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Changing parts to lighten up the bike

Old 12-24-06, 09:33 AM
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Changing parts to lighten up the bike

what is a good weight reducer if i wanted to lighten up my bike. i dont want to change the wheels cuz deep vs are very good for what i ride over. i was thinking should i get new cranks that are alum or steel? but are light. my cranks now are old steels from the 70's from a touring bike. is it better to keep the cranks cuz they may be more durable and suck it up or should i reduce weight (im will to spend bout $100-150) also what are good light cranks in that price range? is it worth it to spend that much? i use my bike for commuting
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Old 12-24-06, 10:19 AM
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Those old cranks can be brutally heavy - I don't know when hollow cranks came into vogue, but I've seen cranks that are seriously as heavy as the frame and fork. Even the cheapest and crappiest of cranks will be way lighter.
That said, I don't know about yours... have you weighed them?
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Old 12-24-06, 10:31 AM
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no but i can say they are pretty hefty when i take them off. id say between 3 and 4 pnds mayb a lil more
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Old 12-24-06, 10:34 AM
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it sure doesn't look like your cranks are steel...try sticking a magnet to them.
other than that, you aren't really going to drop any significant amount of weight without getting a lighter wheelset.
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Old 12-24-06, 10:43 AM
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speed holes
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Old 12-24-06, 10:45 AM
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weigh your cranks, then compare the weight with some of the cranks here https://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

Then subtract the difference from the overall weight of your bike, and ask yourself wether it will really be noticeable, and or worth the money.

You'd probably need to swap out most of the components on your bike to make a really significant difference in weight. The single most noticeable thing you could do would be to replace the wheels. You could also lose about half a pound trading your brooks for something like a Flite. After that you're just penny nickel diming it with a few grams here and there that will eventually add up to a pound or two depending upon how much you spend.

P.S. your seat keeper chain probably weighs more than the difference between those cranks, and expensive light ones. You want a free weight reduction, pitch that thing and replace it with a thin cable from the hardware store. It will be just as secure, but will weigh 2 oz instead of 6-8
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Old 12-24-06, 10:47 AM
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Put a jack under the bike, crank, and slide a new, lighter rig in the place of the old. Ta da!
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Old 12-24-06, 10:49 AM
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your right i think it may be alloy then. is alum much lighter than alloy or just a snick. what metal is better suited for street use?
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Old 12-24-06, 10:52 AM
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I'd definitely swap out the cranks...that's my quest at the moment, I'm running one of those 10-speed specials and the motherf@cker keeps rattling the bolts on the chainring loose, which wouldn't be as much of a problem if I hadn't torn one in half trying to tighten it (this is why I don't usually birng my ratchet set out to do this type of thing). I'm looking to replace it with an old 105 crank, or something of the like (had one set up for track, but threw it on a bike I built for my ex), but I'm willing to go as high as I need to to save some weight and shine the thing up a little. Rumor has it one can find a carbon fiber track cank for $80 canadian in Montreal, so I may get a few friends to look around and send me something back, or failing that one of those square-taper campy record cranks rumored to be floating around for cheap...

Seriously though, any good used bike shop should be able to hook you up for $40-50.
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Old 12-24-06, 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted by mattface
weigh your cranks, then compare the weight with some of the cranks here https://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

Then subtract the difference from the overall weight of your bike, and ask yourself wether it will really be noticeable, and or worth the money.

You'd probably need to swap out most of the components on your bike to make a really significant difference in weight. The single most noticeable thing you could do would be to replace the wheels. You could also lose about half a pound trading your brooks for something like a Flite. After that you're just penny nickel diming it with a few grams here and there that will eventually add up to a pound or two depending upon how much you spend.

P.S. your seat keeper chain probably weighs more than the difference between those cranks, and expensive light ones. You want a free weight reduction, pitch that thing and replace it with a thin cable from the hardware store. It will be just as secure, but will weigh 2 oz instead of 6-8
thank you very much you made me realize how petty i am being for a few ounces. i need to suck it up and stop looking for excuses to make my bike lighter. thank you again but overall what last better steel or aluminum. asking so if these cranks fail i will know what to get next
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Old 12-24-06, 11:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Gyeswho
your right i think it may be alloy then. is alum much lighter than alloy or just a snick. what metal is better suited for street use?

"alloy" technically means any two metals combined. Steel is an alloy as is aluminum, nickel, almost any metal commercially used is actually an alloy. 14 karat gold is an alloy of pure gold, and some other metal to give it a bit more durability. For some reason when talking about bicycle materials, a lot of people mis-use the term alloy to mean aluminum.

Almost all cranks these days are made out of aluminum. You would be hard pressed to find a decent quality steel one. Carbon fiber ones are readily available for a price. So you don't really have that much choice about the material, it will almost certainly be aluminum, but there are a lot of different aluminum alloys used, and a lot of different processes used to manufacture them. Generally speaking a cold forged hollow arm crank will give the best combination of low weight, and stiffness, but you don't have to spend a fortune for a light crank. 1980s vintage Shimano 600 cranks for example are very light, durable, and inexpensive to buy used. Chucks bikes has a Shimano 105 crank (square taper) new for $30 right now.
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Old 12-24-06, 11:08 AM
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Originally Posted by mattface
"alloy" technically means any two metals combined. Steel is an alloy as is aluminum, nickel, almost any metal commercially used is actually an alloy. 14 karat gold is an alloy of pure gold, and some other metal to give it a bit more durability. For some reason when talking about bicycle materials, a lot of people mis-use the term alloy to mean aluminum.

