I want to lighten up my bike by 1 kilo.

Hey folks,
I'm a little stuck I've got 62cm 531c steel frame, that weighs just over 10 kilos, and a little more with saddle bag, lights and a pump.
It feels a just a tad sluggish on the hills especially in comparison to my friends aluminium bike which I expected as its a 58 and is... well... aluminium.

I've got full Ultegra with the exception of the brakes which are athena, my wheels are 105 hubs with mavic cxp33 rims, chain is 10 speed kmc, with cut out plates, which is light. Seat post is alloy but cut down, that weighs under 200 and my saddle for the time being is a charge spoon which is about 250. Bars and stem are aluminium with a stem adapter adding an unwanted 200 grams.

I'm not a weight weenie and I normally couldn't care less about weight, but in this case I would like it to be at 10kg with lights pumps etc.

Where do I start?

Thanks

I researched a whole bunch of weight saving upgrades for my road bike recently, and tyres and tubes came out as the cheapest. If you divide the weight saving by the cost you get a £/gram saved which makes it easy to compare the best value.

Second to that I picked up some Campag Zonda wheels which come in at 1500g on my kitchen scales and were £260 from bike-discount.de, which again makes for a pretty good value upgrade.

Generally seatposts, saddles, stems, bars etc. worked out really expensive. Some groupset stuff e.g. carbon crankset or planet-x's brake calipers can be ok, but nowhere near as good value as the above.

Go on a diet.

Carbon fork would probably be a big-ish saving, if you could accept it aesthetically (and the cost, including probably a new headset).

Tyres and tubes are definitely worth a look. Wheels you could save a bit of weight with but they'd maybe end up being road race type wheels which probably aren't a brilliant idea if you're carrying much weight in the bag.

Groupset changes to things like cranks and shifters are going to be very expensive for not much weight saved.

An alu frame with carbon fork is always going to be a lot lighter than a 531 frame, especially a big one.

Ditch the pump and get a mini pump for your jersey pocket? ;)

Tyres and wheels will also make the most difference to the way the bike feels, a it's rotating mass. I'm in a similar situation with a 725 tubing frame, and everything is now pretty light. Next stop for me is a carbon chainset

First thing to do is to establish your budget, then have a look at what changes you can make whilst staying within that.

@andyp I only weigh 11 stone so at 6.3 I'm a lanky git, but yeah wheels do seem to be the favored option, I'll look into it, thanks fellas :)

I would go with the frame. alloy, semi-compact geo iwth carbon fork would save you a lot.

Where do I start?

1. Open up a spreadsheet.
   
2. List every single part on your bike, down to every last bolt and add the weight.
   
3. Register on WeightWeenies
   

^ not that that isn't a serious comment but I think you might be wasting your time on this. It's not like you've got steel rims, etc. that you could easily drop kgs from.

It's hard to comment without knowing what your mates bike is, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's probably a comparatively stiff modern bike with a threadless carbon fork and what you think is weight is actually just a better modern bike.

If you're riding a 62cm frame you're probably quite tall, so I'm guessing you're probably reasonably heavy. In which case you've got to consider choosing any WW parts (especially wheels) carefully.

Go on a diet.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread84569.html

NBT

Take a pipe cutter to your handle bars.

Can you use (get by with) less cable housing?

Get some egg beaters.

Wear less clothing - summer is here for a few days.

I read once about a tour de france rider removing his decals for a weight advantage... cant remember who though. I think it saved him 0.5 grams - every little helps!

As mentioned already, switching tyres to something more lightweight can help you shed over 500g over both, probably the cheapest start.

My alu bike with all its trimmings comes in at somewhere between 9 and 10 so I don't think you are doing too bad with 10kg for steel. If you start looking at the heaviest items on the bike bar the frame: forks, chainring etc, you are looking at spending into the hundreds just to loose about 1kg. Is it really worth it?

^ not that that isn't a serious comment but I think you might be wasting your time on this. It's not like you've got steel rims, etc. that you could easily drop kgs from.

It's hard to comment without knowing what your mates bike is, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's probably a comparatively stiff modern bike with a threadless carbon fork and what you think is weight is actually just a better modern bike.

^this. I've got a big 531 frame and it feels pretty flexy, but that adds comfort and is all part of its charm. Similarly, I reckon for bars and saddle comfort is more important than weight since, over any distance, you'll get fatigued by being uncomfortable. So stick with what you know is comfy rather than trying to shave the weight of a KitKat off here and there. Also, lighter tyres will be the biggest change but could lead to more punctures, so it's swings and roundabouts really.

It sounds like a nice bike so I'd just check your tyre pressures, bin any needless clutter from your saddlebag and enjoy riding it.

Carbon fork and Hollowtech / OCT crank with external BB should get you most of the weight off. May look extremely shit on a nice steel frame though.
If you're concerned about hills, think about changing your cassette.
What's on there now, and is your chainset a 50/34 or 53/39?

I read once about a tour de france rider removing his decals for a weight advantage... cant remember who though. I think it saved him 0.5 grams - every little helps!

Think that might have been Michael Rasmussen. Don't understand the point of that though as I'm sure his bike would have met the legal limit with them on anyway.

Re:the OP, it doesn't sound like there's much point in upgrading many of your components. How about you upgrade the steel frame? This is a bargain and should fit you:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread91191.html

Go on a diet.
This.

Tyres and wheels will also make the most difference to the way the bike feels, a it's rotating mass...
This.

...If you're concerned about hills, think about changing your cassette.
What's on there now, and is your chainset a 50/34 or 53/39?
And this.

The water bottle's the heaviest thing, relatively. Don't use one (you can remove the cage/s too then). Only ride when it's raining, keeping your mouth open all the while.

Or stop and drink from puddles.

Or, make puddles then drink from them.

Fancy tyres will not only make your bike lighter, but also give you less rolling resistance and better handling. Giving you a lot of bang for your buck. Bike will feel lighter, even if it isnt.

The water bottle's the heaviest thing, relatively. Don't use one (you can remove the cage/s too then). Only ride when it's raining, keeping your mouth open all the while.

The drilled water bottle - ultimate weight weenie component?

The drilled water bottle - ultimate weight weenie component?

so many good ideas here going down the drain

Lighten up will you