Looking to get a few lbs off my bike!

Gorman700

Bought myself one of those halfords carrera tdf bikes to start some road cycling.

Read a shed load of reviews and everyone seemed positive. Solid bike, smooth to ride and fits me spot on, pedals and saddle are ****e and few other niggly bits but overall it's handy.

The only thing that's bugging me is it's 11.7 kg.

Can anyone reccomended me 4 or 5 upgrades that'll shave some well needed pounds off the bike, I'll spend a few quid on it, get it to a reasonable level and ride some good miles before I go the whole hog and spend a couple of grand.

Thanks,
Marc.

T-Maxx

Loose some lard off of the saddle...

Gorman700

T-Maxx wrote: »

Loose some lard off of the saddle...

Ah, helpful! Good lad.

07Lapierre

T-Maxx wrote: »

Loose some lard off of the saddle...

+1 Certainly the cheapest option.

Seaneh

tThe most important weight savings you can make in cycling are your own extra weight.

If you're tubby (I'm a fat feck btw, so I'm not having a go) or even just carrying some extra weight, get rid of that before you ever start worrying about the weight of the bike.

Do get a new saddle and clipless pedals and good shoes though.

I'd recommend the Charge Spoon saddle as a very good saddle that doesn't cost the moon and a pair of 105 SPD-SL pedals won't set you back much either.

After than you just need a good pair of bib shorts and gloves and you're good to do.

Getting yourself comfortable on the bike is important as the more comfortable it is, the more likely you are to get on the thing and use it. It's no good having a 7kg bike if you get arse pain just looking at it.

Gorman700

07Lapierre wrote: »

+1 Certainly the cheapest option.

If I wanted weight loss advice I'd ask lads! I've added this into my fitness regime of 5 nights a week in the gym. Being a personal trainer, I'm sound for personal advice!! Thanks though!

Gorman700

Seaneh wrote: »

tThe most important weight savings you can make in cycling are your own extra weight.

If you're tubby (I'm a fat feck btw, so I'm not having a go) or even just carrying some extra weight, get rid of that before you ever start worrying about the weight of the bike.

Do get a new saddle and clipless pedals and good shoes though.

I'd recommend the Charge Spoon saddle as a very good saddle that doesn't cost the moon and a pair of 105 SPD-SL pedals won't set you back much either.

After than you just need a good pair of bib shorts and gloves and you're good to do.



Getting yourself comfortable on the bike is important as the more comfortable it is, the more likely you are to get on the thing and use it. It's no good having a 7kg bike if you get arse pain just looking at it.

I'll have a look at those saddles and pedals, thanks Sean.

Seaneh

Gorman700 wrote: »

If I wanted weight loss advice I'd ask lads! I've added this into my fitness regime of 5 nights a week in the gym. Being a personal trainer, I'm sound for personal advice!! Thanks though!

What do you weigh and how tall are you?

Just because you're a personal trainer doesn't mean a whole lot if you're training the wrong way for cycling.

Paul O'Connell is a physically fit man but no matter how light of a bike he cycles, he's never going to be winning and KOM's on strava, he's just the completely wrong body composition for cycling, so a lighter bike won't do him any better than a heavy one.

Seaneh

Here's a good example of a saddle, pedals and shoes for about €120 total. Not a massive outlay but will make like a lot more pleasurable. The pedals come with cleats.


http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-spoon-saddle-with-cromo-rails/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-r540-spd-sl-sport-pedals/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/northwave-jet-pro-shoes/

07Lapierre

Gorman700 wrote: »

If I wanted weight loss advice I'd ask lads! I've added this into my fitness regime of 5 nights a week in the gym. Being a personal trainer, I'm sound for personal advice!! Thanks though!

Fair enough....the heaviest parts of your bike are the frame and the wheels. If I were you I'd buy better wheels. You won't save much weight, a few grams maybe, but they will be less flexible which equals more responsive/ better acceleration.

Gorman700

Seaneh wrote: »

What do you weigh and how tall are you?

Just because you're a personal trainer doesn't mean a whole lot if you're training the wrong way for cycling.

Paul O'Connell is a physically fit man but no matter how light of a bike he cycles, he's never going to be winning and KOM's on strava, he's just the completely wrong body composition for cycling, so a lighter bike won't do him any better than a heavy one.

80kg 5 ft 8". Bmi is rubbish but I'm well built through lots and lots of weights. However, I am looking to shave some muscle off as I feel quite awkward. But yeah I hear your point about body composition, that can change though.

07Lapierre

I have these....http://www.swimcyclerun.com/wheelsroad/ffwd-f6r-wheelset-clincher.html

I like them. They are well built and very rigid.

Gorman700

07Lapierre wrote: »

I have these....http://www.swimcyclerun.com/wheelsroad/ffwd-f6r-wheelset-clincher.html

I like them. They are well built and very rigid.

