My Mu LT11 upgrade thread
 

This thread is to track my upgrades and also get advice and where to go next.


My bike (I aoplogise for the rubbish pics, Ill take better ones soon)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SUt...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t_j...ew?usp=sharing

The stock bike:
Mu LT11???? LT11?| DAHON International - ******************************??

It started off as a stock Dahon Mu LT11 which is a solid base but still too heavy for my liking and I do kind of like customising for the sake of customising :p

Removed:
heavy magnets & bolts/screws for folding stuff (I never fold the bike)
chainring guard
allen key inside handlebar

I have made the following customizations, mainly for weight, some stock parts were actually better quality like the pedals and bell, but were either too heavy (the pedals) or looked crap (the bell).

Customisations: (stock > upgrade/sidegrade)
MKS pedals > AEST Magnesium/Titanium pedals
Nuvo bell > Knog Oi small (only have a bell because its law here)
Dahon skewers > Ridea titanium skewers
Dahon seatpost clamp > Ridea titanium clamp
Reflectors front/rear > 3M Reflective tape + CatEye Volt 200 light
FSA chainring > Rotor Q-rings
Chainring bolts > Ridea chainring bolts
Selle Italia seat > Selle Italia seat (much lighter and more comfortable)
Schwalbe durano > Panaracer Minits Lite (just for the blue color)
Dahnon plannet weight handlebar post > 3cm shorter Dahnon plannet weight handlebar post


So that is where its at. Its stock weight is meant to be about 9.3 or something with pedals (they quote 8.9KG 19.6lbs without). I have not idea what it weighs now.. I do have scales, they give me a different reading every single time, from 8.1KG to 8.6KG...

So first recommendation I would like, anyone know some good reliable scales I can weigh my bike on? Buying scales is a minefield, reading amazon reviews, there are complains of inaccuracy for almost every single one ;(

For upgrades... what next?

I would love to replace all the bolts and screws I can with titanium versions, but I am super bad with mechanical things, I zero idea what would be the correct ones to buy ;( Wish someone would just sell a titanium bolt pack or something.

I would LOVE to find a lighter handlebar post or a way to customise it to make it lighter even if it's not folding.

I am also considering going to a dura ace rear cassette, that's a more realistic goal. Also a ridea headset but i'd need a shop to install it for me.

Also considering a rotor crankset, but I am not sure it would be lighter than the FSA hollow carbon that is on it now.

Another thing is doing di2 for the gears. I worry again about weight... those batteries and motors aren't light but then you cut the cost of cables... Overall would that be a plus or minus for weight?

And just for looks ill be buying a new set of Dahon Pro rims in black. Id consider other wheelsets but the Dahon Pros seem to be both the highest quality and lightest that exist in 406.


So upgrade suggestions? ;)

How about a lighter seatpost?

Very nice bike!

Seatpost - as mentioned
Carbon fork with long shaft (since you never fold) like on the pic attached
Short carbon handlebar (540mm?)
Litepro Ultimate brake levers
If you dont want to keep your grips - get a pair of light foamies like propalm

Did a few of your customizations to my Java Air too, the seat clamp was'nt working for me, i'm too heavy

It's already carbon...

Already have a carbon fork (but not "long shaft.." what is that about?), already have carbon handlebar... Plus carbon brake levers and crank arms. Haven't found lighter on any of those. The grips are heavy but they are very nice to use, it's the one concession to weight I am making by choice.

I am looking at the moment at changing from the ultegra cassette & derailleur to a dura ace, saves a little weight. But I am also thinking of going from the current 11-28T down to 11-25T (because I never use first, even on near vertical hills). I am thinking this is a straight swap? Will it cause issues with chain length or anything?

BTW how is the Java Air? It was on my shopping list but I chickened out.

Hello,
i'm satisfied with the Java, i bought the frame only and built it up for my purposes, it's light and stiff.
With long shaft i mean the upper tube of the fork, which is 110 or 120mm long on Dahon Bikes. There are forks available with 400mm or more. In between the headset and the (then normal A-Head-) stem is a long Carbon spacer. You lose the folding stem and it's weight.
I would keep the cassette & derailleur cause it's too expensive for the saved grams. You might check how long the cables really have to be and shorten, they look very long.

Yeah I was thinking of only buying the frame also. How light is your Java?


So with the fork... I would LOVE to ditch the folding handle stem, but I am clueless on bike mechanics. For the fork would I have to cut it myself? Or is there a certain size I should buy? Also they seem to be for different wheel sizes/brakes. Would I need to be changing brakes also if I buy a 451 fork?

Then the handle stem, what kind of handle stem does this open up for me? What should I be googling?

//lost lol

You will use an ordinary stem like on a MTB, so you can choose lengh, angle and bar diameter.
It's hard to find a fork that matches your requirements, i saw one on taobao - in alloy, which is not preferable. The 451 forks with long reach caliper brakes would work, but you lose brake performance, space up your Front hub to 100mm - and the Java minivelo forks will work, if it's an option. I dont have enough posts yet to share links :-( ..google for trigon rc46s to see mounting examples.
My Java in it's lightest form is 7.2kg - single speed, this way i use it in combination with public transport or in vacation. For daily use i ride it fully comfortable as a commuter with wide tires, fenders, soft seat and gears - 8.9kg.
One idea to weigh your bike - use a good bathroom scales and subtract your weight :-D

Eh?... From what I have seen mountain bikes don't really have stems, the frame goes right up to bar height...

I am going to have to study this. Or throw money at it. Probably both. There is a cool bike shop nearish me called Hashirin, they turn out a lot of custom dahons (click on dahon or tern in the side menu), just got to improve my Japanese enough to explain my crazy plans to them.

BTW did you try hairspray on your seatpost (if your clamp issue was slipping)? Works great. Mine was slipping and the bike shop threw in a control tech alloy seatpost as they said the carbon was wasn't able to be used as it would slip (it was actually a hassle getting them to leave the carbon one on). And it did slip till I used the hairspray.

This is the current config of my Java commuter. I replaced the fork and folding handlebar stem with a fixed long fork, which shaved off 400g from the bike. There is an unwanted impact to the geometry of the bike since that fork is designed to replace a alloy fork (the Java has stock carbon), it lowers the bikes front 3cm. The overall ground clearance i compensated with 451 wheels, the riding position is more aggressive now - like a road race bike.
The outfit shown is my daily ride, MTB saddle, short bullbar and grippy pedals. The weight is 7.1kg, with my lightest parts it would be 6.8 with lots of improvability left - but i prefer speed over weight.
The fork i got from Aliexpress for thirtysomething USD - i dont recommend this, i had to work over the fork a lot to make it fit, it was'nt raw but almost.

This is a collection of stems: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stems/

I think this is what they suggested: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stems-1-18-ahead-standard/

I was having quite a lot of issues with this bike, all related to creaks and the flexy handlepost. So much so that I got sick if it, boutht a minivelo and was going to sell the mu. But after many attempts at solving the issue I decided to totally strip down the headset. Found that it looked fine but the bearings didn't turn. Ok...

So a new a new litepro headset later and the bike is great again. Silent running and a solid handlepost. And just to punish me my new super expensive minivelo is now making creaking sounds... Bikes hate me.

Woah, after all this time of owning this bike I just found out it has full jagwire cables.... Dahon? Tell people about this stuff! They used top of the line components everywhere and just didn't bother to mention it anywhere. Man they are bad at marketing.