pretty thin, but I've only ever had one fail on me (and, to their credit, Maxxis warrantied it as an early-life failure). Great, fast XC trail centre tyre in dry conditions, but it's a shocker in the mud! 🙂Hm. What tyres?When I split my i23 I swapped for i25 and was amazed with the difference. Next time, I'll go bigger again, I think...Looks like if I built my Hope hubs up with Sapim Laser and KOM i-23s it would be very roughly a 1600g wheelset. Not great but not bad for the cost. Might be worth saving up for carbon rims.
Re lightness - on technical climbs lighter bikes are much easier to manhandle up, which leaves more energy available for making progress.
Dropping those 1600g alloy-rimmed wheels to, say, 1400g will cost you 3-4x as much (depending on whether you like Chinesium carbon or not). It may or may not be worth the money to you - I guess it depends on how much you value your light wheels. I've got my eye on some new rims for these wheels, probably for next spring, but for now the KOMs work well.
zippykona - MemberNickwatson more pics please
As you wish ...
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Not built light by any means. Pike 150mm fork, Hope Enduro wheels, HR2 tyres, XT 1x10 drivetrain (XTR mech), Thomson post, Renthal carbon bars.
My old 26er scalpel was a true ww build - it was in the 18s with stupid tyres but 19s with sensible and more rideable rubber attached.
Ditto here. It was 17.69lbs in Summer mode with SRAM XX1 and plenty of scope for further weight loss. I was one the verge of swapping out the XTR brakes for R1's, buying Hollowgrams, buying a Berk saddle combo and a few other bits which would have seen it closer to 16lbs... but then 29ers happened and I started to accept some things are more important than weight 😯 😀 Damn those beautiful riding big wheels!
What does an average FS bike weigh these days?
No such thing as average, really. Too many variables - materials, use (enduro, downhill, XC) and obviously cost.What does an average FS bike weigh these days?
I will say that, IMHO, bikes are pound for pound (that's £ rather than lb!) heavier than they used to be and that manufacturers chasing "low and slack" seem to be far less worried about weight than they used to be. Got to your local LBS and pick up a couple of £2k enduro bikes and you'll be amazed at how sturdy they are.
You [i]can[/i] buy lightweight FS bikes if your pockets are deep enough, and you can obviously build them yourself, but don't assume that a modern FS bike will be lighter than its predecessor - this is very much not the case.
A case in point would be the glorious HB160 - £7,500 of UK-made magnificence and unquestionably a candidate for bike of the year. And yet, it weighs 14kg (over 31 pounds) which is hardly svelte. Perhaps we punters don't care about weight anymore...?
Apart from having mudguards my 2007 5 is the same spec as the one pictured. 150 travel ,2 chain rings and no dropper.
Just goes to show how lucky we are that manufacturers can easily shave 6 lb off a bike.
I weighed my bikes the other day, the HT which is a KTM Myroon with fox 32 SC, 1x11 XT / SLX and Mavic XC421 on SLX centre lock hubs with Vittoria TNT Barzo & Peyote tyres & OE alloy finishing kit and it's 11kg on the nose with pedals, 2 cages and Exxposure light bracket.
My FS, a KTM Scarp Prestige with RS1's 1x11 XTR, DT XR331 on 350's with Vittoria TNT Barzo & Mezcal Carbon finishing kit and it's 11.8kg with pedals, cage and tool caddy on there.
Light enough for me, but scope to drop a kg off each with lighter wheels and finishing kit, not to mention if I swapped to SRAM cassettes2
Weight definitely makes a difference, some of the numbers being banded about seem a bit exaggerated - although I can believe a different heavier bike with draggier tyres would make far more difference than the weight would suggest.
Also, it might not matter that much how quick you get up hills, but since I've started worrying more (within reason) about weight and speed of tyres etc. I can get another descent in in the same amount of time on my local ride (it's more down to the tyres really - not saved much weight particularly as I've gone 29er too.). But again got to keep everything within the limits of something that'll be fun on the descents.
I've got a magic set of scales ...
I had a c28lb 2006 orange 5 once. But I think my bathroom scales were plus or minus 4lb, so it could have been 32lb. That was the weight-weeny set up. Once I added big tyres and my usual coil fork, it must have been a few ounces heavier. Lets call it 29lb.
My 2007 5 was 26lbs at its lightest, but that went up to 27lbs with bigger tyres for most of its life. Wasn't too hard or expensive to achieve, but could've done with stiffer wheels. Probably spoke related.
anyone else remember that issue of MBUK - probably around 1993 - where they took a wheel rim and drilled 10mm holes in between each spoke, all the way round, to see how much weight it would save?
The answer was, bog all. But there was, unsurprisingly, a substantial loss of strength... 😆
I do remember a MBUK where they profiled a young xc rider who raced an orange 5. His was c 26lb with mavic slrs, xtr, floats etc.
My (2014) Anthem 29r amazes me. Not ultra light - mt zoom bars, bonty rl stem, kcnc post and XT 1x11. Just spent and hour swapping to winter setup tyres on both bikes and thought id get the digital scales out.
I weighed myself as im dressed 3 times. Then same again holding the bike The Anthem comes in dead on 26lb and thats with 1900g wheels on, cage and pedals e.g as id ride it.
Now at 120mm and 68.75 ha with an offset bush, i should probably stop looking at new bikes!
I can't believe I missed this at the time!
Yeah, I had a Top Fuel at 19.89lbs with Rocket Rons (and remote lockout, and bottle cage, Garmin Mount etc), was lightest with Furious Freds obviously (19.7lbs IIRC), but they're cheating.
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3151/5797450312_e8db65f5a6_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3151/5797450312_e8db65f5a6_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/9QirZS ]PICT3460[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/46244709@N04/ ]njee20[/url], on Flickr
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Forks were unaltered, I did take the MoCo out of previous Reba World Cups on an Epic and on some SIDs on my Superfly, made no difference on the former, ruined the latter, clearly the 'base' tune changed.
There was nothing overly scary on the Top Fuel IMO, yeah I wouldn't want to do lots of 5' drops to flat on it, but it was an XC race bike, and it did that very well. Did some 3' drops on it with no issues. My skill runs out there. Ironically it met its demise when the aluminium bit of the chainstays cracked.
