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World's Lightest Bike?

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Old 09-28-10, 09:00 AM
  #1  
mwandaw
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World's Lightest Bike?

FairwheelBikes.com says they have made the world's lightest bike. "We have built the first bike to go below the 8.0 pound mark."

It appears to be a legitimate road bike, and with 20 speeds and even a saddle, it appears it could be ridden. Of course, with Gizmodo reporting a price of $45,000, I personally would be more than a little nervous about even touching it.
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Old 09-28-10, 09:02 AM
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Sucks to be FairwheelBikes.com I guess
https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...nd-bike_142858
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Old 09-28-10, 09:15 AM
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sucks why? that's the same bike
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Old 09-28-10, 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by gospastic
sucks why? that's the same bike
Yeah, in the sense that it has a different frame, drive train, wheels, builder and final weight. Otherwise it's identical.
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Old 09-28-10, 09:20 AM
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gospastic
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I don't know if you're being smart, but the Gizmodo article and your VeloNews link are both talking about the same bike.
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Old 09-28-10, 09:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Spring Water
Sucks to be FairwheelBikes.com I guess
But the bike the OP is talking about is completely different.
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Old 09-28-10, 09:23 AM
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Isn't that the same company?
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Old 09-28-10, 09:24 AM
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The black bike in the photos is Günther Mai's old but recently rebuild 2.7 kilo (5.9 lbs) carbonfibre Spin, so where does Fairwheels come in with a new "record" 8 lbs titanium Litespeed? The Ghisallo in the Fairwheels article was build in 2006 or 2007.

Günther...

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Old 09-28-10, 09:25 AM
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OP has two different links to two different bikes. The first one is from 2009. The second one is from Interbike 2010.
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Old 09-28-10, 09:29 AM
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Well, the black Spin is build by Günther Mai and with 5.9 pounds it has nothing to do with Fairwheels or a new 8 pounds "record".
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Old 09-28-10, 09:30 AM
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FWB rebuilt the bike...

https://fairwheelbikes.com/cycling-bl...-lightest.html
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Old 09-28-10, 09:35 AM
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This will explain...

https://fairwheelbikes.com/cycling-bl...-lightest.html
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Old 09-28-10, 09:39 AM
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they look like 2 different bikes to me

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Old 09-28-10, 10:04 AM
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I'm about to go spastic. Looks like two totally different bikes.
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Old 09-28-10, 10:05 AM
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Yes, they ARE two different bikes. Read the topic!
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Old 09-28-10, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by kleinboogie
I'm about to go spastic. Looks like two totally different bikes.
i see what you did there, nice
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Old 09-28-10, 11:14 AM
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The problem is that the OP linked to the wrong Fairwheel bikes project in his post. But the Gizmodo article, the velonews article, and the recent Fairwheel bike's article are all the same bike.
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Old 09-28-10, 11:21 AM
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I'm not sure I see the point to it, if you're using custom-made items, using the prototype because it's lighter, using items from a defunct company, etc.
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Old 09-28-10, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by StephenH
I'm not sure I see the point to it, if you're using custom-made items, using the prototype because it's lighter, using items from a defunct company, etc.
The point is to see what's possible, to push the boundaries.

What's the point of most of the crap that people do?
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Old 09-28-10, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by umd
The point is to see what's possible, to push the boundaries.

What's the point of most of the crap that people do?
Hookers and blow?
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Old 09-28-10, 01:52 PM
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Op fail.
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Old 09-28-10, 05:41 PM
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There's a lot of "world lightest bike"s on the interwebz. And in bike magazines.

Under 8 lbs. was done years ago. But not 6. if I put the 8lb bike on top of the 6lb bike I still can't race it unless I add some weight.

But I would sooooooooo like to take one for a spin with some of my friends. Just one big steep hill that's all I'm asking. Pleeezzzzz?
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Old 09-28-10, 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
if I put the 8lb bike on top of the 6lb bike I still can't race it unless I add some weight.
Sure you can, unless you are doing UCI or national championship races. The minimum weight simply does not apply to most amateur racing in the US.
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Old 09-28-10, 06:17 PM
  #24  
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This guy won the Mt. Washinton Hillclimb race on a sub 10 lbs bike:

https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/.../sweet-victory

Just because it is light doesn't mean it won't stand up to normal use. Actually, the previous owner of the Spin bike that Fairwheel Bikes rebuilt into the world's lightest bike apparently logged around 1,000 km / week on his then 7-lbs bike (that is 32,500 miles / year).
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Old 09-28-10, 06:25 PM
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It sounds fun. My son said he saw a Bugatti Veyron the other day. The world's fastest production car. "Bugatti" the original company doesn't exist. The name was auctioned off long ago. The Veyron is actually a Volkswagen. But at 267 mph, it's waay faster than a Beetle, Jetta, or even a Volkswagen (Lamborghini) Diablo.

The fact that fairwheels has come up with a one-off world's lightest bike is cool. But pro racers can't use it, because UCI won't allow it. Amateurs that can use it, who aren't that fast, because if they get really fast, they'll want to do UCI events, and realize, "Oh s**t I'm going to be weighted down majorly. If UCI dissolved weight restrictions, then the fairwheels bike would be nice, but Specialized, Cervelo and others would jump into the race, and probably win. Cervelo is owned by aerospace engineers. They could bury fairwheels.

But in a totally open-competition, bents would win in flat tts. A $45,000 fairwheels is probably a bike-collector/bike-museum piece.
Has anybody even measured their durability?
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