Mountain Biking - When light is too light...

Hi there,

I don't know about you guys, but a Mountain Bike that weighs in at 15.45lbs starts me worrying about if the bike can handle the rigors of mountain biking.

Have a look at the link below,

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.asp?ID=17

and let me know what you think. Bike is a beaut I must say :)

Rich

Yes Rich, that seems a bit light to me too. Seems you'd have to sacrifice strength somewhere. A 25 pounder is fine to me. :)

Well I would destroy it. But then again I am a hard rider. If you are doing xc with some fireroads than that bike 'may' be fine. 25pnds is generally good for xc 30 to 35 is good for rougher conditions. I personally ride a 37pnder. But then again I am a big ass rider :)

Just curious, are you racing. You seem to have a lot of high end parts on there. The average rider doesn't need all the lightweight stuff unless

a) you are 110 pounds soaking wet
b) you are a speed freak on flat lands always looking for that edge.

Otherwise you could get some sturdier parts in key areas. But then again I am the farthest thing from a weight weenie. (site name)

It is a sweet bike. I also noticed that the 15lb'er was the bike used for hill climbing races. The xc racer is 17lbs. but still, unless the rider is seriously weight challanged it seems as though there would be alot of breakage and or flexing.
Slainte:beer:

there would be a lot of breakage and or flexing.
A guy had his fork snap on the Vuelta Espana the other day as they were cruising along about 30mph on the flats. Apparently, it was an ultra-lightweight climbing fork. No thanks. I've also never had any interest in carbon steerers on mt bike forks.

I wonder how much the low weight has to do with the Magnesium frame?

I tried to find a good comparison of frame materials with typical frameset weights, but didn't have much luck. Anybody know a good source for this type of info, or just know it off the top of their head?

Have you tried the site the bike was listed on. It seems to be a site dedicated to 'weight weenie' bikes. I bet there are lots of megnesium frames there.

You can easily make a 20 pound full-suspension xc rig that has no "fragility" problems.

I never really understood why weight is such a big deal anyway. Think of it in comparison to your body weight.

Better yet, say you carry 2 quarts of water on your bike. How much faster are you when those 2 bottles of water arn't there? That's about 4lbs of weight right there.

I know weight makes a difference, but I don't think it's as big of a deal as the "weight weenies" think it is... but who am I? :)

I'm no weight weenie but even know that one pound off the bike = ten off the rider. I betcha that mag frame would go up real nice if someone where to...shall me say... get a little too close with a blow torch? Hmmmm
That plus if he was a real weight weenie he'd have removed those heavy stickers and paint too. http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_boese_1/flamethrower.gif

Originally posted by MIjoe
I wonder how much the low weight has to do with the Magnesium frame?

I tried to find a good comparison of frame materials with typical frameset weights, but didn't have much luck. Anybody know a good source for this type of info, or just know it off the top of their head?

The frame is 2.87 pounds which is even lighter than mine. I have a Gary Fisher SuperCaliber with all the paint removed (shaved 4 ounces!) and it weighs 3.00 pounds. My total bike weight is 20lbs. with barends and a computer onboard. I don't think his frame had too much to do with it.

I could easily shave another pound by switching to an Easton 99 gram bar, a shim w/ an Easton carbon seatpost (mine is 31.8, Easton's is 27.2), Action-Tec titanium chainrings and cogset, lighter wheels, SID Race fork and Morati cranks. No way I'm spending around $1,500 to just lose a pound or so, though.

Originally posted by Rotifer

A guy had his fork snap on the Vuelta Espana the other day as they were cruising along about 30mph on the flats. Apparently, it was an ultra-lightweight climbing fork. No thanks. I've also never had any interest in carbon steerers on mt bike forks.

there was a chain or strap or something-or-other that was on the road that got tied up in his wheel/fork. it would have broken any fork.

I'm happy to say this bike isn't mine, I have a Kona wittled down to 20.5lbs which suits me fine.

Interesting note about the Mag frame and a blowtorch..hehe, but I wouldn't like to be near it when it went up!

I tend to agree that any bike around the 25lbs mark is fine for mtbing and racing alike...some people take the weight obsession too far (maybe me included), and as the hapless Tour of Spain rider found out, sometimes you sacrafice strength for weight, and end up in a whole heap of trouble.

Cheers out there

Rich