Originally Posted by
tetonrider
i've been shocked. when i got my first DEXA scan a few years back, what i thought was 10% BF was definitely not. really opening my eyes to where fat was hiding and what i could actually trim. at that point i thought there was nothing i could lose.
anyway, the whole discipline thing is a can of worms. there's a huge industry around selling people tricks to lose weight, but it comes down to resisting temptation. it is amazing how quickly one can undo so much hard work. for me, with slow and steady losses (e.g., an extra 30' of tempo a day + trying to resist that dessert at night)...that daily redux is something i could erase in a few minutes post-ride.
QFT- this was a big one when I was a multi-sport kid, thought I was pretty darn lean... numbers don't lie, and the majority of the weight-centric industry has grasped that it is easier to help people feel better about themselves than it is to help them fix the real problems.
I've heard of Recon cassettes shearing- but those were older ones, and used in an MTB context (yeah, don't do that)
I'd certainly use them myself without worry, but I think that my level of caring about this stuff is lower than yours.
Yes, the weight differences are NUTS- the first time I picked up a Recon cassette was a similar "WTH" sensation like the first time I picked up an 808 rim... doesn't seem like it should be possible.
Risk thresholds vary- I use Ultegra or Chorus everywhere, recently sold off my last carbon wheels, and alloy tubulars + Ultegra makes this stuff superfluous on my bikes. Mine won't break, but race bikes also weigh 16-17 lbs.
I'd say get on the narrow/wide bandwagon and do some testing. See if you can drop a chain, I didn't believe in Di2 when it first came out until a bike company that sponsors my team and is our main brand at the shop handed me a long-term loaner bike and said, "go ahead, try to make it mess up." I couldn't make it drop a chain, even when I legit tried- testing makes a believer out of me, and the narrow-wide stuff is similar for me.
Not having access to a clutch-style RD on the Di2 setup makes it a bit trickier- but I think it'd work for you pretty darn well. YMMV.
I'm just back from Bend, spent some time with a friend/ex-coworker who moved there a month or two ago. He's gone narrow-wide, scraped together all the parts, nothing fancy pretty well only the chainring and not a clutch style RD or anything else, using a XT double crankset (so not perfect chainline).... he hasn't dropped a chain yet, and he's a fast "DH-get-rowdy" kid.
Aerolites- worth looking into. Mercury/TriRig has gotten rights to use the patent (or something of the sort, it's legal at least), and they are claiming 35g per side, and they work with standard cleat mounting standards. Read the reviews, its frankly right up your alley on a project like this.
How about cables- are you using standard cables and housing? There are lighter weight options, some work better than others, but it'll free up a few grams.
Tyres- I assume you are running those fancy-euro-pro contis?
Bar tape- given you are going with a bullhorn setup (nice thinking, I was going to suggest this after thinking about the theme- it's pretty standard for British hill-climb bikes), what tape are you using, and what weight are you at?
For a bullhorn setup, you shouldn't need to wrap the center section of the bars- and since it is a short event, have you considered skateboard deck tape or similar? Weighs just about nothing.
To save the grams from the mounting hardware, just put the head unit in your jersey pocket/leg band?
how esoteric do you want to get?