Originally Posted by
gattm99
I've been riding gravel for 10 years and never really took it seriously. I started on a nashbar toruing bike, then I switched to an old Jake the Snake that was much lighter and sportier. The Jake was an old ebay frame with a dent and eventually the dent cracked. I bought a breezer inversion frame from a friend and built it up. This bike weighs 28.5 pounds, more then my hardtail mtb. I didn't really care, but my last two races have been gravel and while I don't really take them seriously, and I could loose alot of weight, I still wonder if I'd have more fun on a lighter cross bike. I have no idea why my breezer weighs so much, its a steel frame but I think the factory version was suppose to weight like 22 pounds.
Originally Posted by
gattm99
I know right! I can't figure it out, I'm going to have to start taking it apart and figuring out where the weight is coming from. Since this photo the rear gatorskin has been repalced by a 32 gravel king to match the front. The new rear cassette is about a 550g Sunrace 46-11 and rear deraileur is Deore with tanpan. In the photo above I think the bike weighed around 27. I am running tubes and those tubes have a little stans in them, I've never had a flat on this bike since I did that, so that may be an extra half pound?
You're starting with a Frame which is a few ounces shy of 7 lbs in Lg...
3x drivetrain ? (hard to see...) - which seems quite stout and overkill on the big ring? - with an 11x42 cassette ?
Then wheels... They look stout, sturdy, bomb-proof and with tubes...
Not sayin any of this is 'bad' - it's all good and will give great service. But if you think you're losing places in a 'race', because of weight, then...
If you really wanna lose some weight.
A CF frame will drop 3.5 lbs from the 7ish current weight.
a 'race' wheelset with tubeless will easily drop 1.5 - 2 lbs. and you'll even be able to go larger tire and lower psi, same speed, better compliance/comfort. Keep the current wheelset for daily/training rides, when conditions are rough...
convert that 3x to a 1x crank and lose all the FD hardware... use the 11x42, maybe with a 38 front and if the race course is really crazy steep, have a 34 you can swap on the front.
prolly 1+ lb there...
so now you're down 3.5 + 2 + 1 = 6.5 ish lbs .... 27 lbs down to just over 20...
marginal gains
CF stem and bars, pedals?, some very marginal gains hydraulic vs mech brakes.
All depends how important 'race' is, how fit you are, how important any of this is...
The
lightest,most minimal gravel bikes (without pedals) are all around 18 and + lbs...
But do buy now, cause loan interest rates are going up... and 2x kidneys is overkill anyway... LOL!
Keepin the kidney ? don;t need a new frame? racing is 'fun' not 'life'?
get a 2nd 'race' wheelset, a couple cassettes/ranges to cover different courses and go 1x drivetrain. Get below 12% butterfat body...
it's all good
Ride On
Yuri