For a grand I'd rather stick another 500 with it and buy a midrange carbon bike. Those wheels look superb however!!:eek:

reallyunique

Whilst you're at the wheels perhaps lighter tyres. Don't know what come with the TDF but as they are wear parts anyway a lighter set can't hurt.
AFAIK it's a tin fork on those bikes so getting a carbon one would shave some weight and maybe take the sting out of longer trips. Probably means getting an ebay one direct from Asia but perhaps someone has done it before.
Seatpost and saddle have been mentioned so that's probably the easy stuff knocked out now. From there on it gets harder. Getting a better group set second hand might be the next step particularly the crank and bearings though it'll be the shifters that'll actually feel better.

After all that, replace the frame and you won't need a new bike
Just kidding, you always need a new bike!
Best of luck.

Gorman700

reallyunique wrote: »

Whilst you're at the wheels perhaps lighter tyres. Don't know what come with the TDF but as they are wear parts anyway a lighter set can't hurt.
AFAIK it's a tin fork on those bikes so getting a carbon one would shave some weight and maybe take the sting out of longer trips. Probably means getting an ebay one direct from Asia but perhaps someone has done it before.
Seatpost and saddle have been mentioned so that's probably the easy stuff knocked out now. From there on it gets harder. Getting a better group set second hand might be the next step particularly the crank and bearings though it'll be the shifters that'll actually feel better.

After all that, replace the frame and you won't need a new bike
Just kidding, you always need a new bike!
Best of luck.

Thanks for your reply.

07Lapierre

Gorman700 wrote: »

For a grand I'd rather stick another 500 with it and buy a midrange carbon bike. Those wheels look superb however!!:eek:

Go for it!

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPRIV13/planet_x_pro_carbon_sram_rival_road_bike

Zyzz

Gorman700 wrote: »

If I wanted weight loss advice I'd ask lads! I've added this into my fitness regime of 5 nights a week in the gym. Being a personal trainer, I'm sound for personal advice!! Thanks though!

lol.

petethedrummer

Gorman700 wrote: »

Can anyone reccomended me 4 or 5 upgrades that'll shave some well needed pounds off the bike, I'll spend a few quid on it, get it to a reasonable level and ride some good miles before I go the whole hog and spend a couple of grand.

Save your money now for a lighter bike at a later stage. Just replace things as they break on this bike and keep it as a training/winter/commuting bike.

Buy some decent cycling clothes if you want to spend money. Winter is coming.

happytramp

Easiest way is a full carbon fork from china (on ebay) costs €50 and will knock close to half a kilo of the weight. Grab a carbon seatpost while you're at it and knock another 100g or so. Better tyres and wheels will also help but probably getting quite expensive. For a cheap bike buying mid range second hand stuff can be a good option too.

endacl

Gorman700 wrote: »

Ah, helpful! Good lad.

It was actually. The heaviest part of any bike is the engine.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Not sure what wheels are on the TDF but they're probably over 2kg in weight. €400 would get you a set of 1600gr wheels and get yourself foldable tyres which are a good bit lighter than wired tyres. Something like Vitoria Rubino Pro's are reasonably priced and have nice low rolling resistance, you'd be amazed at how much difference a set of good tyres make.

Like others said, carbon seat post and a lighter saddle will save you a few hundred grams too but being honest your never going to have a lightweight bike without spending a fortune.

spoke2cun

Get fit first and then think about sorting out your cycling.

BadCharlie

Have the same bike also now for a while.
Here is a snip from BikeRadar review on the bikes wheels.


"It takes a while to spin the bike up to pace – the combined wheel weight of 3.81kg contributes to that"

I my self was on my TDF yesterday and had a blow out on the back wheel for the second time. Very sure its the rim tape and the guys did a poor JOB @ halfords. Anyways i told the wife i need new wheels so order them with some other parts last night. Went for Campagnolo Zonda Wheels and i think the weight is around 1.6kg, also i have fitted Continental GP4000s & had removed the wire tires that came with the bike. After that you could change the forks & saddle stem for carbon but i think its not worth it. Just save up for a better bike buy it then move your Zonda or other wheels over to the new bike.

Wheels & tires are worth upgrading then after that a new bike. Bar tape would also be good now i think about it "not for weight loss but the tape that comes with the TDF is very poor". You also have the option when things wear out to buy better parts "Lighter".

Full review can be found here http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-carrera-tdf-ltd-road-bike-11-44902/

outfox

Recommend leaving your bike as is. All that bike weight will stand to you when you eventually make the switch. Maybe you could set yourself a goal: when you get your average speed up to say 26 km/h over a typical 1-3 hour spin, treat yourself to the new bike. That's how I did it in the spring. I set a target of 25 km/h on my first bike (12.5 kg hybrid). When I got a road bike, the heavy hybrid training had really made a difference.
Also, you'll have a lot of fun over the next year or so deciding which fancy new bike to buy.

AltAccount

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels for a €300 bike?

Lumen

AltAccount wrote: »

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels for a €300 bike?

Or possibly...

