herbarium

Hi everyone, I've lurked around for a while with a few posts here and there but I finally feel like I have something to contribute.

This is a Cannondale CAAD 5 custom build that I was lucky to find cheap on the local CL. It's aluminum body with carbon fork, and from what I've gathered the CAAD 5 road had the same geometry as their track builds, so I thought I would build it up as a single speed for commuting using parts I had lying around. I weighed every part of the bike I put on, and in the end it weighs at 6530 grams or 14.4 lbs without pedals or front break.

The only reason I built it up like this is not for any speed gains down the track (I don't race), but simply so I could enjoy carrying up my apartment steps and the occasional surprise on casual people's face when they lift it.

In the following posts, I will list out my research on the weight of things I've found out so far, hopefully to help other who are looking for a light build. Any helpful comments would be appreciated!



CAAD 5 Fixed build

Dougboy

Nice build. Looking forward to the parts list and weight of each part.

Although a better (undistorted) photo would be nice.

herbarium

Here is some of the research that I was able to find on parts, mostly using product listings, searches, and Weight Weenies, from which I then took the range of weights and an average weight of the part. (This is assuming an average weight part it is neither impossible to get nor impossibly expensive). All of this is non-scientific, but should give you a general hunch on how where each part weight is on the spectrum of heavy to light.


I have ordered these parts based on what I believe are the most significant in reducing weight for price.


1. Frame and Fork: Low is around 2000 grams. If you can find less than this, that's great! Some options:

Argon 18 Electron + Fork, Medium. 1890 grams.

Bianchi Super Pista + Carbon Fork, 59cm. 2320 grams

Wabi Lighting SE Frame + Fork + Headset, 58cm. 2177 grams


2. Wheelset: It is reasonably cheap ($300) to get a 1500 gram wheelset. I think this is about the lowest I've seen online for a track set.

Wabi sub-15 wheels. 1470 grams

Chinese carbon wheels, 24mm deep rim. 1500 grams

Chinese carbon, tubulars. 1300 grams.

Build your own: https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespe...et-thread.html

(There was a really good, detailed thread about someone who built their own on the forum, but I can't find it now)


3. Saddles: These can go from 50g to 500 g (Brooks B17) and even more deepening on comfort... Getting a 200g saddle for not much cost does not seem unreasonable.

4. Crankarms: Range 300 - 600 grams. Average at 450 grams.

5. Tires: This is a tough category because if you are street riding and skidding, the usually lighter tires have less puncture protection. For road tires the average seems to be around 200 grams. For road tires, the range is 130g to 450 grams.

6. Seatpost: Range is 100g to 400g. The average is at about 200 grams.

7. Handlebars: Road bars range from 150g to 350 grams. Mountain range from 100 to 400 grams.

8. Headset: Range is 50g to 300 grams. With an average at 150 grams.

9. Tubes: Range is 50g to 200 g or more. Michelin Aircomp Ultralight at 78g seem like a good option.

10. Bottom Brackets: Range is 100g to 300 grams. Average is 200 grams.

12. Chain: I don't think I see any chains lesser than 250g and average is 300 grams

13. Chainrings: From 44T to 48T, average weight is 80 grams.

*These ranges and averages are from Weight Weenies real weights numbers. Not counting bolt and peddles.


A. "Average Light Build"

Using: 2000g frame + fork and 1500g wheelset, plus average of the parts (about 2400 grams) = 5900 grams, or about 13 lbs, plus a little more for bolts and contingencies and I think you'll have a sub 15 lbs single speed bike!


B. "Lightest Weight"

Based on these lowest numbers and that each of the light weight parts are to be found by an average human on the web: 2000g frame + fork, 1500g wheelset, and 1300g for lightweight parts = 4800g or 10.5 lbs...


Now, of course this is not the "lightest weight ever," but I think it is pretty close for a typical person to buy parts from online. There are custom road bikes that weigh much less than this, and in the Colnago museum they have a crazy 9.9 lbs track build in steel! But all these are experimental builds.


Hopefully this will help others gauge whether their part is on the light or heavy side of things.

Let me know if I have any glaring mistakes (which I will defensively say that all these calculations are not rigorous, and you should do your own research!)

herbarium

And here is the build of my CAAD 5. I'll try to find some more photos on my old phone in a bit.

