# Going light on a budget



## B.Garcia (Nov 21, 2011)

Going light is tough in this economy. Williams has a seatpost 84g at $94 and a full carbon saddle at 120g for $130. Any other good places?

Like chain rings chains bars ect.


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

*Williams post is 184grams, not 84g thing would be sold out or fail so fast.

Since you're in an economical mindset, wheels (and tires) have arguably been the real bang for the buck because you knock out rotational mass while you're at it. Case in point: Take your typical 1,800g wheelset that comes with the bike, spend ~$350 on BWW's Blackset Race at ~1500g. That's about $350 for about 300g savings. Compare that to the presumed savings of what you listed. typical non-high end saddle can be in the 240g range, same as some supplied carbon seatposts...so $244 for a 166g savings...assuming the saddle is comfortable in the first place and everything can bear your weight.

In some cases, a fork may be cost-effective depending on what you started with.

Exustar/Forte pedals are had for cheaper than others at lower weight. The carbon ones have been recalled atm though. Chopping seatposts and excessively long bolts (which is just the top cap bolt) is a free measure.

"Light on a budget" is a tough one to do right. Plainly, the rider on the budget is also the rider that doesn't want to spend on repair/replacement. With my 18lb bike can only lose significant weight by sacrificing my beater wheelset I rely on to navigate chipped roads, or else I'd have to spend heavy on a new frame.


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

Do you need setback? KCNC Ti pro lite will be cheaper and lighter. Its aluminum.


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## SilverStar (Jan 21, 2008)

You want to do it on a budget? Get out your drill and start boring holes in everything, drillium style!

I am kidding, of course.


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## Ripper4life (Nov 23, 2011)

Here's an even better deal, Art's Cyclery has the Shimano PRO carbon PLT seatpost on sale for $49.99.


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## sanrensho (Jan 2, 2003)

Ebay.


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## B.Garcia (Nov 21, 2011)

Even at that still light and cheap compared. 

FSA K-Force Lite
227g $225

Ritchey WCS Carbon 
184g $219

Easton EC90 Setback 
195g $200

*Williams Ionic CCS 
184g $94*

For brakes I went with Planet X Ultra Light CNC Brake Calipers only $109 @ 205g


And thinking to get a "ceramic coating" Super light 103g Alloy Cassette 10 speed 11-25t on ebay and Ultralight titanium bike skewers-45.7g (Both) kcnc extralite


I just bought a new Tarmac SL4 Pro frame and the fork is a lot lighter than previous models its the seatpost. Its heavy compared to the others that i listed but not by much (Pro Road Carbon 2-Bolt Seatpost 215g)


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Ripper4life said:


> Here's an even better deal, Art's Cyclery has the Shimano PRO carbon PLT seatpost on sale for $49.99.


That thing ranges from 233-260g...albeit 400mm.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Because I'm already "that guy," watching what you eat. Stripping any extra crap off the bike. Figuring out how much you really need in your flat kit, and whether it needs to be in a seat wedge or not. The saddle can be a good spot, though - they've been light for a long time, so NOS and EBay can get you the superlight racing saddles of a couple years ago at good prices.

Once you've addressed the wheels and tires, further weight savings is mostly difficult and expensive. If you don't need integrated shifters, though, that's another place. A smaller largest cog helps. Putting the cogs on a carrier, once they're small, doesn't make so much difference anymore but if your light wheelset has an aluminum freehub, you may still want to.

There's a big swing in weight between different models of shoe.

Unless you've got some glaring pig on your bike somewhere, like a DH stem or something, it's pretty difficult to find big single line-item changes you can make on a road bike. What do you have now?


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## beston (Jul 4, 2008)

Stems - Look up the Uno stems on ebay. Alloy stems that weigh just over 100g range for $30.
UNO Ultralight MTB ROAD 31.8 x 100mm Stem ,107g, White | eBay

Cages - If you have water bottle cages, you can get 22g carbon cages on ebay for $12 each.

UltraLight Carbon Fiber Water Bottle Cage bike Bicycle cycling | eBay

Pedals - Exustar pedals are cheap and light. Can save you weight over most other pedals (except speedplay). $30 and over 50g lighter than Ultegra pedals. Check 
Exustar Keo Pedals (E PR100PP)

You can get cheaper seatposts on ebay that weigh around 180 - 190g.
New BlackOps 180grm Carbon /Ti Seatpost 27.2 or 31.6 x 350mm | eBay

Chinese carbon tubular rims can be very light for not a whole lot of $. I don't have direct experience with these.


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## beston (Jul 4, 2008)

*NOOOOOO!!!!* They are garbage!

I had one of these that I got for less than $100. It's not even a good paper weight, let alone a good shifting cassette.

Go with a used SRAM red cassette for around the same price. It may be a loud cassette, but the shifing is excellent.


"And thinking to get a "ceramic coating" Super light 103g Alloy Cassette 10 speed 11-25t on ebay and Ultralight titanium bike skewers-45.7g (Both) kcnc extralite"


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## rose.johnp (Jul 20, 2011)

Cheap - Light - Strong 

Pick 2, you can't have all 3.