AltAccount wrote: »

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels

You can get good wheels and tyres for less than half that.

http://www.thebikeshop.de/Aksium-White-WTS/en

I'd spend the difference on clipless pedals and shoes (assuming OP doesn't have them already).

BadCharlie

AltAccount wrote: »

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels for a €300 bike?

I don't think so my self.
Im thinking if i bought a 1k bike my self i would still end up buying better wheels. So now i have the wheels if & when i do upgrade my bike i wont be looking to upgrade the wheels as i all ready have them!

My budget is very small so i went with a cheap bike for €312 & the wheels that cost a little more then the bike @ €319. If you want to look at it this way now my bike should be worth more then €312 with me new wheels.

I think someone also said keep the old wheels so when selling the TDF you can refit the old wheels.

Also should say i have SPD with SPD shoes fitted which was another upgrade.

07Lapierre

AltAccount wrote: »

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels for a €300 bike?

You could argue that buying a €300 bike is false economy...should have spent more in the first place, thus avoiding having to upgrade. With hindsight, we all have 20/20 vision.

nordicb

From my experience, I've been riding a hybrid MTB, which was around 14kg for a while and was much fitter than I'm on the road bike now. In many occasions was able to keep up with the speed of road bikes until running out of gears and shame them on hills. I saw few MTBs doing Ring of Kerry - 170km! I think you may need to ask what your goal is or what it is that you don't like... Even if you drop 2kg (which will come at a great price) off the bike it will make a very minor difference, but worse is, it won't necessarily make you fitter, stronger cyclist.

IMHO, it makes sense if you start competing, or, say, ride quality is below comfort for long enjoyment or something like that. Curiosity is another thing... If the primary concern is just a weight, then, like others said, making yourself lighter is the most economical way of achieving this. Just my 2c.

funkyjebus

My OH has Carrera Virtusso and was very heavy. I was about 12kg, but I upgraded the front forks to carbon and changed the wheels for something around the 1700g mark. I also upgraded it to Tiagra, but those first two made the biggest weight savings, its now about 10kg.

Its never going to be light unfortunately, the frame is just heavy.

Cee-Jay-Cee

AltAccount wrote: »

Is it not false economy to buy €400 wheels for a €300 bike?

No I don't believe so because you can take them off and fit them to a new bike. My bike which was roughly €2k to buy new came with heavy wheels, I immediately changed them to Fulcrum Quattros which only cost me €250 and the difference was immediately evident. €400 would buy you Mavic Ksyrium Elites which will be an ungrade for all but the most expensive of bikes.

macnab

I have a Carrera TDF that weighs 9.7kg due to the following changes.

TDF forks (1040g) replaced with Giant forks (520g)
TDF wheelset (3750g) replaced with Shimano RS21 wheelset (2760g)
TDF crank set and bottom bracket (1240g) replaced with SRAM rival crankset and bottom bracket (850g)

The wheel set weights are fully dressed with tyres, tubes, cassette.

Jawgap

A few grams off the wheel rims is 'worth' more than the same mass off the frame.

I'd look to change the wheels and tyres as a start

Gorman700

macnab wrote: »

I have a Carrera TDF that weighs 9.7kg due to the following changes.

TDF forks (1040g) replaced with Giant forks (520g)
TDF wheelset (3750g) replaced with Shimano RS21 wheelset (2760g)
TDF crank set and bottom bracket (1240g) replaced with SRAM rival crankset and bottom bracket (850g)

The wheel set weights are fully dressed with tyres, tubes, cassette.

Thanks for that!

joxerjohn

Reducing weight off a bike and cycling gear can become a bit of an expensive obsession, so beware and heed the earlier advice.

As a "rule of thumb" the cost of weight reduction is approx €0.8 - €1 per gram on a race bike. So to get from 11.7kg to say 10kg could cost you well over €1000. Such a spend on your TDF would really be unjustified.

However the item that IMO will be a good investment and will be transferable to a new bike would be a good wheelset. Take off the current wheels etc. and weight them it will probably be around 3kg+ all up inc cassette.

A set of lightweight wheels such as Campagnolo Zonda's (see related thread) or Fulcrum 3 or Mavic Kysrium with lightweight tyres (e.g. Michelin Pro 4 or similar @ 200g each) will be nearer to 2 Kg (maybe a bit over depending on your cassette) Cost will be around €400 inc the tyres and tubes. So that get the first 1Kg off where it matters and this will also make a big difference to the performance of the bike over the stock wheelset. That's good value too at €0.4 / gram.

Then a good saddle could save you another 100 -200g and this is also something you will be able to transfer to a new bike. Keep the old parts and refit when you are selling on the bike next year.

Not quite at the 6.8Kg UCI limit, but remember "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear", as my Granny used to say !

ford2600

"you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear", as my Granny used to say ![/quote]

or as they say State side "you can't polish a turd"

Alek

ford2600 wrote: »

"you can't polish a turd"

Wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI