For the weightie winnies - shaving off grams from your bike

Wheels of Happiness

I stopped doing this years ago.  I all ready had my bike lightened.   (How I wish I could have years shaved off from my age.  )  Hahaha.

You can shave a lot of weight on tubes and tires.   

Saving dynamic weight from your wheelset

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
February 14, 2018

If you really want to upgrade your bike and ride, one of the investments you can make is on wheelset.  And after the wheelset, you must invest in tires and tubes.

Now may be you have a 1.4 carbon wheelset and you invest in cheap tires that weigh 400 grams each  x 2 =  800 grams) and tubes that weigh 150 grams each (x 2 = 300 grams) and you end up with heavy rotating mass:    1.4 +  .8 + .3 kg =  2.5 kg wheels.  Your tires and tubes could easily weigh your light
wheelset by more than 1 kg.  Rotating mass is x 3.  That is additional 3 kg when you accelerate or climb.  That is a lot x number of rotations.  It could be as much 5 tons in a ride.

But let us say you buy  Conti Supersonic  at 180 grams x 2 =  360 and lightweight butyl tubes at 90 grams x 2 =   180, your additional weight to your carbon fiber wheelset is only 540 grams and your total weight for the wheels is only 540 + 1400 =  1,940.  You save about 500 grams the same weight you save in buying:   the carbon wheel set, or the carbon frame.

Kenda too sells lightweight Kenda Kaliente wheels (200 grams or less) and superlight tubes (90 grams) Meron sa Missing Link

Butyl tubes are recommended to make your wheels light.  Now you have Silca butyl tubes  (made in Thailand in collaboration with Vittoria)

Lightweight Maxxis tubes only 90 grams and P239.00 php each PUNCTURE RESISTANT PA!!

Can I further reduce the weight of 6600 by changing the shifters and the RD, FD with Force parts

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
January 18, 2018

I just saw a post of Rival shifters for sale  at 8,500 with RD (kulang FD)

How much weight can be saved:   From Total Cycling - Component Weights

                                        Ultegra                           SRAM Force                 Savings

                    Shifter          419                                307 grams                      112 grams

                    FD                86                                   77                                    9 grams

                    RD              193                                 166                                  27 grams

                   Brakes          340                                 278                                 62 grams

                                                                                                    Total         210 grams

                                                                                           7,509 -  210  = 7,299  =   16,057 lbs

I all ready closed a deal with Kirk of Bago City to sell me his SRAM force for an undisclosed amount.  Kung aabutin ko ng February. I planned to upgrade to 6700 Ultegra with no change in weight.   For some K more, I would be able to save 200 grams. Parang bumili ng wheelset na magaan.