I have recently bought a mate’s Planet X Full Monty gravel bike and I’m looking to save some weight on it. The obvious place is changing the wheels and tyres and getting them set up tubeless. I have done some looking around and I can probably get hold of some wheels and tyres which will save about 2.6lb or 1.2kg. The bike doesn’t feel dull or particularly heavy when riding, but equally it doesn’t feel quite as lively as I was expecting it to be. The wheels are definitely the place where the most weight can be saved on this bike. It’s currently about 24lb (10.9kg) and I’m not sure where I could save chunks of weight other than the wheels, it already has carbon seatpost and forks. How noticeable will that weight saving be on the wheels?

very.

That’s a huge amount of weight off a wheelset- it must have a properly heavy set at the moment!

Current wheels are about 2.4kg for the set. New ones would be about 1.55kg.

Yes, I’ll think you’ll notice!

Quite a lot.

True story. Wheels is where it really counts.

I probably halved weight of my commuter wheels and all the sudden I’m not that sure I need 11/34 cassette and 50/34 cranks xD

Cheers!
I.

You won’t go any faster but it will ride better.

massive amount, I can tell a few 100g on my wheels, I do a lot of climbing for my fitness level
2.4kg wheels are downhill wheels, im guessing you are talking with tyres however, i try to shop for 1.8kg wheels only, 30mm inner+ for 27.5’s for my all round riding on my MTB’s and 80ish kg riding weight

2.4kg! With tyres, surely?

Maybe think about going to 650b if it’s not already.

Wow, what are the wheels, is that weight without tyres??

Agree with Cynic_Al, my gravel bike is 10kg but with quite nice wheels (1650g so not featherweight, but a nice build with light rims and Sapim alloy nipples). Tyres are not lightweights for gravel tyres but I think are the right balance of weight and toughness (Vittoria Terrenos, approx 500g per tyre). I use Latex tubes because I’m a sealant-o-phobe so not going tubeless. Each tube 100g.

Either way, it feels really responsive to wee digs and sprints and is also really good out of the saddle e.g. when my pedalling is all choppy and I’m constantly re-accelerating the wheel. It basically does exactly what I want from a gravel bike which is to feel as much like my road bike as possible but with tyres fat enough for loose rough surfaces.

You won’t go any faster but it will ride better.

If there’s any climbing involved he will.

That weight is WITHOUT tyres! Tyres aren’t too bad at 500g each with wire beads.

hand carved from granite?

Sounds like the Roccia wheels that were ~£60 on PX.

It will feel like a different bike with some Hunt Aero Light Disc wheels, Supersonic tubes, 23mm GP5000 front and 25mm GP5000 on the rear. 😉

Supersonic tubes, 23mm GP5000 front and 25mm GP5000 on the rear.

But why? That is just purely wrong to have narrower rubber on front…

Cheers!
I.

Not sure gp5000 tyres are right for a gravel bike 🤔

I thought wider at the rear for grip?

That weight is WITHOUT tyres! Tyres aren’t too bad at 500g each with wire beads.

Get a set of 1500g wheels on there with folding tyres and it’ll feel like a completely new bike!!

650b wheels at 1500g
WTB Byways at 530g each, you’re not much over just the old wheel weight!

My gravel bike is 9.6kg with pedals.

Wider at she front for the aero gains. But not really necessary. I wouldn’t be running a 23 on the front of that type of bike. I run that combination on my Aeroad, but for a comfort bike I’d run 30 or 32 front and back.

Weight saving off the rims is definitely changes the feel of the bike more than weight saving elsewhere, but it won’t increase speed significantly more than saving weight elsewhere.

If that 1.2kg is mostly at the rims and tyres, I’d expect the difference in feel to be massive!

If there’s any climbing involved he will

Well yes, but it’s well established that the difference due to weight reduction is minimal because aero remains a factor – more significant up to 12% inclines IIRC?.

I was surprised that narrower front tyres was becoming a trend (I’d read about it elsewhere).

Is this people trying to take aero savings to the extreme? Is it just an MTB thing to want more grip on front tyre? Narrower at front just seems wrong to me as well.

I’ve a Pickenflick. Stock wheels were around 2.1kg. Upgraded to Hunts after a year (around 1.6kg) and tubeless, made a very noticeable difference in how the bike rode and felt.

There are other places where you can make easy/not insignificant gains. Stock seatpost was a right chunky affair, found a lighter one in the parts box (still Alu) and also cut off about 8cm in the length, and saved around another 300-400g.

I was surprised that narrower front tyres was becoming a trend

It does take half the weight of the rear so I can see an argument, I wouldn’t bother myself.

