Current Projects chat and miscellany

Ok .. Force rear mech = 12g saving = £7/g roughly and I will agree some performance benefit by going short cage. To get that weight difference Sram use a magnesium alloy inner link and a carbon outer cage on the Force mech. Most of the gain is in the carbon outer cage. I haven't seen an Apex mech close too, but all the rest of the range you can simply change the cage assuming you have the replacement parts.

Hmmm, I'll have a look into getting a replacement cage, might well be worth it.

It is possible to Weight Weenie stuff on a budget- money was very tight for me when I started trying to get some flub off my Cannondale.

A degree of OCD is handy- look at each component, then the WW listings (very handy), then what I did was to narrow down the options list to the light weight parts that had been out for a while- and therefore a) hadn't broken and b) were available on eBay for (potentially) a bargain.

If you really want to shed weight on that bike then I'd go for something like:

Ritchey Carbon finishing kit (light, good quality and easily available on eBay for good prices)
Arione CX
Hollowgram Si cranks, 110bcd spider, 36/46 Stronglight CT2 rings
Chinese carbon wheelset- probably the biggest weight saver here
Dura Ace 11-25 cassette
Light pedals- I don't know what MTB pedals to recommend here, XTR spuds maybe?
KMC-S10 SL chain
Full Force groupset (to save ~50g! Oswald is correct, this is possibly an expensive luxury)

Arione is waaaay too heavy for the money

speaking of which. I have a 110mm ritchey 4 axis pro oversized clamp stem just like this
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Ritchey-Pro-4-Axis-44-Matrix-Carbonalloy-Road-Bike-Stem_31894.htm?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=AdwordsProductAds&utm_campaign=Adwords&gclid=CK-6zaDwn7QCFYXLtAodrVUAIQ
going spare.
As well as a stripped Flite, which weighs about as much as a fingernail.

I've also got the Ritchey WCS Logic 2 bars in 42mm going spare.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-wcs-logic-ii-road-handlebar-wet-black/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk&gclid=CMzc_u_wn7QCFSTLtAod5S0ABQ

I was looking at the Ritchey stuff anyway, but as I can get the Rose own brand that weighs much the same and costs £100 for stem and post, I am tempted.

Am using an old Arione standard saddle at the mo, still deciding if I like it, but will be going for something lighter than the current 235g!

Will certainly look into those chainrings, are the 'Dale cranks BB30, or do you use an adaptor?

What wheels are you thinking of Damnit?

I'm using 400g a pair Novatec hubs, ZTR Iron Cross rims, and double butted spokes, don't think you'll thing much thats lighter within that price range with disc hubs, no?

Not paying that much for a cassette!

Will pay that much for that chain.

^^^ I also have a 110mm Ritchey WCS 4 axis 17deg and trying it out at the mo!

But thanks for the offer Sumo.

Those rims are 385g each- should build into a very light wheelset.

My Mavic TN719's are much heavier- 510g each.

I was thinking about the Farsports carbon CX rims.

Would love to try the CX 23mm wide carbon rims, but as I already had one ZTR Iron Cross, it made sense to get one more and use them.

Damn, those Hollowgram cranks are a lot more expensive than I'm willing to pay, at least for now.

Cheers for the input.

You can pick up the first generation Hollowgram Si's for between £150 (lucky) to £250 or so (most of the time).

They are very good- and the modular aspect makes them very flexible, you can run compact, standard, MTB, a couple of different power meters.

Saddle: I have an Arione K:1 for sale if you want to spank a load of money on a shiny seat?

Look for a set of new series Red cranks in BB30 on the EBay .. junk the rings and fit something nicer and you'll come out near a hollowgram. It's the rings on the new Red cranks that are the boat anchor.

Quick and easy 8g for you .. Assuming you're not using the bottle cage mounts? .. At the moment they've probably got stainless screws in them as blanks. Take them out and put Nylon screws. If you are using the cage mounts use Auminium screws for 4g saving .. that's WW OCD!

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Cannondale-Hollowgram-SL-BB30-Kurbel-thm-ax-lightness-lightweight-/370715553931?pt=Sport_Radsport_Fahrradteile&hash=item56505e708b&_uhb=1#ht_787wt_1398

Loads of bolts all over the Boardman, if you replaced the hardware on the BB7's and went to town with Ti bolts everywhere you'd save a load.

^^^^ Not spanking loads of money is the aim here Damnit!

^^^ Yeah have been keeping my eye on a few Red cranks Oswald, seem to go for really quite good prices.

They're 1 Euro 50 cents right now! Likely to go for more, it is true.

They've not helped me, to be honest:

Yeah, I can see my build is gonna be a lot lighter!

Way I look at it, it's my training bike, so it's good that it's 4kg heavier than my road bike.

Also, right now, mudguards are awesome- I don't care what they weigh.

Definitely interested to see where you get to.

10.63! Arghh my eyes ;)

To be fair, it'd be a bit lighter if I'd taken the lights off before weighing it, but that's really not the point of this bike.

I really love to know why your Boardman weight as much as my Genesis, seriously that's one porky frame/fork.

how do you find this bike? i am looking at getting one in the new year.

It never gonna be as zippy and aggressive as a proper road bike, the geo felt stable and relaxed but a very trustworthy bike to ride, the kinda bike you'd feel comfortable to ride at any speed.

I loved mine but I'm starting to feel the draw back of its geo, I kept riding it differently than I should (treating it more like a road bike).

Good enough to use as a distance/tourer?

I really love to know why your Boardman weight as much as my Genesis, seriously that's one porky frame/fork.

It never gonna be as zippy and aggressive as a proper road bike, the geo felt stable and relaxed but a very trustworthy bike to ride, the kinda bike you'd feel comfortable to ride at any speed.

I loved mine but I'm starting to feel the draw back of its geo, I kept riding it differently than I should (treating it more like a road bike).

Dream on. Either commit properly to a WW project (which probably starts with a new frame) or leave alone anything on the Boardman which isn't actually broken. The middle course is a recipe for spending more than you intended on something which will be less you hoped.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8184554183_f9bbb53dc0_b.jpg

Everytime I see the cabling on the SRAM rear mech on cx bikes I wonder why more people don't use their MTB stuff:
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/bikes-and-gear/bikes/hybrid/1290507878164-13dnsjn4rya0f-670-75.jpg
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/bikes-and-gear/bikes/hybrid/1290507878164-13dnsjn4rya0f-670-75.jpg

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Switched to Sugino 75s and a Flite on the Bob Jackson, and gave it a clean and a new chain in the process. Last job remaining is to apply the block-style decals (plus the saddle might change again, I'll see how I get on with the Flite once the angle is sorted - although it's not as far off as the pic suggests... some iPhone fisheye stuff going on there).

Edit: oh, and I need to get a King stainless bottle cage.