[Closed] Easiest way to 10-11kg 29er HT ?

Look at complete new bikes from Giant, Spesh, etc. For example:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/xtc-advanced-29er-1

Use that as your baseline and see if you can build something cheaper with the same level of components.

My Cotic Solaris (Mk1) came in at 12.5kg with a suspension fork. With a rigid carbon fork it's 11.5kg. That's with Hope Pro 2 wheelsets, Bontrager tyres, Shimano XT 1x10. Short of going to a carbon frame or making it singlespeed there's not a lot of options to make it any lighter. Singlespeed would knock maybe 500g off it, the frame maybe 1kg.

Lighter tyres? Of course that brings with it extra risks.

The lightest HT I've seen was around 9.5kg but that was all-singing, all-dancing carbon this and carbon that.

You are getting into the realms of diminishing returns plus the bike has to be reliable.

Look at complete new bikes from Giant, Spesh, etc. For example:
> https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/xtc-advanced-29er-1

That's surprising me as i had a 29er XTC back several years ago and thought it was really light

This review on Bikeradar rekons
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/giant-xtc-29er-review/

Weight (kg) 11.64

So not exactly a complete lightweight after all. There's a few 29er Advanced (Carbon version) on Ebay so maybe that's a way into the 11s....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-XTC-Carbon-29er-MTB-Size-Large/163849226548?hash=item26262cc934:g:SEwAAOSwxYRdcV7X

That Bikeradar review is of an aluminium version, not the carbon version.

Buy my KTM Myroon HT, it's under 11kg

Depends on what you are willing to give up, wide rims, dropper, suspension, robust tyres? Compromising on all these will drop the most weight.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/building-the-worlds-lightest-29ers.html

6.22kg!

Try pinching some of those ideas. Specifically the Scott scale frame?

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/cross-country-bikes/exceed/exceed-cf-sl-6.0-pro-race/2038.html

Thats easy.  Select size, click Buy and bobs your uncle.

The lightest HT I’ve seen was around 9.5kg but that was all-singing, all-dancing carbon this and carbon that.

Look harder. There are 5kg hardtails out there, so there are always places you can cut weight if you want to! 9.5kg is 21lbs, which is pretty heavy in the context of light bikes. You can get off the shelf FS bikes that weigh less (for a price).

But if there’s a simple way to get it there, i’m not sure i’m seeing it…

Probably the case frankly. There are likely some quick wins, but shaving 2-3kg will need a lot of bits replacing, which is probably just not really worth it. You could do wheels, which won't be cheap, but would at least be transferrable to another bike. 240s on Light Bicycle rims with Revolutions will be about 1400g.

I used tougher tyres than I normally would when doing the SDW (Bontrager XR1 Team Issue IIRC). I've never used them any other time! Otherwise Thunder Burts are light, and strangely grippy, except under braking.

As always it'll be a balance between how much you want to spend and the compromises you want to make. Mt Zoom do affordable and superlight kit. 150g seatpost and 120g bars will likely take a chunk out of what you've got, but obviously means foregoing a dropper and isn't a small amount of money to drop.

That Bikeradar review is of an aluminium version, not the carbon version

Yes but the carbon won't be THAT much lighter.

Buy my KTM Myroon HT, it’s under 11kg

Didn't know you were selling a bike

9.5kg is 21lbs, which is pretty heavy in the context of light bikes. You can get off the shelf FS bikes that weigh less (for a price).

That's going to be way excessive for what i consider usual use.

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/cross-country-bikes/exceed/exceed-cf-sl-6.0-pro-race/2038.html

Thats easy. Select size, click Buy and bobs your uncle.

That's tempting if a little excessive.... but still tempting !

@njee20 - by "seen" I mean in the flesh and in use. I've seen 4kg road bikes but unless you are a sub 50kg whippet and ride on super smooth roads they aren't exactly practical.

Looking at that pinkbike link - €5,000 for a frame!!!! Yes he's got a light bike but bloomin' heck! The OP's got a Parkwood he wants to lighten not his kids wondering what happened to one of their kidneys.

Edit: just looked up the bike I'd seen - he'd fitted 3" Chupacabra tyres on 50mm rims so no doubt a bit of weight saving there!

