dminor 

OK, I confess. I stopped by the local Harbor Freight tonight and shelled out my $12 for a little 1000 gram scale to weigh parts on. See, I'm putting the DH bike on a diet for this season, with the goal of losing a couple or three pounds (or more) if I can do it without breaking the bank. Bonus points if it comes off unsprung weight.

My plan is to: lace lighter rims on my hubs and try butted (gasp!) spokes; replacing my inverted fork with a right-side-up model; swapping out my Stroker Ace 4-pots for the new Primes; trying a 2.35 tire on the rear (plan to keep my 2.5 Excavator up front doing the important work); shopping Ti springs for the RC4; and putting my minimalist Sunline saddle back on.

So then I get this added stroke of genius - - the cassette. But of course! My PG970 DH (11-26), with its two solid big cogs, is a pig: tips the scales at 322.8g; my new PG 950 11-26 is a svelt 223.5g. I know there are super-weenie road cassettes like Ultegras and such that are even less but gawd this was a cheap fix. What the hell is wrong with me? This weight-saving thing is turning into a sickness.

3speed

Give that scale to some nonsense roadie you know before you get yourself into a bunch of senseless, expensive trouble. This isn't going to go anywhere good or cost you less than hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a difference that may not even really happen. Of course you'll notice it in your head, but whether it really exists can only be measured from many rides on the course, after which you would have gotten better times anyway from that practice and being in better shape anyway from the extra practice. If you ask yourself and keep it plain and simple, I think you know the correct answer to this problem. Don't do it, man!

Pete In Az

I'm new around here, so I could be wrong but...


Doesn't DH stand for down hill? And if so, wouldn't you want a bit more weight?

samburger

If the dollar spent/gram lost ratio works for you, I say go for it, but set a ratio standard before you start shopping & stick to it. Having a ~32# XC bike, weight doesn't really bother me. Then again, I don't compete

dminor 

Actually, light is good - - even for downhill; and you're always having to wrestle compromises between durability and weight. But light parts are so much stronger any more that DH bikes are trrending toward the 40# and below mark. There is no way I'm going to get that low; but I've always erred on the side of stout and think I can reasonably shave a little and make the bike a bit less of a plow.

I'm certainly not afraid of a little weight - - shucks, my FS "trail bike" weighs nearly 40# and the DJ is 31 or 32. My actual shopping isn't going to be that much: have the Hayes Primes (thank you Hayes!) in a box awaiting me to finish my wheel-lacing job; have the Syncros DS32 rims awaiting spokes (thanks to Nate at Ritchey) and the fork (courtesy of RST). About the biggest expense is going to be the Ti spring. No matter the brand, they all run close to $300. I'm leaning toward an RCS unless I can find a source for K9 steel springs (which are almost ti weight).

samburger

Doesn't sounds too bad...how much weight will that take off the race bike (if you're allowed to tell, that is)

junkyard

Next thing you know, you'll be spending 95% of your cycling time on a road bike but still hanging around the moutain bike forum for a few laughs and wise ass remarks.

Daspydyr 

$12 for a scale, thanks for the heads up, HF here I come. The wife gets pissy when I weigh pedals and tires on the office postal scale. Sometimes some grease gets on a letter or package. SHEESH, like what's up with that?

samburger

I weigh my bike on a needlepoint bathroom scale. It's somewhere between 30-33#, tending to rest most solidly at 32. I may never know what it really weighs & I kind of enjoy that.

ed 

I wouldn't say there'd be much of a durability issue with a guy your size, D. You could probably do DH on an AM rig.

Dilberto

DH bike on a diet? What part of your body do you wanna break first?

Daspydyr 

You mean break again?

Zephyr11

Uh ohhh, what's next??

lubes17319

^ Golden!

dminor 

Really. You're sending it to truckers anyway, right? Tell her it's demographic-appropriate package-graphics .

Haha! I am kinda running out of unscathed real estate, huh? That is one underlying goal to everything this year - - a clean, injury-free season.



Weird Zeph: I can't see the pic. Coding looks OK and other see it; I had to open the post, copy the URL and look at it in another window. Haha, BTW.

electrik

You know what they say about dudes with scales.

It's an addiction.

gbg

The weight weenie thing is addictive. I probably wouldn't notice an
extra lb or 2 on any of my bikes, mostly XC type riding, but getting them low weight is fun.
I know it makes a huge difference riding up hill though. I keep my bikes in the basement and carrying
my full suspension 24ish lb bike up the stairs is quite easy.
I tuned up a friends super cheap low end steel MTB for him and when I tried to carry it up
the stairs it seemed like 100lbs. I thought if must be 40+ lbs but I weighed it and it was only 37.
I was really surprised what that 13-14lbs added to the effort of carrying it up a flight of stairs.

samburger

I can't tell a difference between lifting my 25# rigid & my 32# FS. I can lose 5# by cutting desserts out for 2 weeks & 2# on the jon. Both of those are easier & cheaper than bike parts

electrik

It's going to be embarassing when you win that xc race and your arms are so wimpy you can't even lift the bike over your head!

never

Atta boy D, that pig really needs to lose some weight!!