xcracer13

dont forget to drop the boys of at the pool before you ride! always works for me

dminor 

I found the spookiest ones I could

I still wounder about old skool street rodders who used to drill their dropped axles full of holes. Scary stuff.

asmallsol

You could always acid dip your frame.

silver bullet

They don't, most Zeppelins use Helium. Even the Hindenburg was supposed to be filled with Helium. Due to the political situation, there was no Helium available and it was decided to go for Hydrogen instead. Boom.

sixfingeredman

You know, this thread started out really good. More than 450 people have looked at it, so it's obvious that a lot of people are interested in the topic.

Jokes were funny at first, but come on.. I got on here for educational value, not entertainment. Ok, so a little entertainment... Wait, what was I saying... ?

Anybody want to buy a shiney new Deore crankset, or cassette, or a Manitou shock? I haven't drilled them out yet. . .Seriously. I haven't.

ZeCanon

Upgrading the cassette will make a big difference. Low-end cassettes have steel arms that attach to the freewheel body for every single cog. High-end cassettes sit on an aluminum (usually) hanger and are MUCH lighter. I've seen half pound differences before.
Pick up a Shimano XT cassette, it's the best bang for the buck in terms of weight loss. XTR won't lose you much more and will cost twice as much. There are a few good offerings from sram but, again, their nice cassettes are more expensive.
You want that aluminum hanger!

As for crankset, pick up the LX crankset with the external BB - https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...+Crankset.aspx

Lots of weight to be lost there. Chances are whatever is on your bike is at least 150-200g heavier (almost 1/2 pound)

sixfingeredman

Thanks for a great reply.

Well, I found the weight of my cassette. Here's the breakdown:

SRAM PG-950 - - - - - - - - - - 450g

Upgrade to SRAM PG 990 - - - 305g

Weight savings 1/3 of a pound! I'd say that's a sweet weight loss. And it will only cost about $75, sheesh! But, I'd say that's a great place to start. I am hoping I can work out a trade of some kind since it's only a few days old.

I can't find the weight of my Deore crankset anywhere. Does anybody have a link? I guess I should be pretty nervous if Shimano won't post the weight of that group.

probable556

Since we are actually being serious now...

Performance makes Ultra Light 130g tubes that will save you a total of 140g between the front and the back (their normal ones are 200g each). Good bang for the buck.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5410

scrublover

you know, your chainrings, cassette, and fork will all die/wear out in due time? replace with nicer and lighter later. otherwise, why spend the money upgrading, rather than having spent a little more to get a bike with nicer spec to start with.

cheap stuff: lighter tubes. cut your seatpost down to the minimum needed. make sure you've ditched all the reflectors/rear wheel spoke protector.

then replace with better/lighter stuff as the old stuff dies.

and taking a big fatty poo the morning before riding does help. seriously. no joking.

sixfingeredman

I completely agree. However, I am not really upgrading. . Due to my situation. I am, in a way, buying a better bike to begin with. I bought the bike last Friday, and realized I was not pleased with the weight. My 24 lb. Schwinn Homegrown really has spoiled me for life. I simply wanted to swap out parts. The guy built this bike for me with components from a Trek 6500 onto an 8900 frame. It was a great price.

Since this is a new bike, I want to enjoy it now as much as possible, and maybe innoculate myself from the upgrade bug later.

I am a definite pre-ride pooer. You guys act like that is not common knowledge. I poo before I ride the elevator. The only thing you have to be careful of is skidmarks.

sixfingeredman

Ok, the deed is done. Tell me if you think I got a good deal, I think I did. Here's my bike and drivetrain below.

The guy was super nice and swapped it out without any problem. I got an XT cassette, 11-34, and XT crankset including external BB. All for the low low price of $90. Can you beat that? I went from a Deore crankset and SRAM PG-950 (bottom of the line, and weight not even posted), to all XT. And I didn't even have to use eBay. Booyah.

It was an expensive 200g to lose, but on the whole I hink I have a better bike for it. I will keep my heavy wheelset and fork for now. Like the last guy said, I will wait to I have some breakage. Maybe when I get some spare cash, I have always wanted a spare set of road wheels so I don't have to always change my tires to slicks.

ps. Oh yeah, buy the way, the reflectors are something I am not ready to part with. I need to be as visible as possible in this country. You should see how they drive. Bit of a change.

ZeCanon

very nice, glad we could be of service

Aaron_F

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5410

^^ 82 grams by my scale and they last as long as heavier tubes. Lighter tires and pedals are also good places to look. Spend money on things that spin.

Also, remember, you really only need one kidney.

scrublover

Tubeless doesn't always save weight. If he isn't on tubeless rims (which aren't always lighter...) he'll have to use Stan's or something similar. And the same tires tubeless compared to tubed are heavier.
Stan's "the crow" might work well for him, if he happens to be somewhere where a tire with nearly no tread works well... Or if he is someone (like me) who changes tires fairly often, and really doesn't want to hassle with sealant gunk, and a lessor variety of tire availability with tubeless tires.

ed 

XT crankset and cassette for $90?


You mean like a $90 upcharge?

Sure, good deal. Give me your shops phone number so I can buy a few.

You did well going with the XT cassette instead of the SRAM PG990. That thing is a POS. Mine lasted 3-5 months. My XT lasted 1-1.5 yrs. I clean and lube the drivetrain before every trail ride, but the 990 must just be soft as heck.


Bike looks good.

sixfingeredman

Yeah it was a $90 upcharge. I had just bought the bike, so he just swapped the stuff straight up. It wasn't exactly $90. . . It was actually 3000 baht. That's the currency here in T-Land. I get 33 baht for my buck. Needless to say, ou don't want to pay the shpping charge.

Thanks for the encouragement, I was going for the SRAM, but he only had the XT, I agree, I think it was better.

As far as the helmet goes, I mainly want to save weight on the bike, that's why I always use a camel back instead of throwing on 500g of water on my downtube, not to mention the sweet straw. Which helmet did you buy though, oops.. need a new thread.

ed 

There are so many rediculous ones out there, but I personally think that you can't go wrong with the Bell Influx on a budget. It's uber cool...and uber cheap...and uber light...and chicks with uber-boobers will swoon! (sorry, I hate the word uber with everything in me)


I don't know how many Thai baaaah's it will cost you, but I got mine for $40 USD.

Kona_stig

Cuts down on rotational intertia, too. Nice.

On topic though, I stripped some stuff off. Kickstand and bottle holder are gone. Same with every reflector it had. I might've cut half a pound off! I ran it seatless for a while, too, but riding on the road to school and back daily without a seat started to suck.

mtnbk3000

cause when it explodes, the fire goes up and everyone gets out okay

toopercentmlk

WHOA DRILLING! Never seen that before. Where else do people drill?