Frame: CAAD 5 Custom build from early-mid 2000's. 1540g.
Fork: Slice Echelon. 430g.
Headset: Ritchey. 100g
Wheelset: Mavic Cosmos front, 800g. Mavic Open sport, Surly hub, rear 1100g.
Tubes + tires: Vittoria Open Course + Kenda tubes. 700g both
Stem + bars: Cannondale stem, Cineli Pepper bars, cut. 375g
Seatpost: Thompson Elite. 200g
Saddle: Selle 190g.
Cranks + ring: Sugino Messanger 165mm. about 600g
Generic BB: 300g.
Generic chain: 300g.

Total = about 14.5 lbs without pedals.

From my own post, it would be good for me to upgrade the wheelset, tubes + tires, and the drive, but I'm not sure if it is monetarily worth it. It's a lot of fun to ride as is!

Broctoon

This is pretty similar to my bike, a MASH Parallax with Columbus carbon fork. It comes in a little heavier at about 17.5 lbs. ready to ride. The biggest differences are as follows:

- Pedals (SPD-SL 105) Probably 250-ish grams

- Front brake (Dura Ace 9000 caliper, I think. Tektro lever. And a short piece of cable and housing) Something like 350 grams total?

- Fairly heavy wheels (Reynolds DV3K carbon clinchers, 48mm deep, 24 spokes, and Phil Wood hubs.) Probably around 2300 grams total, give or take.

I've also ridden it with Velocity Deep-V rims, 32 spokes, and All City hubs, but I moved these to a different bike now. The two wheel sets are roughly the same weight.

I have a Cinelli Lola bullhorn bar, Zipp Service Course (not the SL) seat post, and Brooks C-15 seat. Stronglight track crank with FSA chain ring and Shimano UN-55 BB, if I recall correctly.

My stuff is neither the cheapest nor nicest you can buy, but somewhere in between. It's all good looking, light enough for what I enjoy doing, and tough enough for a guy much stronger than me. I ride on all kinds of roads without worry about durability. I've done 50+ mile days on it, and I can sprint up short, steep hills like nobody's business. What's not to love?

ceelint

No essentric hub? What gear ratio are you running? I have an old C'dale R900 I'm converting to singlespeed and don't wanna run a tensioner

TimothyH

FWIW, here are some weights from my most recent build. All weights are actual, measured on a Brecknell scale with NIST traceable calibration.

Continental Supersonic butyle tube - 52 grams each
Continental 18 mm rim strips - 42 grams each
Vittoria Corsa G+ 25 mm tire - 256 grams each
SRAM S900 brake levers - 245 grams/pair
Dura Ace 9100 front brake caliper + Koolstop salmon pads - 162 grams
Dura Ace 9100 rear brake caliper + Koolstop salmon pads - 160 grams
Arundel Mandible cage + 2x titanium screws - 32 grams each
Fabric Scoop Ultimate Flat saddle - 196 grams
Custom True Temper S3 (steel) frame - 1463 grams
ENVE 2.0 fork with straight 1.128" steerer, uncut - 354 grams
Extralite Hyperstem 90 mm stem - 73 grams
ENVE expansion plug for carbon steerer - 42 grams
XPEDO M-Force 8 titanium SPD compatible pedal - 212 grams/pair
Cane Creek 110 classic headset for straight 1.125" steerer - 87 grams
ENVE v1 SES Aero handlebar 44 cm - 271 grams
ENVE 27.2 x 300, 25 mm offset 2-bolt seatpost + saddle rail clamp - 190 grams
Shimano Dura Ace SS-7600 1/8" 16 tooth sprocket - 51 grams
H+Son Archetype rim + Dia Compe Gran Compe SF hubs + track nuts + Sapim Laser spokes (20 radial front/24 2cross rear) -1610 grams

The bike is 15.9 lb including brakes, pedals, bottle cages and GPS mount.


-Tim-

nightfly

Usually one has to go to Road Bike forums to find such anal retentive weight weenieness....

TimothyH

Condescension however, is universal.

-Tim-

hay

motrheadsroadie

just think about how light it would be if it was a real track bike instead of a conversion. those brake bosses and cable guides are heavy. this bike sucks.

veganbikes

Old road bikes that are not designed to be used as a track bike is the new track bike. Why have track ends when you can just bodge it together. Come on people, why build a proper lightweight fixed gear when you already have a improper candidate.

The Job Interview:
Hiring Manager: "We are looking for someone who can use excel spreadsheets and type 100 words in a minute"
Applicant: "I don't know what that is but I am pretty good with Minesweeper"
Hiring Manager: "well that sounds like overqualification if I have ever heard it, you are hired"
Applicant: "heck yes, now I am going to need about 2 months off paid because I am going on a drinking binge"

END SCENE

prooftheory

Builds bike to impress other people; chooses an invisible way for the bike to be impressive.

