speedyspaghetti

Hey everyone -

I've been working on a weight weenie build (sub 20 lbs is the goal) on my Santa Cruz Highball C over the past few months and I figured some of you would enjoy following along.

Here is the bike the day I bought it used:



And this is the original parts list with weights:



Pedals - went with the XTR-M9100s to replace the M520s. Went from 375g to 310g, so a saving of 65g. Clipping in and out does feel just that slight bit better on the higher end SPD pedals. Unfortunately there aren't a ton of lighter SPD options. I like that I can use the same shoes/cleats between my two MTBS and my gravel bike, so I don't really want to switch to a whole new pedal system. I know the XPedos are lighter, but I've heard that they don't work all that well with SPD cleats. Eggbeaters are lighter, but I'm not a huge fan. I felt like the release was "mushy" and not as positive as the SPDS.

Grips - WTB Techtrails replaced with ESI Chunkys - 101g to 69g for a saving of 32g. Really like the Chunkys - I know that there is a "race" version that is even lighter, but I feel that these strike a good balance between weight and comfort. Took the Highball on an 85 mile, 10k feet ride and they were comfortable throughout for the most part, but I may be looking for other options.

Saddle - Replaced my WTB Silverado Pro with an S-Works Power saddle that I had left over from an old build. 223g down to 160g for a saving of 63g. I know that the S-Works saddle works for how I like to sit on the bike, so it was pretty familiar and comfortable. Had it already so this was "free" upgrade if you will, although I don't know if I would've spent the money on it if I didn't already have it.

Tires - Decided to go with the Kenda Booster Pros. Really happy with these tires - good rolling speed, both of pavement and trails, good grip on the loose stuff, just overall great tires. Haven't put a ton of miles on them yet, but the 85 miler had a good mix of fire road, pavement, and singletrack, with some sections of really loose rock that I was able to clean no problem with these tires. The seller I bought from accidentally shipped me the SCT version (which is more expensive) but it is also like ~30g heavier per tire, so I may in the future get the non-SCT version to shed some more weight.

Overall, shed 266g to go down to 10.48 kg. Good bit of lightening with some smaller parts - gonna have to drop some more weight though to get down to sub 20!

I compiled everything into a video if you guys wanna watch - thanks for following along!

Video

DMC707

A XC wheelset will shed some weight quickly

speedyspaghetti

Definitely! I was able to find a set of Bontrager Kovee XXX wheels for a good price, so I snapped those up. Unfortunately they are centerlock only, so I won't be able to run super light rotors. Just need to mount them up! They are listed at 1390g for the set, but they came in a bit under that on my scale.

DMC707

Thats actually a good trade off ---- having a little extra weight for something that performs better is smart. Kinda like you staying away from the EggBeaters -- those are light but pure garbage

can drop some weight with carbon crankarms too - plus delete the fork lockout to save a few , but the ultimate fork mod is to round file the Fox in favor of a SID (easy to recoup some $$$ on a nice Fox fork too )


Cant tell what kind of cassette body you have -- and i know high end cassettes are very expensive, but thats another place to drop some unsprung weight

cxwrench

Unsprung weight...on the rear wheel of a hardtail?

DMC707

OK - rotating mass

speedyspaghetti

Yeah it did mess up my brake plan a little bit - I had bought some Magura MT8 Pros, but I found out later (should've researched) that Magura rotors are thicker than others and also a good bit heavier for the CL ones. I ended up selling the Maguras and bought some XTR-9100s instead - I like the feel of Shimano brakes (I know, not a popular opinion) and the XT CL rotors are relatively light at 108g and the XTR brakes themselves are a good bit lighter than the Magura ones.

I was considering doing a SID SL instead of the 32 SC, but I have kind of a weird hybrid Performance / Performance Elite version of it that is already relatively light. I could maybe shave off another 60-70g with the SID, but that's still a pretty pricey upgrade, although you're right in that I would recoup some with selling the Fox. I'm a bit hesitant to ditch the lockout as I like to use it on long fire road climbs - is there a reason besides weight to ditch it? Are SIDs good at climbing even without the lockout?

For cassette, I got an XX1 that my friend was able to get me a discount on with his industry pricing through SRAM - still expensive, but not as bad as the MSRP. I know Garbaruk makes a cheaper and slightly lighter alternative, but I'd imagine SRAM shifts better. Gonna install these parts hopefully soon.

DMC707

You're sentiments echo mine on the brakes exactly. This bike is about a year old now, and definitely not a weight conscious build at all, but i also stuck with XTR for the brakes while i went with SCAM for the rest -- mainly because i love Gripshift - but the bloom is off the rose so i am actually wanting to go back to XTR for everything else now, but its not in the budget this year

And regarding lockout? Do you see any difference on your climbs on Strava or anywhere else that would substantiate a locked out fork is faster? If so, rock on. But other thoughts are that suspension helps when hitting bumps going uphill as well as down. But YMMV

Polaris OBark

Yes, but it is the correct opinion. ;-)

prj71

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/tested...ng-faster.html

DMC707

OP has a hardtail --- these guys are testing lockouts on the shocks of 160 class bikes