ridethecliche

Just bought a used CAAD13 rim brake frameset and plan to build it up with R7000 105 and likely an R8000 ultegra crank.

Given the penalty of the 105 stuff, what would I need to do to get it down to the high 16 or low 17 lb weight range without going full weenie?

Any builds that came in light that you can help me find?
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vuurmot

You will lose the most weight in the wheels
Carbon wheels, TPU tubes, lightweight tyres
Maybe a 3d printed saddle ~180g

17lb is really easy to reach on a rim brake bike tbh
Just general weight optimizations could get you there

veganbikes

Buy lighter weight parts, it isn't hard. The best upgrade would be wheels as lighter wheels will give you a lighter bike overall than non-rotating parts. Keep your rotating parts lighter and the ride will be lighter. Rotational weight is the worst weight.

If you want to save a bunch of silly weight but also get really excellent braking power go with Cane Creek eeBrakes with Jagwire Elite Link housing it is not a cheap upgrade but it really is excellent. I remember my first boxes years ago and thought these feel almost empty there can't be brakes in them but sure enough they were there.

mstateglfr 

There is 180g difference between Ultegra and 105, which is not even 7oz.

You could use 105 and get a Praxis Zayante crank to drop 130g compared to the 105 crank.
An Amazon brand lightweight 11-28 cassette is about 70g lighter than an 11-28 105 cassette.

Just suggesting a couple things that would lighten up the drivetrain.
Everything else you hang on the bike is going to impact weight more than the 2 things above though.
Saddle weight and wheel weight probably being two of the biggest places where significant weight can be cut without it requiring a lot of money.
Oh, and if you buy a Kalloy Uno7 stem for $25 or $30, it will be lighter than any stem under $100. 30-60 g lighter. The stem graphics can be easily removed with acetone. That's an inexpensive and great swap.

ridethecliche

I like kalloy uno stems and will likely get one if my fancy Ritchey Wcs 260 stem doesn't fit.

I also have some lightweight bars. The frame comes with the cannondale carbon seatpost and full carbon fork.

Wheels are psimet Al clinchers that I'll likely run with latex tubes. Wheels weigh around 1450-1500 afaik. I have very lightweight skewers as well.

ebow3d

My CAAD12 rim brake with Ultegra 6800 weighs 6.9kg - not sure what that is in American. Just use lightweight parts, like carbon handlebars, seatpost, seat, etc. Also, I use tpu tubes which are lighter than tubeless - save about 100grams over standard tubes and avoids the hassle and mess of tubeless. Titanium skewers save about 100grams per set. A KMC X11SL chain from Amazon is light and reasonably durable. I got an "Sroad" cassette, durable and lightweight one piece chromoly steel.
Other than that, I have replaced literally every single bolt with titanium ones from Aliexpress. That doesn't save any real weight, it's just a rabbit hole that I went through.
Also, I've got a Chinese Magene power meter that weighs about 755grams. Not very light. And pretty lame 50mm Chinese carbon rims, about 1550grams. At some stage I'll splurge on better wheels.
These are all cheap "upgrades" and saves quite a bit of weight in the end.

choddo

Lightweight wheels, carbon bars, carbon post & saddle should do it.

tFUnK

The areas for shaving grams in bulk are the frame and wheels, so you're at about 1500g each for the frame/fork and wheelset. Beyond that, going with TPU tubes saves you a good chunk over butyl (and even latex). Since you already decided on the drivetrain, it is what it is. Otherwise, there may be a different crankset that could be significantly lighter than the 105. From there, it's marginal savings for each individual component where it might be a dozen to a few dozen grams per component. Not really worth it individually, but those grams do add up. I would think you can easily get it to the 17lb range, but to get it from 17 to 16lbs is not a trivial task - that's a few hundred grams that you aren't likely to gain from changing just one thing.

aliasfox

This is my pandemic build. She’s a Cannondale CAAD8, named Cammy.




She is a 2016 (Chinese built), BSA bottom bracket (would likely have been a Sora build from the factory) version of the frame, and IIRC, came in just shy of 1400g - I remember it being about 100g more than the claimed 1295g.

Major components:
- SRAM Force 22 group
- SRAM Force AXS rim brakes (cheaper and better looking than the Force22 option)
- Praxis Zayante S carbon crank, 48-32
- SRAM PG-1170 11-28 cassette
- Fizik R3 stem
- Fizik R1 Bull carbon handlebar
- Ultimate USE Evo straight seatpost
- Campagnolo Zonda wheels
- Michelin Power Endurance 4 tires, 25mm
- Butyl tubes
- Look X-Cross pedals
- Selle Italia Flite (steel rails, I think)

As built, she came in at 18.06 lbs.

