On a side note, is it worthwhile considering saving up and buying a carbon frame and transferring the components? I have a sneaking suspicion that the frame might weigh a good 8/10 kg by itself, if not more. As much as I love my bike and think its great to ride, I am fully aware of its limitations, as I was when I bought it. There was a plan to buy a better bike a few years down the line when I had a bigger budget but ATM my total budget for improvements is about £500, which honestly also includes any unforeseen maintenance issues. Any advice would be great, especially if anyone has any recommendations for tyres suited for stony trail riding. I've heard good things about Schwalbe Magic Marys but apparently they wear out quick and I'm not sure if that is a good idea for me.

No, your frame doesn't weigh 8 or 10 kg. It is likely 1.8 to 2.5 kg. Quite heavy when you compare it to a higher end carbon or aluminum frame, as those are in the 1-1.5 kg range.

I would ask local riders what tires they recommend. Local knowledge is key on that one.

Boy, I did not realise all the odds and ends added up to so much. I genuinely thought most of the weight was the frame.

You have not stated your budget. How much do you have to spend?

I did say, I have about £500 if I push myself.

I think it used to be more common for bikes to come with shock pumps. Neither my HT 2012 Fuji nor my FS 2013 Giant came with a shock pump. I even asked about that when I bought the Giant.

Hmm, that's pretty limited. Your best bet is to upgrade tires, tubes and wheels.

I rode for 3 years on a Marin aluminum hardtail. It weighed 31.5 lbs. I then bought a Specialized FS Carbon Epic and it weighed in at 21.5 lbs. The day I bought it I rode my normal "mtb race" route which is a 9 mile loop with 980ft of elevation gain. I knocked off 8 minutes on my first lap.

This is what I assume would happen, but the question I find myself asking is that is it the weight or the rear sus that caused the decrease, or a combination of both? I'm sort of resigned to the fact that to cut that much time is basically an impossible dream since I simply cannot afford another bike anytime soon.

Well that 31.5 pound Marin hardtail I'm sure had a crap fork on too which wasn't helping either. Lightness is over rated but dropping 10lbs will make a difference.

It is not just weight, and not just going FS, it is also the design, quality of components, geometry....

Look at the bike you have and decide what you can change that could make a difference. Then, figure out the costs. If the costs are as much or more than a much nicer new bike, then take a pause. Maybe, you would be better off spending the next year riding your current bike into the ground and saving money. Maybe at the end of that year, you could afford a much nicer bike???

Disagree.

Buy a complete used bike. Look on Pinkbike, eBay, other sources.

of course... then you have to know what you're looking for.

What was your total lap time before (or after, whatever you remember)?

Now isn't discussion great? Only women see things as either "black or white", and only women want to "get to the point"... as men, we should be able to see all the shades of grey between the black and white, and as men we should love to discuss all the thousands of insignificant points in between the original topic....

and for the record... Erich is NOT bashing on women. Women are women, and women are good things!

I did some rough calculations and I've concluded that the affordable upgrades are pretty much negligible, and the serious ones are enormously expensive. By the time I had saved some weight I'd only be a little off a carbon full sus on sale.

Sounds like a plan. Now, ride the wheels off your current bike!

Eddy Merckx once said " Don't buy upgrades. Ride up grades

if you are poor.. then yessss....

does anyone else think FrozenK might be a woman??? and I say that as a compliment...

At the rate I'm going that will take 6 months... getting about 10 hours in a week on it.

What about going tubeless? That can save a significant amount of weight for not much money.

Any weight you can drop from tires, tubes (tubeless?), rims, spokes, hubs, will make the most difference.

Tubeless won't necessarily save any weight, by the tike you add up the sealant. But tubeless reduces rolling resistance, a lot. And it allows you to run lower pressures which means better traction. Better traction=faster. And, in my experience, the same tire ran tubeless feels more supple than it does with tubes.

I think the OP is already running tubeless, though.

Yeah I remember my Hard Tail 29er, It was a buncha fun but it beat the snot outta my back side, gave me a sore lower back and generally wore me down In short order.
I'd love to build one, light, simple, playful but In 27.5.

On the very first time out on my brand spanking new full suspension, on every segment of every trail on my regular 15 miles workout route I set personal records and not just a few seconds here and there,,per Strava.

When I was standing and bouncing the hard tail down a trail barely touching the ground or hooking a hard corner I was always on the edge of traction, hanging it out there as we used to say,, a real blast, loved it..

But when I rode the full squish down those trails I could pedal more often and that meant more speed, speed Is our friend remember

I could choose a different line more often and later in the game,
I could truly forget about the rear end when things got hairy and just ride like a Grizzly was on my tail,
I could screw up more often with less bad endings,

I'm a hack, I need a full squish,, but there's something about a hard tail that's hard to explain...

Yeah I think my next Hard Tail will be a single speed but It's gonna have front suspension I tell ya !

Indeed I am, well spotted.

I believe it was 36 minutes down to 28. I have heard many people say weight doesn't effect much but I disagree. Since I only weigh 125 lbs myself it sure helped to drop 10 lbs.