Jixr

Hi everyone, so I have two track style bikes, one a dedicated fixed gear, the other a dedicated single speed. The FG weighs in at 17lbs, while the SS is at 18lbs.

I use the SS most of the time for longer rides, events, stuff like that, and the FG only when I'm doing shorter rides with minimal amount of hills and traffic. the FG is fun, but i'm much more comfortable on the SS, and put way more miles on the SS.

both bikes are similar, but one has a nicer crank, while the other has a nicer wheel set and little trade off's like that.

Figuring some bad math, if I combined the best parts from both bikes, I could have a bike that is on paper more ideal than both of them as they sit now, making the FG in the 15lb range if i'm lucky, with the SS being pushed to 20lbs.

I'm trying to decide if I should have one super bike, and one okay bike, or two good bikes. The practical answer is to not bother, and put the better parts on whatever bike I put the most miles on and make it comfortable and not worry about weight, but the idea of seeing if i can throw together 15lb bike is pretty tempting.

pwebb

go for it! you can always switch things back

TenSpeedV2

Dropping 2 lbs off of a bike like that won't be easy. What parts do you want to swap, and what are they? My fixed gear is an aluminum frame, carbon fork, carbon cranks, carbon post and a super light wheelset. I am at 16 lbs 8 ounces with that bike. To get 15 lbs you are gonna end up throwing some money at it unless you already have carbon bars, carbon stem, no brake, carbon wheels and the lightest tires you can find. The saddle would need to be super light as well. Even then it might be a huge stretch.

Jixr

Bike 1: SS distance bike

Aventon Mataro Low Currently 18 lbs
Aventon carbon fork
Carbon bars
Generic headset
3t Stem
Sram s300 cranks
Alex RT 450 wheelset with nice race tires
Road hoods, front brake.
generic Alloy Seatpost,
full carbon saddle


Bike 2: FG currently 17lbs
State black label frame
Essor full carbon fork
Cheapo Sugion Pista crankset
Alex DA-22 Wheelset with cheapo heavy wheels
carbon seatpost
carbon saddle
Alloy bars
ritchey headset
generic stem
eggbeater cranks

Ideally, for a light build, whichever frame is lightest ( not sure )

Sram cranks
DA-22 wheelset with the race tires
Carbon post/saddle/bars
Essor fork
ritchey headset
3t stem
eggbeater cranks
between the cockpit, cranks,bb, wheelset, tires and forks, I really do think I have at least 1.5-2bls of weight difference. ( as well as shedding the road hoods, freewheel for a fixed cog and whatever else I can. )

And to be clear, I know if i want to shave 2lbs off my bike, I should just leave my cell phone keys and wallet inside when I ride. I guess I'm a bit bummed that I have two bikes, can only ride one at a time, and one isn't really any better than the other.

TenSpeedV2

If you make the one lighter and more fun to ride, you will end up only riding that one. Been there, I think we all have at some point.

street_sweeper

from my experience weight is entirely the wrong way to go about building a bike, especially one that sees street use. I believe quality and comfort are the things that should be priority. Because when you compare the percentage of weight you will be shaving off of the total weight of you and the bike combined. Say you weigh 150 lbs and the bike 20 lbs, even if you shave 5lbs off of that total you are looking at under 3% decrease in total weight.

Now if you want to do it purely for bragging rights?
-Get rid of those alex wheels and get some that will probably cost about what each bike did if you dont have them built.
-Run folding tires with lightweight tubes.
-Ditch the essor fork, thing weighs as much as most carbon/alloy forks.
-then make sure your bars, stem, saddle, seatpost are all as light as possible.
-If you wanted to get crazy you'd replace bolts and nuts with light weight alternative.

Just because something is carbon doesn't necessarily mean that it weighs less than an alloy alternative.

TenSpeedV2

^ this is some good advice. I have a full carbon 105 equipped road bike. Just because it is carbon doesn't mean that it is light. It isn't a fat pig, but it isn't the lightest bike in the world either. Now, it is far more comfortable on the road than my lighter fixed gear. Eats up the bumps with the 25's on it that won't fit my track bike.

