Is there any reason not to cut my aluminum seat post? On a 17cm post (not counting the end where it gets smaller and has the seat camp part) I could probably cut off 5cm and still have enough post in the seat tube. I judge this based on the length of post below the "max height" line and how much extra post I have in the seat tube. As long as I take my time to round off the edge and finish it nicely, is there any reason I shouldn't do this? I figure I may as well since it's not doing anything and, while not much, I may as well save the weight.

No problem with cutting off the excess - have to do it all the time when building up dual suspension Y frame MTB's to sell! I use a pipe cutter with hardened steel roller blades, then file/grind/sand a nice smooth rounded edge on the cut end. However I really wouldn't bother just to save an ounce or two of weight - the saving is lost the moment you fill a water bottle or carry stuff in your pockets! If you do cut it, make sure there's a minimum 4" (10.6cm) of seat post left in the seat tube.

Thanks.

I know it won't be much weight savings, but I figure if it cuts 1/4lb, that's something. Then I've read that lighter chains can be had for not too much more. And I've read that you can save 1/2lb on wheels without too much trouble. I figure if I do those 4 things on my new bike build without it costing too much more and have it come out 1lb lighter without too much trouble then why not?

Ounces do add up, and they do make a difference if you collect enough of them. Sometimes it costs a lot to get the last few, though.

I figured it would be nice to shoot for 20lbs on my build. Maybe unrealistic, but it's a random weight that seemed like a nice goal.

You can probably do that, or get close. My Palo Alto weighs 21.5, my Cinelli 20.5. Wheels will be the biggest bang for the buck, especially if you go tubular.

I've heard such mixed reviews of tubular that I'm not quite sure if I want too or not. I do know I don't want to be more likely to get flats, which is the big thing I've read about with tubular. And I don't like to run really high psi(I run ~70psi now on 700x25c) or have to carry a spare tire and pump, and it would defeat the purpose of cutting weight if I went to a set-up that required me to carry more stuff on my bike in case of a more likely flat. And perhaps be more expensive? I don't have all That much to spend on the build. I will look into it more now that you mention it, though. I don't know terribly much about tubular and should rightfully read up before making any decisions.

On the other hand, this is going to be my nicer weather/longer ride bike, not my daily beater commuter, so the flat thing wouldn't be as big of an issue anyway. I'd mostly be riding bike paths and limited street/side walk. And if I did get a flat on a random leisure ride, it would suck since I'm just out to enjoy myself, but it's not like it would ruin my day and inconvenience me terribly. And I've read that tubulars ride better, which is an aspect I'd like in this bike... Well, now I've got a Lot of reading to do before I can go to sleep.

Thanks for the stem and derailleur, btw! That stem should clean up nicely and now I've got the full 600 tri-color shifter/derailleur/crank-set group!