The OP’s got a Parkwood he wants to lighten not his kids wondering what happened to one of their kidneys

It doesn't necessarily need to be the Parkwood getting lighter, i can flog that and buy something else. But i can promise you that 'something else' won't be starting at any more than £1300. We have to be realistic about what would be useful to a fat 48 year old.... A 6kg bike isn't that.... 90% of the bikes life will be attached to a turbo, just a couple of XC distance rides a year and an SDW ride realistically.

@weeksy Putting it delicately, how much does the "engine" weigh? In percentage terms, does 2 or 3kG saved on the bike make that much difference? I'd say put the money into the wheels, as long as everything else is durable and reliable enough.

@njee20 – by “seen” I mean in the flesh and in use. I’ve seen 4kg road bikes but unless you are a sub 50kg whippet and ride on super smooth roads they aren’t exactly practical.

Point was that there are far lighter bikes out there. You said there were "not a lot of options" to make yours lighter, that's simply not true, you've just reached the point of not thinking it's worthwhile (which is absolutely fine), but literally every component could be significantly lighter, and that needn't compromise usability. With the utmost respect if you think Bontrager tyres and XT are the pinnacle of lightweight you're unlikely to have a super light bike 😉

My Superfly was 19lbs with comparatively ordinary bits on a 1300g frame. It's a bit fatter now, but still sub-20. Not that it gets used, but that's nothing to do with the bike!

Weeksy - for £1300 you should be able to find a second hand Radon or something which will fit the bill. I'm just not entirely sure I'd bother for the usage you describe.

Hi weeksy,

hope you're good. Sorry to hear your bike-stable itch issue has not been cured 😀

I also reckon second hand or trying lighter wheels on the Parkwood would be the best bet.

Not sure if I shared updates on my Chiner but it's around 9.6kg now. I think it has cost around £1250 but I got some deals from CRC sales etc and doubt you could easily replicate it (needs patience and luck with sales). It's tubed, with Rebas, SLX brakes, SLX mech, Racing Ralphs and only the rear rim is carbon (front rim is still XC421). So could be lighter. Basically a light and functional HT is easy.. just spendy!

Edit: TBH, given how the Chiner frame turned out (cracked on first ride) I probably wouldn't bother again. I would certainly only consider the ones with a good reputation.

Drake's have the Scale 940 (note this is a carbon frame, unlike previous years' numbering) for £999 (I think you're L like me). It wouldn't be 11kg out the box but would be a good platform you could upgrade over time and "easily" get to 10.5kg say:
https://www.drakescycles.co.uk/m1b0s356p5720/SCOTT_Scale_940_2019

cyclescheme + sell parts you upgrade could make it decent value for money

Ignore the target and just focus on the spec.

Frame - would yoube happy on a 850g chinese direct import?

Fork - SID, obviously

Wheels - novatec hubs and crest rims, or double the money for carbon

Tyres - take yer pick, and roll dice on flint cuts

Drivechain: 1x10 11-36 xt is easy to beat but good value, hollow pin chains do save a surprising ammount per £ spent though.

Formula r1 brakes are >100g an end lighter than xt, pick your rotors carefully and avoid alligator/ashima

Cheap carbon seatpost (but check its actually light) or expensive alu one, and cut down the excess.

Mid range alu stem

Named brand carbon bars

Foam grips

Bikes have got heavier.

Canyon Exceed comes in under 11kg for not toooooo much £ - have a loot at those specs

Putting it delicately, how much does the “engine” weigh

90+ kg.

Pretty sure my customised Wazoo fatbike comes in under 11Kg, albeit I don't have access to figures right now as my pc is dead, so off the top of my head...

On One Fatnotfat 29er wheels (-1600g)
29x2.35" G One Speeds (-2000g over 26x4" Mission Commands)
On One Fatty Carbon fork (-900g)
29er tubes (-700g)
On One Knuckleball "chewy" bars (-200g?)
Charge Spoon saddle (-150g?)
Time ATAC Carbon XS pedals (-150g?)
On One Corto stem (-150g?)
On One foam grips (-100g??)

Stock 18" bike was ~16.5Kg, above would make it ~10.5Kg.

