Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - How much does your Kilo build weigh?

I built up a Spicer (same as Kilo) frame a few months back and finally got around to weighing it. 20lbs. Not super heavy, but certainly not light by any means. I might want to shave some weight off of it, if I can do so without 1) compromising the fit, which I've dialed in to be just about perfect, 2) spending tons of cash. I'm not a weight weenie (I weigh in pounds, not grams), I'm just curious.

Here's my build. I haven't weighed the frame or the components:
Kilo TT frameset (on the heavy side)
Mavic Open Pro/Formula wheels (pretty light)
Gatorskin tires (heavy)
generic parts bin seatpost (HEAVY)
Selle San Marco Regal saddle (heavy)
Kelly steel 1" threadless stem, 80mm (heavy)
IRD 103mm BB, Cro-Mo (heavy)
Sugino RD cranks (probably on the heavy side)
MKS GR-9 pedals
Random parts bin aluminum drops, brake and lever.

Seems like if I wanted to make this lighter, I should go for a new seatpost and maybe different tires. I'm not really sure if it's worth it, though.

How light have some of you gotten your Kilo builds? Where did you shave weight?

I find being bolemic helps keep the weight down and aids in maintaining my figure!

I have brochures if you're interested.

do you want to impress people who lift your bike or are you looking for largely arbitrary performance gains

do you want to impress people who lift your bike or are you looking for largely arbitrary performance gains

thats a stupid ****ing question

mines 20.2lbs. It's heavy but not really caring about it too much. Got it rolling in a day and working on switching stuff when I get tired of what I've got. Cranks are going very soon, building up some new wheels soon too so I'd think it'll be closer to 18.5 or 19 soon.
Here's the build list:
Deep V's to formulas with a soma rear and Vitorria front
Thomson Elite post
Flite Ti saddle
Pake Cranks
tange headset
Parts bin al stem
flop n chop centurian's
z chain
soma double gates

Mine is around 20-22 as well. I've got a heavy seatpost and a brooks saddle. So that adds some weight.

But I don't really think there's much you can do to shave off a few more pounds.

do you want to impress people who lift your bike or are you looking for largely arbitrary performance gains

Mostly the arbitrary performance gains. I don't lay awake nights thinking about it (unless I've got nothing better to think about), it's just fun to try new parts, and, considering my morning commute is entirely uphill, if I could shave a pound off of this bike (which seems possible), it would make an appreciable, immediately noticeable difference.



I find being bolemic helps keep the weight down and aids in maintaining my figure!

Bulimic. Make fun if you wish, but spell it right. Otherwise you look like a dumbass.

The difference between riding a heavy frame (seatpot, stem included) is like the difference between riding with an empty or a full water bottle(s). The real performance gains are in reducing rotating mass. Light weight wheels and cranks.

and good bearings!

Mine weighs 19.5lb and I have Velocity Fusions, heavier than Open Pros fo sho.

My suggestions aren't the cheapest but they're well worth it:
-get a Thomson stem/post. Both are lightweight, rugged, durable, solid.
-if you don't have them already, replace your straight gauge spokes with double butted, or build your next wheelset with them.

It seems like it'd be pretty hard to get a Kilo TT any lighter after the upper 18lb range...

If you can lose any weight on your body, do so before worrying about the bike. Ten pounds off of YOU will do more for your riding than a pound or two off your bike.

And yes, I can stand to lose a few myself, which is why I don't obsess over the weight of my bikes.

Chris

If you can lose any weight on your body, do so before worrying about the bike. Ten pounds off of YOU will do more for your riding than a pound or two off your bike.

And yes, I can stand to lose a few myself, which is why I don't obsess over the weight of my bikes.

Chris

This is so true! I will say however that if you reduce your rotational mass that can actually do much more in terms of what you can really feel on the bike. But if your carrying an extra 30lbs work on that first!

The difference between riding a heavy frame (seatpot, stem included) is like the difference between riding with an empty or a full water bottle(s). The real performance gains are in reducing rotating mass. Light weight wheels and cranks.

This is what I've been thinking. Lighter pedal setups? Next time I weigh the bike, I should weigh it with my SPD/Sidi setup, which are much lighter than my GR-9/Samba set up. The pedals seem like an ideal place to lose weight. I'm not sure there would be any crankset in my budget that would be a significant upgrade, weight-wise, to my Sugino RDs.


Mine weighs 19.5lb and I have Velocity Fusions, heavier than Open Pros fo sho.

My suggestions aren't the cheapest but they're well worth it:
-get a Thomson stem/post. Both are lightweight, rugged, durable, solid.
-if you don't have them already, replace your straight gauge spokes with double butted, or build your next wheelset with them.

It seems like it'd be pretty hard to get a Kilo TT any lighter after the upper 18lb range...

I've been thinking about Thomson stems and posts for awhile now. When I have some cash, I'll probably pull the trigger on that. I feel like they're purchases I won't regret, that would be worth taking to another bike if I ever get bored with this one.

As for double-butted spokes, I regretted not building with them pretty much as soon as I was finished with my wheels. Oh well. They're still pretty light. I ought to stop skidding so much and throw some Grand Prix or something nice on there. Definitely on the front.


This is so true! I will say however that if you reduce your rotational mass that can actually do much more in terms of what you can really feel on the bike. But if your carrying an extra 30lbs work on that first!

Very true. I used to carry an extra 35lbs, but now it's more like 5. I figure I'm working on that every time I get on the bike.

with dp18's i'm around 21, and i'm threadless with a carbon fiber seatpost and aluminum track bars... so my bike's pretty damn light besides the rims and frame.

Deadforkinglast, it's totally worth it to throw a really nice tire on the front, just as long as you're not really flat prone. But then there's nice tires that are somewhere between the racing and training categories that have good flat protection too. GP4000's are really nice though, may want to run a brake if you have one as a rear tire though... I skidded through a (free from the dumpster) GP3000 in a week.

I got rid of my tt pad and spoke cards.
I shaved fractions of seconds off my time.
WHOOT!

If you can lose any weight on your body, do so before worrying about the bike. Ten pounds off of YOU will do more for your riding than a pound or two off your bike.

And yes, I can stand to lose a few myself, which is why I don't obsess over the weight of my bikes.

Chris

Who said he was worrying or obsessed?

I never said he was. I said I wouldn't do so.

Anyway, just trying to present an alternate view. Folks get torqued up over a few ounces or even pounds on a bike and forget the 10s of pounds extra on their bodies.

Chris

I have a 3 month-old Gatorskin in the front right now. Maybe I should move that to the rear and get a nicer front tire.

This is all hypothetical, of course, since I don't currently have a job. Working on that, though, and when I've got the money...