Sparky's murdered-out road bike

Glad that stem is still there.

@rive_gauche Funny you should say that, but probably about to be. Will give me more time to ride my bike...

being facetious, bit misplaced, apols, it's never a nice feeling to be 'offed' (having been so mesen recently)

No worries. Wasn't trying to pull you up on it. Just a funny old co-in-ca-dink.

Wheels ordered. A bit pedestrian, but cheap, decent and come with tyres. Will de-sticker them when they arrive.

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Those pads play nicely with Shimano brake shoes? I tried (and failed) with another cheap pair, while Swissstop slid in no fuss.

Sparky
I'll be trying to swap that stem for a black one. I'm just sick of the fork rattling about. There's obviously too much seatpost but I don't want to scratch it higher than necessary until I know where it needs to be. Bars should be here today. Still need wheels. Much indecision.

Get that seat post greased up now.

Cabled. Awaiting wheels. Then I need to pop the cassette and chain on, torque everything properly, get it all playing nicely, wrap the bars and ride it. Not sure about cutting a carbon steerer: have done loads of steel, but never crabon.

#scoblestack

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Why does it still have that stem?

Because I haven't yet got a black one.

SNAP!

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So beautiful

Popped the wheelset off the Donnie in so I could dial in the fit. As it is, minus chain, tape and pedals, it's 7.9kg. New wheels and cassette should be lighter. Plus I need to trim the steerer.

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All together now: 8.4kg

Slightly disappointed. Will cut cables down and get steerer cut, see where that takes me. Would be nice to get it down to UCI weight limit but that's probably not possible cheaply. Not easy to find 1.6kg of savings.

Shoulda bought those s-works cranks from me

8.4kg

Thats actually great gram to ££ ratio.

Its the wheels mainly. You can easily lose about 500g there. Latex tubes and race-ish tyres obv. Full carbon china seatpost will also save grams. 11-28 (with short cage mech) instead of 11-32 will save grams. Carbon rail arione will also save grams. All these suggestions are not crazy pricey.

Its still quite a bit lighter than your steel bike.

UCI limit is hard to achieve on an alu frame unless you want to spend some serious dollar at which point it becomes false economy because you can get mid-range carbon for less money which will weigh about the same.

My bike is 7.3kg and I've spent about £1600.

Wheels, tyres, seatpost, saddle, stem are all good ways of saving grams.

stem

One of these with acetone: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KALLOY-UNO-AL-7050-Road-MTB-Ultra-Light-Weight-Stem-31-8-Black-/271560534101?var=&hash=item3f3a44e855:m:mkMZoPLZYmRa77Pl8cj7zlQ

Seatpost: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/hot-sale-full-carbon-fiber-bicycle-seatpost-MTB-road-bike-superlight-190g-seat-post-27-2/32543336441.html
I use it and its absolutely fine (64kg this morning).

Never forget the Robert Millar maxim; it's a lot easier to lose a pound off you than a pound off the bike.

Its actually totally possible to loss weight, while buying lighter Components for your bike and do both.

My BMC was a boat anchor frame built to UCI limit. Not only did that cost a lot over time. A lot of the Components simply didnt last. I was (still am) in love With that frame though. So didnt mind.

My full carbon felt is 7.4kg in race mode.

I somehow managed to swap to a much lighter frame and gain weight (I blame the seatpost). It still rides amazingly, and I havent been tempted to cut weight on it (it an aero-weenie bike. My OCD has moved on).

Anyway. That bike looks very sensibly put together. I'd personally get a far lighter stem, and a carbon seatpost. Then save up for some silly carbon Wheels for bestest. I bet this alone would drop you Close to 7.5kg. From there its just a case of upgrading as and when you need New bits.

TLDR - Nice bike, nuke stem.

I like the stem. Keep it!

Having a bit of a mare adjusting the front mech. The pad that the support screw rests against didn't stick - it just squirmed out and dropped off. And I've got rub on high and low end. Bit sick of it tonight.

Take cable off, make sure all bolts are in position, walk the fook away, kettle on, roll a fag (if you smoke), even if you don't, find somebody with snout (the act of rolling a fag is quite therapeutic), make brew ( kettle will have bolied by now), drink brew, re approach derailleur, pick tools up, attach cable, set tension. Job done!

All well and good, but front mechs seem to have become a bit more complex in the last 5/6 years. I'm having some bother reading the destruction manual properly.

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