@thisisnotaspoon - what's wrong with Ashima Ai2? Been running one on the rear since Jan and had no problems. Or are you only referring to the Formula+Ashima combo?

FWIW Chiner frames in large will be more like 1050-1100g.

SID weight saving and performance gain over Reba wasn't worth my money in the end. Having said that, I haven't tried a modern SID so possibly am misguided on the performance benefit.

It probably helps to know what the current build is like parts wise, but considering you don't want to spend a fortune it's probably easier to take stuff away rather than buy expensive lighter stuff

Rigid (carbon or Al) fork? or will you need some suspension?
"old school" 1x10 with 11-36 cassette? or just go SS (definately lighter)
narrower rims?
Lighter tyres?
smaller brake rotors?
No dropper, Carbon post instead?
Carbon bars/Stem?

I suppose it depends what creature comforts you are willing to cut back on to achieve weight savings...

if you weigh 90kg then loosing 3kg is a lot easier and cheaper than saving 3kg off your bike..

From a handling context I wouldn't massively care as it's not being thought of as anything more than a fast mile muncher.

So it's got
Rockshox Recon Silver TK SoloAir 120mm 29er
WTB ST I23 TCS Rim On SRAM X9 Hubs / 29

Which I guess are the main bulky bits of the build.

Raceface ride 1* cranks
Shimano m315 brakes

Tyres, let's not worry what they are as for arguments sake I'd fit something fast and light.

Just been discussing the Myroon but that brings another minor complexity of needing a replacement kit for the Kicker Snap then as it's 148*12 and my Snap is only QR compatible. Not impossible to fix but gets complex as my lad turbos too and he's on QR also.

if you weigh 90kg then loosing 3kg is a lot easier and cheaper than saving 3kg off your bike..

Yes I get that. But losing 3kg of me and also the bike is better too. I'm not denying I'm not a small guy, but that doesn't mean a lighter bike would not be better in any way

Rigid (carbon or Al) fork? or will you need some suspension?
“old school” 1×10 with 11-36 cassette? or just go SS (definately lighter)
narrower rims?
Lighter tyres?
smaller brake rotors?
No dropper, Carbon post instead?
Carbon bars/Stem?

I'd want a bouncy fork
1*10 yes and 11-36 for sdw I'd want gears!!!!
No dropper but cheap on one aluminium in it
Same with bars and stem currently

I’m tempted to sell you my Vitus Rapide Weeksy.  It’s 11kg, KTM Carbon Bars, Reba 100 with extra tokens, foam grips, kcnc stem, 1x10 XT with an oval, non boost American Classic Race non boost wheelset with quaxar rotors.   It has a 30.9 seat tube so easy for a dropper, if required.

I’ve long been thinking of moving it on, as with my preference for Marathon and back issues I defer to the Spark and have been aching for a p7 29er or similar instead for winter / play , and it’s always been a question of “should I?

It’s a Large - have a look at CRC or the Vitus website for fit if you’re interested - it isn’t a big bike for a 29er

@thisisnotaspoon – what’s wrong with Ashima Ai2? Been running one on the rear since Jan and had no problems. Or are you only referring to the Formula+Ashima combo?

I went through a phase of using ashima and similar rotors.

Concluded that the fraction of a second saved climbing was offset by having hugely increased stopping distances.

If anyone wants to argue that they're not rubbish, put your money where your mouth is and buy my spares pile of them, think there's every size from 140 to 205 in there in multiple designs!

@njee20 - you need to read what I wrote. I stated that my Solaris had Hope wheels and Bontrager tyres, I didn't say it was light. 😉

Yes, there are options to make it lighter but there's two caveats - price and the fact that I'm not exactly flyweight. 😳

But losing 3kg of me and also the bike is better too. I’m not denying I’m not a small guy, but that doesn’t mean a lighter bike would not be better in any way

I am a self confessed overly concerned with bike weight man but I am not sure even I would be looking to get a 13kg bike down to 11kg for the usage you have in mind and the overall weight the rider and bike will be. I only have one bike and ride it all year around so I can justify weight savings as it gets a lot of use and I am also fairly light.

