building a bike

[drakemtb]

so I won an orbea (lanza) frame and now Im building a top of the line lightweight racing bike. where can I get the lightest/best parts? will they be at my lbs? also, what are the most important things for me to consider when buying my parts? what parts will I be able to save the most weight on?

[Shiva]

Best place to save weight is a good wheelset.

[mtnbk3000]

get carbon fiber:
handlebars
seat post
get v-brakes if you can, they are much lighter than disc brakes
get xtr or sram X.0 components
get a really light seat

[mtnbk3000]

the lighest mtb wheelset i have seen in person are spynergies but they aren't light for there price

[Bike Lover]

Although I use a CF handle bar, I do not like the idea of the CF seat post for a mountain bike. I saw one break (Easton, don't know how old) at the start of a race and it ruined the guys race as not many people carry an extra seat post, and if they did, the diameter would become an issue. Plenty of light weight AL seat posts out there.

Wheels, tires and tubes are a good place to watch grams. It make a good difference in the feel of the bike and they add up fast here. Some of the lightest wheels I've seen for the price are American Classic hubs laced to Stans Olympic wheels built by my LBS. These come in at a reasonable price but I forget what the final tally was, for price and weight, but I think they were around $500 and sub 1500g (1450 ish?). These were disk brake wheels.

As far as the rest of the components, the lightest, commonly available, have been mentioned, XTR/X.0. You can go nuts with speciality manufacturers that make certain parts for a relatively high cost but certainly will shave some grams. A good place to look is weightweenies (http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php). When searching for light weight parts, ExtraLite will usually come up: Direct (http://www.extralite.com/index_euro.htm) Local? (http://www.sales.light-bikes.com/extralite/extralite.asp)

Anyway, without a budget and seemingly only one goal in mind: a light bike, there are lots of options. At some point, cost/g saved gets outrageous (to me anyway), and reliability should be factored in. Really, what's the point of making a light bike if you're always fixing it on the trail instead of riding it?

Congrats on winning the bike and good luck putting it together. Your LBS has most of the "common" lightweight stuff but some of the "exotic" lightweight stuff it may not have access to. Ask if it can put together a light weight build and see if it will give you some sort of discount off retail. If you're doing the whole bike through it, it should mark down the components a bit for you.

Oh, and before I forget, I know my LBS can get Syntace components. It's another good supplier of light weight components. I think its just getting into mountain bike parts but supposedly has some of the most stringent testing and can still make some great light weight parts.

Best of luck with your hunting.

[ZeCanon]

get carbon fiber:
handlebars
seat post
get v-brakes if you can, they are much lighter than disc brakes
get xtr or sram X.0 components
get a really light seat


Get V's? You're kidding... pick up a good set of discs. No question there.
I like X.O much more than XTR, personally. But if you can pick up an XTR crank, go for it.
Get a seat that fits your butt. I'm a fan of the SLR xp for my mountain bike. Fizik Nisene is nice too, but heavier.
Spynergies? again... you're kidding, right? Build up a set of custom wheels with DT 240 hubs, DT revo (or sapim cx-ray) spokes, and Stans rims. You'll have a wheel that's a few hundred grams lighter than spynergies.
I run carbon bars but an aluminum post. Look into the New Ultimate alum version.

LBS can order you stuff, but if you want superlight you'll have to go online.

[mtnbk3000]

if he's going for light weight deffinidently get v's, i wouldn't, but i wouldn't get a light bike either. I ride a 32lb hardtail, and i would never attempt to lighten it.

i said that spynergies are the lightest i have seen in person, and that they are not worth there price, if based upon there weight.

[xcracer13]

my bike weighs 22.4 i run avid single didgit 5's v-brake, if i had the money id get amc 320 disc wheels being i get killer prices, xtr hydro discs, reba world cup fork

[ZeCanon]

reba world cup is no more. The SID 2008 is effectively a Reba with a Sid label on it (32mm stanchions and all that jazz)

My bike weighs a but under 23 (full suspension, in short track mode) with disks. V's are only for the most weenie of weightweenies, or those who never, ever ride in mud or anything with more than 30 seconds of descending.

[drakemtb]

thanks for the replies, what are some of the "exotic" super light parts manufacturers. also, what more well known companies make top quality parts

[Little Leo]

Deore XT, Bontrager, RockShox Reba.

What I would but on my race bike

[LowCel]

What is your price range? If you want an extremely light bike you could still get pretty expensive. Not including my frame on my last bike I had around $3,500 - $4,000 in weight weenie type components in order to get a dually under 22 pounds.

[ZeCanon]

for exotic look at extralite, AX, schmolke etc. Check out fairwheelbikes.com.

A lot of it depends on your budget. A saddle from AX lightness costs about as much as some of the bikes people own on this forum...

[Bike Lover]

The weight weenies link I posted above will give you an idea of what parts and manufacturers of such are out there. I also have a couple of links to the extra light components...