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

rose.johnp said:


> Cheap - Light - Strong
> 
> Pick 2, you can't have all 3.


yes you can. IF you know what to look for.


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

B.Garcia said:


> Even at that still light and cheap compared.
> 
> FSA K-Force Lite
> 227g $225
> ...


Those cassettes won't shift well or last long. Look at the KCNC ones. i use them and love them. I also sell a ton of them.


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## B.Garcia (Nov 21, 2011)

I have:
a zipp handle bar (???g)
specialized comp stem 188g (+-10g)
Specialized Pro Road Carbon 2-Bolt Seatpost 215g
Planet X brakes
Sram 1070 cassette
KMC SL chain
Red/Force build (Red: Crank,Shifters/Force: F and R Derailleurs)
Forte Carbon Pedals 
Selle SMP sadde 
Reynolds strike 66 carbon wheels/ Attack (pending on the ride/race)

I guess what im looking for is to change the stem and seatpost the most thats where seems to be the most weight personally and cassette


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

B.Garcia said:


> I guess what im looking for is to change the stem and seatpost the most thats where seems to be the most weight personally and cassette


off the top of my head: Sram's Red/Powerdome cassette, the KCNC seatpost mentioned, and virtually any fixed stem would be lighter choices. Saddles are only as good as they feel, but the SMP is pretty heavy unless you went with one of the carbon versions. 

The SL4 is a light bike as is. I realize you're just looking to getting away with shaving grams without going overboard, but it's a spendy measure at this point over no real gain in performance.


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## Rhino4Five (Nov 5, 2009)

My $0.02: Performance Bikes' Ultra Light Tubes. At 50 grams each, you can shave off 100+ grams at the wheels (depending on what you're using now) for about $20. 

I like the Performance brand tubes because you can take them back if you have a failure. I found tubes this light to be finicky.


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## Cut.Aussie (Mar 19, 2011)

beston said:


> Stems - Look up the Uno stems on ebay. Alloy stems that weigh just over 100g range for $30.
> UNO Ultralight MTB ROAD 31.8 x 100mm Stem ,107g, White | eBay
> 
> Gotta second the Uno Ultralight stems, I bought 3 of these on 90, 100, 110 to use on my Look road bike, surprising light and priced well on ebay


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## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

I spent $500 on Soul 2.0 wheels and a few more dollars for Ti skewers to get my bike into the sub 14 pound club. Like Ventruck said it's rotating mass and I dropped 1.2 lbs. The spec was 1330 grams and mine weighed 1329 on the scale.


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## B.Garcia (Nov 21, 2011)

Exactly Rhino4Five. Just a little here and there. Thats why I want to hear what other people experienced with these ebay dealers and unknown manufactures like the soul 2.0's cause i never heard of them before!


I guess i could use Ti bolts on the crankset and different parts of the bike but i think that would be ridiculous with no performance gain and little weight change


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## Hughsdad (Jan 21, 2011)

B.Garcia said:


> Exactly Rhino4Five. Just a little here and there. Thats why I want to hear what other people experienced with these ebay dealers and unknown manufactures like the soul 2.0's cause i never heard of them before!
> 
> 
> I guess i could use Ti bolts on the crankset and different parts of the bike but i think that would be ridiculous with no performance gain and little weight change


Soul is not an unknown manufacturer. There are lots of posts and threads talking of them here and on Bike Forums.


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## Pitts Pilot (Dec 5, 2011)

I have spent the last 20 years worrying/fretting/calculating dollar/gram savings of this part versus that. I don't regret that. It's a hobby - a passion. But recently, I got a new wheelset that was 300grams lighter than the one I took off. I couldn't feel the difference. I've decided I'm looking for better comfort/performance from now on when choosing one part over another.

That said - tires and tubes are maybe the best bang for buck weight loss spot.


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## esldude (Jan 3, 2009)

How about a water only fast for two weeks. You will go light, and it won't cost a thing.


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## oh2winlemans (Dec 23, 2011)

esldude said:


> How about a water only fast for two weeks. You will go light, and it won't cost a thing.


I agree 100%... Not saying the starter of this thread is overweight, but it makes me laugh to see a really overweight rider on a $10000 sub 15 lb bike. I aluminum allez is around 17 lbs and and I can skip a cheesburger and drop my weight 2 lbs and end up with the same weight savings and save 6 bucks. Now, my brother inlaw has about 5% body fat and rides on a team and does 200-300 miles a week. once your body has no more to loose, then droping 5 grams here and there makes sense. Just my 2


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## bigxclumzy (Aug 4, 2011)

B.Garcia said:


> Even at that still light and cheap compared.
> 
> FSA K-Force Lite
> 227g $225
> ...


do you have a link for the planet x brakes?
nvm... i found it....


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## crpage (Dec 24, 2011)

Wheels. Wheels. Wheels. I wouldn't bother upgrading above shimano 105 if you dont have sub 1400g carbon as a race wheelset. All that other stuff is a waste of money.


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