IAmSam

Fahrenheit531 

Weight is (insert little tiny number here) without (insert crucial component/s here) always seemed like funny math to me. Why is this even a thing? Weigh the whole bike. Or better yet, ride it.

REDMASTA

I made my bike out of ginger bread, it get's lighter as I snack on it during my ride.

herbarium

I think this is what it should be about, especially if its comfortable for your riding. And if you're lucky, you can find some good deals on pieces

herbarium

I used a magic ratio calculation which sort of got me close but when I got to putting it together it was tough. I used a few different chains types. Some of the new chains were too tight, so I used a more worn out one. And it worked out fine for a 46T x 16T ratio, which is lucky but that is standard.

gdh81

Right? I really don't get it. This forum is loaded with the nastiest smug and unhelpful comments I've seen just about anywhere. Like everybody's soooo cool. They're still the jerks nobody liked in high school and man are they mad about it.

EnzoRWD

I've posted this in another thread before, but this is how you do a singlespeed weenie build:

7.47lbs : build here

50voltphantom

Yeah that is dope.

veganbikes

@EnzoRWD That bike is crazy as hell and I love love love it! At first I was like Scott did not make a crabons fixie gear with a seat mast and then I saw the description and was like...heck yes, pretty sick!

TimothyH

Sitting here stunned, trying to take it in....

Some of the parts are things I've only seen on manufacturer's websites or lusted after at the Fairwheel Bikes site. The Scapula fork is amazing.

@EnzoRWD, do you have a source for the Mack hubs and BTP carbon hoods/clamps noted in the build thread?

Are you a dentist -


-Tim-

79pmooney

+1 I built my good fix gear (logo photo) to be the ride I always wanted. Weight was never considered, It weighed 19 1/2 pounds ready to ride with pump, cages and tool bag. (And real pedals.) I've done a 130 mile day on it. A 9800' day. Almost 17,000 miles since 2011. I have not however "sprint(ed) up short, steep hills like nobody's business". I couldn't do that in my racing days!

Things that have worn out or failed - tires, rims. Chains. A few cogs. Brake pads. Cables are getting old. Handlebar tape. I have broken a few rear hub locknuts, Miche PIsta hubs don't have the best locking system there and if they back off and you do a lot of road wheel changes (flip-flop that is flipped a lot), when you crank down on the outside nut, the unsupported locknut eventually breaks. Lesson - pay attention. Standard thread so getting new ones isn't an issue. I've put the pieces back in and ridden home.) I do lace my wheels (all but my city bikes and geared right rears) DT Revolution or equivalent with no issue. The spokes last 2-3 rims. Rims are Open Pro front and Velocity Aero rear (for its very deep usable braking surface; allowing any cog from 12 teeth to 24 with a shallower than standard road dropout. Dropout is made from a 1/4" plate/ Slot is nearly 2" long and opens down at the front. Pure joy to flip wheels with. Shimano dual pivots or SunTour Superbe calipers, Tektro levers. Aluminum bars, 130 quill stems. Steel fork simply because I ride steel forks. (The first -steel - fork failed because of a series of decisions that added up very badly. I choose a minimal fork crown; investment cast and very strong but no scalloping. The builder found some Columbus SL blades. We decided to go nickle plate to almost match the frame. The plater knew that high strength steel HAD to be heat treated to drive off embedded hydrogen atoms after the plating, an additional $30, but said nothing. End result - I did 2000' of descending with cracks around 3/4s of one blade and 1/4 of the other. Made it because I had a chain issue I couldn't sort out and elected to go down with a very slack chain and go really slowly! Last 5 miles were done with no front brake at all because the front end shuddered so much. New fork is 531 with a deeply scalloped fork and inside tangs. It's not going anywhere! And the bike - a keeper! At the high point of that ride it "decided" to have a mechanical so I couldn't wail on the fork that was about to go. "You screwed up badly on that fork but I am going to give you a break!")

This bike is a pure joy to ride. A very high end 1980s race bike on the concept of the bikes raced 110 years ago. (Yes, it would need sewups and wheels. They are still on the wish list. That would probably take most of a pound off.) And a weight wienie's nightmare. Oh well.

Ben

EnzoRWD

That's not my bike - I only saw it over in the weight weenies forum. My lightest singlespeed is the Cannondale at ~16lbs and not a speck of carbon on it.