permanentjaun

I've had my 08 elite for a year and I think I'm ready to consider an upgrade. The bike is around 18-19 pounds, so there are obvious weight savings to be had somewhere. There is a professional wheelbuilder that frequents my LBS who can build a 1400 gram wheelset for around $600-$700. That's up there in my budget, but you get what you pay for with the guy.

I'm wondering how much of a weight difference there is in my stock wheelset and these 1400 gram ones though. I'm not going to spend that kind of money to save 0-.5 lbs. Anyone have any kind of idea the weight difference is? Here are the specs from Specialized.

RIMS Mavic CXP22 rim, alloy triple-wall, machined sidewalls w/ eyelets
FRONT HUB Specialized forged alloy, 24 hole, double sealed ball bearings, straight pull spokes, QR
REAR HUB Specialized forged alloy, 28 hole, double sealed ball bearings, straight pull spokes, cassette, QR
SPOKES Stainless 14g, straight-pull aero

The weight weenies forum has the CPX22 rims listed as 525 grams per rim. They don't list the specialized hubs. That's going to determine the difference in weight. Anyone got a clue?

otismedina

Those wheels seem to me like they would be fairly heavy.

Cdy291

Got to be 1900 grams.

permanentjaun

If that's the case then it would save about a pound off the bike. How much of an improvement is that really? It doesn't sound like it will help a ton, except for the fact that it's a pound less in rotational weight. The question becomes, are the performance gains worth $600-$700?

Cdy291

I'd say it would be worth it if you are competitive, but if you aren't and most just ride for your enjoyment then its just up to you. But it will make a difference, especially if you are racing where you are already on the edge of being popped of the back at any moment. Being able to remove a pound from your wheels will feel like 30 lbs then I promise you.

permanentjaun

It depends on how you define competitive. I'm not an official racer yet, but I am generally in the faster groups of my rides that are doing 24-27 in the paceline. We're not casually strolling through neighborhoods. I'm going to start commuting next week for the first time and hope to get in a lot better shape because of it. 109 mile Tour de Tucson is in November. One thing that's keeping me out of racing is I can't afford to crash. This $700 would have to be a planned purchase, and not something I can buy at the drop of a hat if I ruin the wheels in a race.

It looks like the next best weight savings would be a better crankset. The cassette is heavy at 290 grams, but that doesn't allow for a lot of weight to shave off. The crankset is also very heavy at 908 grams according to 2005 figures on weight weenies. I could probably shave a pound off there by getting a Campy Carbon compact crank for a couple hundred. It'd be nice to see what the 2008 FSA Gossmer crankset that I have no on the bike weighs instead of basing a decision off of 2005 figures.

Is shaving a pound off the crank as much an improvement like better wheels? It's still rotational weight.

Cdy291

1400 grams is light for some hand builts and my guess is that they wouldn't be very durable. Spending a bunch of money won't make you a better rider and upgrading the wheels will only be worth it if you can knock off some serious weight. Upgrading other parts is nice to but wont make as much a difference. If you wont all of this you might as well just step up to the Specialized Tarmac Pro.

permanentjaun

The wheel builder is Dave Thomas. He's pretty well respected and has wheels that last years. My LBS owner said he has a set of his wheels on a fixed gear that haven't needed truing in 4 years. I trust he'll build me a bomb proof wheelset. The guys knows everything about wheels.

I know the whole, "don't by upgrades, ride upgrades," motto. I figure I've ridden the bike for a year, and going to ride it a lot more since I'm commuting. It might be worth it to see how much of a better rider I can become physically while also having a better bike mechanically.

The point of my thread is that I don't feel like dropping $800 for this stuff and to not notice the difference. I don't have that type of cash laying around to not notice a difference. That's why I'm trying to compare the wheelset I have now to the weight of the customs. Any help on actual weights of the wheelsets would be appreciated. Specialized hubs don't seem to have any posted weights as far as I know.

Now, is it pretty absurd for a crankset to weigh 500-600 with the BB, especially for only $200? Carbon Campy Crankset on Nashbar It doesn't say if that weight is with or without a BB. Wheres on the FSA site they list my crank as 897g with BB.

Maybe I'm just being stupid and that purchasing a new crank as well is only going to save me 1/3 of a pound and not mean much to me? It's probably also wishful thinking that I can spend $200 and shave a pound off the bike. I don't know. You guys probably know more than I do.

BananaTugger

Wheels are the best place to save weight, but they are also require the greatest attention to detail.

Getting a good wheelbuilder to put together a set for you would be the best course of action in the quest for a lighter bike.

Race/fast group rides on the new wheels, other stuff on the old set.

acorn_user

579g without the BB. Campagnolo bottom brackets are not super light, but they are quite nice. You would need the 111mm AC-H, or the Centaur one.

BananaTugger

Why are you looking at a Campagnolo crank for a bike that comes with Shimano gear?

permanentjaun

Why not? I'm not concerned with mix matching parts. The stock crank is FSA anyways so it's already mixed.

permanentjaun

Sounds like the wheels are the only simple upgrade to shave a pound. Otherwise I'll have to spend probably $1000 or more on several components to get the next pound. At that point I might as well look in to buying or building a whole new bike as was mentioned earlier.

I'll go back to the remaining question I have then. Does anyone know the weight of the 08 tarmac elite hubs?

Ralleh

I'm about to replace my Ultegra hub/Open Pros with the same thing: https://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com...d&productId=37

As low as 1705g for pretty cheap. You'd be insane to get the wheels built that you are talking about.

freeskihp

check out the SOUL S2.0 and S3.0

low weight and it would save some cash

BananaTugger

There's mixing, then there's incompatibility.

Shimano and Campagnolo use different chain widths and plate profiles. A Shimano chain on a Campagnolo crank is going to work very, very poorly, if it even works at all.

permanentjaun

Never thought of that. Danke schon. I'll be sure to read up more when I decide a new crank is in order.

nycphotography

Rolf Elan 1350g per set.

https://rolfprima.com/products-Elan.php

Plus they're more aero than stock wheels too.

And saving a lb in the wheels is (way?) better than saving a lb in the crank... because the wheel is a big huge flywheel that has to spin up to speed when accelerating.

Also, be sure to go to light tires, like PR3 or GP4000s.

And get light tubes. At 3x50 grams (you carry a spare right?) its the cheapest 150g you'll ever save.

Ralleh

Before you do anything, you should read this: https://www.biketechreview.com/archive/wheel_theory.htm

permanentjaun

Great. Now everything seems entirely pointless. Even an aero wheel, which the article deduces is the most efficient wheel upgrade, only provides a marginally better performance factor.

Ralleh

My wheels are toast (the front has a wobble that can't be trued and my trusted mechanic tells me that they are going to start cracking soon) so I am forced to get new ones, but if I were you I would keep riding those. I want to stick with the overall weight of my bike because I like that it is 20 pounds for carrying around etc, but a few grams here and there don't seem to mean anything. Hell, even a few pounds don't mean much: https://www.cervelo.com/content.aspx?...i=Aerodynamics

I know it's Cervelo, but the conclusions reached don't really say "the answer to your problems is buying one of our bikes" so I trust it.

Wasting money on bike crap suddenly seems like even more of a waste.

I'm feeling like I only need to upgrade my legs, heart and lungs and the rest completely doesn't matter.

Cdy291

The bike has to matter some though. If it didn't we wouldn't even need a bike and would be running 45mph.