I personally wouldn't obsess with the weight if it was me. Giving up too many comforts just to have a light bike isn't that fun. I would have to drop my Gatorskins and run something with 0 flat protection and the roads here would eat me alive. 17 lbs for one and 18 for the other really is not bad.

cDiff Notorious

Wouldn't a frame with a relaxed geometry be better as a distance bike compared to Aventon Mataro Low?

ypsetihw

get a flipflop rear hub on a light wheel for the rear, keep a front brake on all the time, put all the lightest parts on the bike you like/fits you best, sell the other one to fund the build. problem solved. you have a light cool bike you like, fg when you want it and ss when you need it. btw, 17 lbs sounds heavy if you're really a weight weenie. roadies are building 13 lb bikes with 22 gears and derailleurs.

wphamilton

I'd do it in a heartbeat. Put a rack and fenders on the heavy one. Or the biggest tires that will fit. Anything just to purpose the #2 bike for something else, and have #1 the best it can be for fun rides.

ketsana

Wheels tires and tubes make the biggest difference.

My 50cm vigorelli weighs 15.4 lbs.
Pro plt cockpit
Sram s200 crank
Cheapo Tektro front brake and mtb lever
Continental gp 4000s2
Continental race lite tubes
1500g 38mm Chinese carbon clinchers (front has a skewer hub instead of bolt on)
Shimano a520 pedals.
Ritchey carbon seatpost
Specialized s works toupee saddle.

Going from 17 to 15lbs is really noticeable as well as fun on the FG.

raceline

This is my 14.6 lb Track bike , Tange prestige ultimate size is a 58c , I am a weight weenie as well

ypsetihw

^^ hmm what's it like to skid stop on $50 tires?! too rich for my blood . . .

raceline

It Makes me Cry I did try to find the lightest i could

raceline

It Makes me cry

ypsetihw

also, why so many spokes?! is that just a "track" bike or do you actually use it on a velodrome? either way, I'd think you could get sub 14 with a different wheelset and some skinny rubber. heck you might even have weight to spare for a front brake.

ypsetihw

to be fair, the bike looks nice, but you could also definitely lighten up the cranks by the look of it, and ditch the bottle cage and bar tape altogether, just get some slip ons for the drops. also, if you take a pic without the pedals installed then you can claim the weight as is, and get some proper road pedals that don't give you hotspots like those dang egg beaters, although they do LOOK the part

IAmSam

I admit that I have weight-weenie tendencies myself that I constantly struggle to keep repressed

That being said and speaking from the experience of having built, disassembled, rebuilt, changed part-by-part, then finally reworked into a light, comfortable, and fun, all-purpose daily use, non-crabon roadie wunderbike based weight-weenie(ish) bike myself...I do not believe a single weight claim that has been made in this thread.

And OP (or anybody else)... please tell me who in their right mind uses a low-profile frame for their "distance bike"?

Jixr

the aventon even with its aggressive geometry is more comfortable than the state to me as the frame is a good bit more springy than the state. ( and the state is also a size too small which makes it a bit cramped for longer distances )

street_sweeper

what frame is that?

hardboiled718

^ the company's called unknown. although I've never seen a frame by them that didn't use over sized aluminum tubing.

street_sweeper

exactly why i asked. plus a 58 cm bike under 15 lbs? impressive

DPDisapproves

^^Sage advice that I wish I'd taken long ago.

It took me a very long time of being very dismissive of people on here (the "lose weight" comment always drove me nuts since I weigh 12 pounds of tiny lady) when this topic came up, but I spent some time chasing the weight weenie thing for fun and everyone is absolutely correct. (1) it makes little difference in performance that I've noticed, bar certain climbs (and that's something I've just learned to train for--like everyone on here has said over and over again) and (2), it's actually not as fun a game to play as I thought it would be.

I also discovered the magic of steel handlebars.

Good luck though and have fun!

vinfix

Switch the carbon seatpost, saves weight & more comfortable, too. Don't try to lose weight on the saddle, it's not worth being uncomfortable on long rides.
If you're carrying tools, flat kit, etc. go through that, make sure you have what you need and no more.
With FG/SS there's not a lot of component changes you can make that will amount to much. Good wheels are the best option.
I just went through all this with my road bike & one of my FG's- ditching uneeded tools and one extra water bottle were the big wins. Road bike handles like it's lighter, but I'm not any faster on either bike.

Jaytron

Meh. Lose 2 lbs off your body. Ezpz.

My track bike is probably like 20lbs, but it's extremely stiff carbon.

Dropping the weight on your bike doesn't make it 'better'.