Assuming your CAAD13 weighs about the same (and no reason to believe it’s won’t), you’re probably at a ~300g disadvantage going with 105, meaning you’ll have ~750g to make up, relative to my build, to get to 17lbs. Let’s see…
1. I would advise against the Zondas. They’re claimed weight is 1560g, mine come in around 1700g. If you’re willing to spend, Ksyrium SLs or DT Swiss 1400 wheels will shave 250-300g off of the Zonda weight. They’re otherwise nice wheels, and other people have gotten examples <1600g
2. Corsas or GP5k, with TPU tubes. The tubes should save ~80g, as would nicer tires (~150g total). The Power Endurance seem durable, but maybe not as supple as the GPs or Corsas.
3. Half decent road pedals will easily take 150g off of my dual sided SPDs (which were necessary for urban riding - single sided pedals aren’t conducive to immediate click-in at a light)
4. If this bike is to be ridden in dry weather only, I’d go with something like the Praxis (if you don’t already have the Ultegra). First, you avoid the Shimano crank recall, and 2nd, it’s a little lighter. Bottom bracket sealing isn’t the greatest though. maybe 50-100g savings over the Shimano part

1-3 will save about 550g off the bike, and you may be able to luck out with another 100g on the saddle (I think mine’s about 220g?) - that’ll get you pretty close to your goal!

Jrasero

The stock Fulcrum Racing 900 wheelset are 1880g thus to your point just going to a 1400g or less wheelset you are saving 480g alone which. With this being said a CAAD13 Disc is 20lbs stock, but there is no info on what a rim brake 105 CAAD 13 weighs, however most identical model Disc vs Rim bikes vary by 300g-400g. Thus maybe the CAAD 13 rim brake weighs 19.12lbs, thus shedding another 480g with a 1400g carbon wheelset brings the bike down another 1.05lbs to 18.1lbs. Using TPU 36 tubes vs butyl tubes 110g each would save 296g or another .65lbs or the bike to 17.45lbs. Fizik Aliante Delta, S-alloy rails is probably a pretty heavy saddle probably in the 230g-240g range. Going to something like a Bontrager Aeolus RSL saddle which is 142g would cut around 98g .21lbs thus bringing the bike to 17.24lbs before you add pedals, mounts, cages, bottles, ect.

ridethecliche

Updates.

Groupset is R8000 - with DA left sided stages
Seatpost is the carbon cannondale one
Saddle is some ec90 clone that's not super light but I think I have a few lightweight saddles kicking around just to see what I can do.
For wheels, I have some psimet Al clinchers and also just picked up some prime RR-50 V3 which I've seen reported at 1470 grams.

Waiting on Ritchey Wcs Al bars and a kalloy uno stem.

The steerer on this is cut more than I'd thought. I'd wanted to put a set of carbon bars or my light ritchey wcs ones but ended up ordering some Ritchey Wcs which have a little rise and flare. Since this is going to be a go fast setup... I might just try the lighter Ritchey bars at first... But may have to flip the stem to compensate. Oof gross!

So I should have some early weights soon. Any guesses to what it's going to come down to?

aliasfox

What tires, tubes, and pedals? Bottle cages?

Going from a 23mm Corsa with latex tubes to something like a 28mm Michelin Pro4 Endurance on Kenda Butyls could mean nearly 300g (read: over 1/2 lbs) difference. Likewise, steel spindled SPDs vs some Speedplays could be 150-200g, as well.

My CAAD8 is on the weightier end of that spectrum (25mm Michelins, butyl tubes, SPDs) and comes in at 18lbs... so with the lighter wheels and TPU/latex, I'd say 17.3lbs. Go easy on the grease and wrap a little less of the handlebar, and maybe 17.2lbs

LesterOfPuppets

A Cannondale was the first 17 lb bike I saw IRL, in 1997 or so. Sorry don't recall the specs.

ridethecliche

As of right now the bike is right at 18lbs with 105 pedals, cages, and pump + gps mount.

Saddle, stem, and tubes are the next likely targets...but I'm probably not messing swapping the saddle.

Tires are 28 gp5000s. Will likely stick to those. Might get TPU tubes since refilling latex all the time sounds annoying. Or stick to 'race' butyl tubes.

I know that not using the bb30 is hurting as well because I used a token threaded bottom bracket which is a fair bit heavier than the bb30 equivalent.

datlas 

Light enough. At this point it's easier to knock a pound off your OWN frame rather than the bike.

p.s. Pics??

aliasfox

- I've never been convinced that a stem could save that much weight. Maybe 10-20g from a 'typical' stem to a Kalloy Uno?
- Race butyl tubes are nice, but they don't hold a candle to TPU. I even demonstrated this to a friend of mine a few weeks ago - I pulled out a Continental Race tube, and put it in his hand. "Ok, light." I then put a RideNow TPU in his hand. "Oh, wow..." Even with Continental Race tubes, we're talking 3x the weight of the TPU. Though maybe the fact that I have the tube and haven't installed it on any of my bikes might mean something.