I suppose the downward slope it creates to the bike will decrease frontal area 😄

worth remembering too that cheap heavy wheels often have hubs with really slow engagement. A quicker engaging hub makes a bike feel quicker as well

My Longitude weighs a kilo or more less than my old stock Vagabond (Alex Volare/Deore) and these aren’t even particularly light rims (Hope Enduro)

Carbon bars/seatposts help too, but wheels/tyres would be my first look. Don’t forget to factor in the cassette. The XTR cassette weighs 200g less than the old Deore one.

Not a massive game-changer but hey, 200gms is about the same as

– An adult hamster
– A cup of sugar
– 56 pennies.

All of which could (but shouldn’t) be carried in your shorts without improving performance,

found a lighter one in the parts box (still Alu) and also cut off about 8cm in the length, and saved around another 300-400g.

You sure? 😉 I’ve just been swapping seatposts, even my cheap-but-chopped aluminium post only weighed 240g, replacement nice-but-not-chopped aluminium post weighed 275g.

As it happens, I did actually save 300g but only because I replaced a Thudbuster suspension post 🙂

Best weight saving I’ve found recently for the money was getting some posh shoes, I can save 400g of rotating weight with a £175 pair of shoes.

Seems crazy money for shoes I’ll only wear in the summer on the road bike, and I’ll probably not get them in the end, but 400g is a decent saving for that sort of money.

Do you feel the difference 13FM?

Normally the first thing I do with a bike is to fit light wheels.

When I’m on my nice light 27.5 bike I really miss the flywheel effect of my fat bike wheels. It gives you a pedal stroke for free when you get puffed out and take a breath going up a hill.

Do you feel the difference 13FM?

Shoes or seatpost?

Haven’t ridden bike without the Thudbuster yet, main reason for taking off was to help diagnose sore knees, they seem to coincide with more miles on the gravel bike with the Thudbuster. 90km in Arrochar on Sunday should be interesting.

Haven’t bought the shoes yet, that’s a luxury purchase if still employed next summer!

Weight saving off the rims is definitely changes the feel of the bike more than weight saving elsewhere, but it won’t increase speed significantly more than saving weight elsewhere.

Yep. Makes little difference to overall speed but then saving 1kg from an overall weight of say 85kg with rider and bike that is only just over 1% so not really surprising.
However, it will definitely feel nicer with lighter rims and tyres and will make more difference to the feel of the bike than saving weight on seatpost, bars etc,. but don’t expect to be noticeably faster.

I’m not if it actually translates into being faster but I do find that having light wheels does make a bike (road or MTB) feel much nicer and more responsive to ride.

My tube/tyre combo was said in jest, it would make it a road bike and not a gravel bike! 😆

However, light tubes and light tyres for the width you desire may well make good cost:weight loss savings.

I’m not if it actually translates into being faster but I do find that having light wheels does make a bike (road or MTB) feel much nicer and more responsive to ride.

This is my argument for lightweight in general, although I would love to spend time on a good aero bike to see if aero FEELS faster. I’m not interested if a bike merely IS faster as I’ll still be slow in the scheme of things 😉

This is my argument for lightweight in general, although I would love to spend time on a good aero bike to see if aero FEELS faster.

For my road bike (which normally has a set of light Dura-Ace wheels on) I occasionally borrow the deep rim aero wheels from my TT bike. I’ve yet to be convinced if those are noticeably faster in practice but they make a nice noise at speed so sound faster! The’re a bit heavier than my normal wheels though, so don’t feel as lively when accelerating etc.

Lighter wheels are just better all round, unless you’re smashing DH tracks.

quicker to accelerate
more agile handling
quicker to brake
better suspension performance

found a lighter one in the parts box (still Alu) and also cut off about 8cm in the length, and saved around another 300-400g.

You sure? 😉 I’ve just been swapping seatposts, even my cheap-but-chopped aluminium post only weighed 240g, replacement nice-but-not-chopped aluminium post weighed 275g.

As it happens, I did actually save 300g but only because I replaced a Thudbuster suspension post 🙂

Ah, maybe not … Kitchen scales and a hazy memory, so might have over-egged it slightly. Think I also fitted a lighter saddle too (used Charge Spoon); the overall reduction from better, shorter post and saddle was surprisingly significant though.

weight of say 85kg with rider and bike

I think if you look at Chub Club, there are many of us at 85kg without the bike!

I think if you look at Chub Club, there are many of us at 85kg without the bike!

Sorry, thought I was on a cycling forum. 85kg with bike was my attempt at including the larger boned!