Almost all cranks these days are made out of aluminum. You would be hard pressed to find a decent quality steel one. Carbon fiber ones are readily available for a price. So you don't really have that much choice about the material, it will almost certainly be aluminum, but there are a lot of different aluminum alloys used, and a lot of different processes used to manufacture them. Generally speaking a cold forged hollow arm crank will give the best combination of low weight, and stiffness, but you don't have to spend a fortune for a light crank. 1980s vintage Shimano 600 cranks for example are very light, durable, and inexpensive to buy used. Chucks bikes has a Shimano 105 crank (square taper) new for $30 right now.
thank you very much you are very kind to give good examples and details
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Old 12-24-06, 11:16 AM
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how significant is the weight difference between deep v's and other rims (say, open pros)?
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Old 12-24-06, 11:37 AM
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ummmm its kinda noticable. put it this way when i was changing my tires i pick up the front wheel with the deep v on it and the rear has an open pro. it was noticable that the deep v was heavier and it was the front wheel without a cog on it. so its nothing really too serious tho but noticable. the trade off for the weight is a stronger wheel tho plus asthetics which is kinda nice but then again i just put my foot in my mouth cuz im complainin about a couple oz. what a wuss i am lol.
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Old 12-24-06, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by wearyourtruth
how significant is the weight difference between deep v's and other rims (say, open pros)?
Probably about 3-4 ounces per wheel all else being equal, so half a pound for both.

Originally Posted by Gyeswho
ummmm its kinda noticable. put it this way when i was changing my tires i pick up the front wheel with the deep v on it and the rear has an open pro. it was noticable that the deep v was heavier and it was the front wheel without a cog on it. so its nothing really too serious tho but noticable. the trade off for the weight is a stronger wheel tho plus asthetics which is kinda nice but then again i just put my foot in my mouth cuz im complainin about a couple oz. what a wuss i am lol.
If an open pro is good for the rear it should be fine for the front. generally speaking the more durable wheel is for the back, because the back takes a disproportionate amount of the rider weight. That's why you often see a higher spoke count on the rear wheel. OPs are great, and can take a beating in a well built wheel. If it were me I'd run open pros front and rear. Rotatiing mass is the most noticeable, especially when accelerating, so a few ounces lost in the wheels makes a more significant difference when riding than the same few ounces lost from the saddle or frame or what have you.
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Old 12-24-06, 12:14 PM
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im soon getting a deep v for the back. i wanted a mach wall for front for the brake and non mach wall for the back. i got a good deal online($32) for the rim. unfortunately superspokes screwed me and has me waiting a month for my back wheel.
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Old 12-24-06, 12:39 PM
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That is an older Cinelli road frame, correct? Do you know the type of tubing it has? You are not going to get much lighter than that if it is some of the higher end Columbus stuff. If you really want to lighten your ride up, sell the Cinelli on eBay and buy an aluminium track frame.

And yeah, like the others have already said, you are not going to notice much difference in switching out the cranks, those ones you have on there are aluminium and might at the most be a few ounces heavier than something new, a negligible difference. That frame can be worth a lot of money, at least as much as a decent track frame on eBay.
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Old 12-24-06, 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by jet sanchEz
That is an older Cinelli road frame, correct? Do you know the type of tubing it has? You are not going to get much lighter than that if it is some of the higher end Columbus stuff. If you really want to lighten your ride up, sell the Cinelli on eBay and buy an aluminium track frame.

And yeah, like the others have already said, you are not going to notice much difference in switching out the cranks, those ones you have on there are aluminium and might at the most be a few ounces heavier than something new, a negligible difference. That frame can be worth a lot of money, at least as much as a decent track frame on eBay.
yeah it has columbus tubing and campy droputs in the fork and rear with the springs in the dropouts. im very happy with it and wouldn't even wanna sell this babe. how often can you get a brand new lugged frame from way back when(88 Seoul)? i know one other bike shop that has a brand new Ross road bike for $400. from the 80s. what i do have that i can sell is a brand new 83 Peugot U-80 touring. How much could i get for it? I only rode about 25 miles on it.
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Old 12-24-06, 01:07 PM
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Dunno, the frame you have pictured is the Peugot or the Cinelli? I think ebay is a bit dead rigt now, but I could be wrong. The classics/Vintage guys might have an idea about the Peugot, pop it up on the CL in your area and see if you get a bite.
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Old 12-24-06, 01:15 PM
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o the pic is the cinelli but thanx for your help
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Old 12-24-06, 03:17 PM
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Carbon fork will save you some weight.
There are a lot lighter and cheaper saddles than the Brooks.
A non-steel seatpost will save weight too.
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Old 12-24-06, 03:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Gyeswho
yeah it has columbus tubing and campy droputs in the fork and rear with the springs in the dropouts. im very happy with it and wouldn't even wanna sell this babe. how often can you get a brand new lugged frame from way back when(88 Seoul)? i know one other bike shop that has a brand new Ross road bike for $400. from the 80s. what i do have that i can sell is a brand new 83 Peugot U-80 touring. How much could i get for it? I only rode about 25 miles on it.
Attachment 32697
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The paint job look like a repaint.

All those accessories you have put on weight. look to stream line what you have on the bike.

S/F,
CEYA!
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Old 12-24-06, 03:36 PM
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My Ciocc is Columbus SLX. I weighed it yesterday and it's under 20 lbs. I have a Fuji track wheel on the back, a Mavic MA40/record wheel on the front, record crank, aluminum bars, aluminum stem, campy veloce brakes front and rear.

I can't tell you what to do to your bike, but that's the setup I have.
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Old 12-24-06, 03:37 PM
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Pic up some new rims. You could get something pretty burly, yet lighter like delgados and be just as strong. Cutting down on rotating weight is always big factor in making things feel SPEEDY.
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Old 12-24-06, 04:05 PM
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The only people who should be worried about how much their bike weighs are girls and fly weighs

oops I forgot spandex clad roadies - replace stuff because your are too much of a man and broke said parts
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