You may want to weigh the Cannondale seatpost. It may sound odd, but a lot of entry-level carbon seatposts weigh nearly as much as the full length (410mm) Thomson Elite alloy post in my Bianchi (289g claimed). The Thomson Masterpiece that I have on my Lynskey is 158g claimed, and that's less than most carbon posts. I run a USE Evo in the Cannondale, and that has a claimed weight of 122g - and it definitely feels a bit lighter than the Thomson Masterpiece. You could also go full weight weenie and get a Darimo 75g (27.2, 300mm) post, if you wanted to spend the coin...

aliasfox

But... but... pie?

ridethecliche

I need a longer stem and I really hate using the Ritchey C260 stem I have while I'm working out bike fit.

Unfortunately, the caad13 doesn't take a 27.2 post so not too much in the aftermarket.

The other place to save weight would be the brakes. I think bontrager has some that are priced pretty well and are much lighter than the ultegra direct mount brakes.

But yes, definitely considering TPU tubes. I'll order some. Any recs?
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aliasfox

Oh, I didn't realize the CAAD13 didn't use a round post. Another option: if you're not already at minimum insertion, you could trim the bottom of the post to save a few grams.

I hear you on the 'wrong size stem' issue. I have an 80mm stem pulled from my wife's REI (she wanted a more upright position), and it's too short to go on my Cannondale (though that 120mm is a bit long for me). And it's too short to go on my Ragley commuter. So it stays on the shelf, lonely, not fulfilling its purpose...

Check reviews on the Bontrager brakes - they may be lighter, but if they don't stop as well as Shimano calipers, then they may not be worth it. My Cannondale (SRAM Force equipped) doesn't stop as well as my Bianchi (old Ultegra 6500), and neither hold a candle to Lynskey (Ultegra Hydro). If my old Ultegra can best 2010s-era Force, I have to imagine direct mount R8000 is pretty good.

Camilo

"Small parts": Pedals, seat post, stem, handlebars, saddle, tires, tubes, even bar tape. A lot of these things you can find second hand on EBay and/or don't cost any more than their heavier counterparts. Pay attention to that stuff. They all add up an ounce or two at a time. If you have to replace parts for fit, get lighter ones. You can get ~1500 gram alloy wheels for not too much $, so consider that before you spend $1000+ for CF wheels, maybe spend that money on upgrading all the little parts. Sram groups are generally a bit lighter than comparable priced Shimano, be sure to check that out. Contrary to some experience, I haven't seen any meaningful difference between Shimano and Sram rim brakes, and since I prefer Sram ergonomics, it's good for me in the weight department.

ridethecliche

Why would I buy alloy wheels when I already have lightweight alloy wheels. Why would I get a sram group when I already have an R8000 Ultegra group? I'm so confused.

ridethecliche

Recs on the TPU tubes? I'll likely order a few sets for this!

And I have a big ole box of stems sitting around! I keep adding and subtracting from it over time.
Re bonty brakes. The reviews are okay, but it's only worth it for me if they increase clearance. Swapping over to them would likely shave something like 100 grams so I might keep an eye out for used sets. I missed an auction a week or so ago but I wasn't quite considering the swap back then. I'm sure another set will turn up. It might be worth even just test fitting!

ridethecliche

Why do you want me to post pics of myself? That's weird.

Though if it makes you happy, I'm 5'10 and 170-175ish lbs. Goal weight is 160-165 over the next few months. I used to race in college at 145-150. I'd rather not weigh that much ever again!

Jrasero

A light wheelset in the 1300g or less range. TPU tubes. Probably a carbon shell/rail saddle padded or not at 200g or less. Carbon stem/handlebar or cockpit.

If you aren't concerned about having CADEX parts that match the Cannondale and are more budget oriented I highly recommend Prime/Chain Cycles Prime lineup. The Primavera Carbon Saddle 130g and like $100 or the Primavera Shorty which is wider and has more padding is 170g $120. Prime's Primavera X-Light Pro bars are 160g at like $150. I really recommend the RideNow Ultralight TPU tubes which are now on Amazon. They have the 36g one and the 19g ones. Just remember to buy the correct size, thus if you are running a 25c tire some of their 19g tubes only will fit a 18c-28c tire. Also it's not recommended swapping tubes after use to larger or smaller tires. As per wheelset I would go Chinese direct to consumer like Winspace, Elitewheels, and 9Velo which all offer good rim brake wheels at 1300g or less at decent prices.

datlas 

Bike pics, silly.