headfirst

So after a month of getting sniped on Ebay, finally scored a used Spider frame (polished alum '04 with the bearing upgrade) for $500 from craigslist.

Starting to assemble parts, thinking a 100mm front fork, and as much XTR stuff as I can fit within budget.

Question: other than ebay and craigslist, anyone have good sources for bargain prices on decent components?

Competition with my brother - he's finished his bike, an old AMP B-somehting, current weight is just over 24 lbs. - think he'll be pissed when he sees spiderman.

ed 

I remember those AMP B-5's with the F4BLT linkage forks. Those were sweeeeet dude. "The bike to have" back in the day. I think they had a Mercedes emblem and some sort of co-sponsorship thingy.

I'd look at JensonUSA.com and Pricepoint.com. Nothing can beat supporting your local bike shop within reason. (unless you save hundreds of dollars) Those guys have to stay in business too.

I have gotten really good deals from those two sites. You just have to keep watching from week to week and see what's on sale. Nashbar has sales that are pretty decent from time to time.

Congrat's on Spiderman!!!

Post some pic's, man.

pinkrobe

If it's an AMP B-4, they are freakishly light. For light wheels, try www.oddsandendos.com - lighter than all but the highest end Mavic wheels, but way cheaper. I got great deals at Pricepoint, Cambriabike.com, qbike.com and just a whole bunch of asking around. If your LBS is having a blowout sale, then go hog wild. Lightweight tires and tubes can help keep the weight down as well.

LowCel 

A quick and cheap way to lose weight is to go with foam grips, another is to go with some Kenda Karma DTC tires. Both are extremely light. Also, do you ride some pretty big hills? If not then go with an Ultegra cassette and an ultegra rear derailleurs. If you do a lot of steep climbing forget that suggestion. Next is to go with some bolt-on skewers. Cheap and a good bit of weight savings. If you haven't already committed to Shimano go with SRAM grip shifts, that saves a good bit of weight.

Not sure if this helps any or not, worked for me though.

BoSoxYacht

Lowcel , What does your Enlightenment weigh when built up with the lightest components you have ? I'm sure it cost much more than $2K to build ,but I'm curious .

vw addict

One of them online places had 2005 Fox Vanilla forks for $225. Thought it was price point but I was wrong.

LowCel 

It weighs right at 20.5 pounds, it is currently setting in a pile in the corner of the room. I need to install a crankset and stem on it. I stole a lot of parts off of it when I decided to race my Truth. My Truth weighs 24.2 pounds. I could have it under 24 pounds using parts I have and about 15 minutes work.

headfirst

So, the frame arrived on Monday, looking pretty rough.

No major dents or scrapes in the front triangle, decals were trashed, rear chainstays really chewed up.

Bearings were shot.

Disassembled the frame, ordered new bearings from a local supply house, started sanding that sucker - 300 grit, 600 grit, 800 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit - 2000 - looks like a mirror now.

Ordered new decals from Intense on Monday, got them on Thursday, got the bearings on Wednesday.

For the chainstays, faired them in with bondo, painted with black mercruiser paint - looks pretty good, not much else I could do.

components are a mix of stuff - SRAM disc brakes, shifters, rear derailer, XT front derailer, seat, post and crank came out of a brand new Rush that's being "lightened", Duke fork, beat up Monkey lite bar, mallet pedals, Maverick rims and Bontrager tires - rig looks good and is ready to ride, think I can shave another couple of pounds just in the wheels and tires and pedals.

Haven't been able to ride yet - probably up at dawn tomorrow for the shakedown run.....

will post pics later

squeegy200

I don't know how you guys get to those weights.

My Klein Pulse II Hardtail starts with a 2.9lb frame. Built up with a Manitou SX Ti fork (2.95lb actual) and White Industries Ti hubs and some lightweight parts still comes out to 21.7 lbs (Bar ends, bike computer, and pedals included)

I started my Dual Suspension with a 5.6lb Stumpjumper FSR frameset and a Manitou Mars front fork (2.89lb actual) and still came out to 25.2lbs. (pedals and barends included)

I guess I could remove the bar ends, bottlecages and install lightweight tubes and race slick tires. But then that wouldn't be practical for the type of riding I do.

headfirst

Not at sub 25lbs yet....bike with current build is sitting at 28.85 - still have a weighs to go (pun intended)

Have a spread sheet with all component weights listed (and prices) - getting close to my $2k budget, going to be tough to shave another 3.85 lbs without breaking the bank.

figure can get a couple pounds out of the wheels and tires, seat & post - but it will be at considerable cost.

after that, not so sure - stem is already ti, think the crank is kind of heavy - need to spend some time on weight weenies.

those mallet pedals are heavy - but I like 'em.

Time to just ride it for a while and see how I like the VPP.

Med Spidey frame with bottle cage weighed in at 5.85lbs.

LowCel 

Click on the links in my signature. I spent a lot of time and money to make them lightweight and reliable.