So I weighed the Parkwood. Well I also weighed a kettle bell which is supposed 12kg and it came in at 12.11 so we're not far off.

The Parkwood has a heavy rear wheel as my mate borrowed mine, 13.52 I guess with tubeless lighter rear we're at 13.3 maybe 13.2

My thoughts are, getting this into even mid 11s is going to cost more than buying another bike. So upgrade isn't viable

So where does this leave me, hmmm well.

Arguably, the say before the SDW go to my lbs and give them £50 to demo a fast and light 29er for the weekend seems to make sense to me ?

My Boardman Pro 29er is 11.9kg including pedals .
Changed tyres ( though still 2.2 and not exactly light Barzos , saddle and grips but it’s otherwise standard.
See them all the time on the Boardman Facebook group for £500.
Buy one, stick a pair of lighter wheels on and you’d be be there or thereabouts?

I went down a weight weenie route once, ruined the bike. Ti bolts rounded off too and had to be drilled out.

Yes, you can go lightweight but it doesn't mean you should.

I'm now weight conscious and balance the pros and cons.

I know the weight of everything on my bike, that's the place to start. See what's silly heavy and replace. Anything reasonable leave until you've done the quick wins.

I seem to remember it costs a £1 for every gram I saved.

Can you live without a dropper? My friends all say they give up suspension before a dropper,

My hard tail has carbon rigid forks and I prefer them. Simple, lightweight, no Bob and no maintenence and cheaper.

ah a weight weenie post,

wheels and tyres are always the best places to save weight

i spunked loads on this in a mad weight weenie fuelled build,

300 euro bike-ahead seat post anyone 🙁
ENVE M50's on Extralite hubs
Extralite Stem
Tune Bars

unless you do mad with a dremel there's no weight to be saved on a top end groupset these days,

rides decent though and i don't really worry about it being fragile, did the Hope MTB Marathon on it, i mean, i would have been quicker on the downs on a something else
probably worth a pittance now compared to what i paid, and id probably flog it and ride a stock supercaliber happily

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I went the other way and beefed up my
Bike by a kg before doing the Sdw double. It was previously in “Gorrick”
Mode - but I put on a grid casing semi slick rear tyre - figuring the extra grams were better than trying to repair a gashed rocket Ron at 3am. Also added a heavy old specialised saddle... which is by far the most comfortable that I’ve ridden.

Beefed up weight 11.8kg and was absolutely perfect.

I ran an Aspen the other week , which I think is a sub 600gm 2.3 UST tyre
Never weighed mine but its not heavy , carbon triangle, Ritchy WCS wheelset , carbon seatpost, Turbine cranks , 1 x 10 driveling , WC Sid fork, fox float out back
TBH at 90+KG you need to drop 10kg off you before fitting lightweight rims and spokes. Even I flex 29er wheels and Im 75kg. Then I would also ride a short travel fs and give away 2kg for the comfort , but I have never ridden a plus tyred 29er HT so that might be a great compromise.
Buy a road bike, do some decent rides over 4 -5 hrs and miss out lunch , snack on the bike then early diner of chicken and veg ( I like those Maggi flavour bags - really easy ) , should be able to drop 1 lb a week like this
But then alot of guys in my road club are 90kg and they can really motor along the flats , but they struggle when it gets steep

My Cube Reaction GTC I built last year was around 11kg or less I reckon. Had Rebas, entry level DT Swiss wheels and 1x11 XT. Did my first Hope Pre-Peaks on that last year.

If I'd have got a nicer carbon post and bars, with some better wheels, it would have probably floated away! It rode really nice too, proper zippy and more sure-footed than it had any right to be.

Was planning on keeping it for XC till I got the Spark. I might even go back to a bling XC hardtail next time around to compliment whatever trail bike I have.

Sounds like you’ve made your mind up on new bike.
Followed your other post on Zwift as I was interested to pick up some tips on training indoors. Completed ‘The Crossing’ in July so it worked, thanks!
Agree with Mccraque above in that you don’t wanna make your bike too light. Don’t underestimate comfort over long distance of an endurance event. It could mean the difference between finishing or DNF, especially if you’re planning to do it in a oner again.
Good Luck.

It's been a while since I weighed any of my bikes, but I can say I've got more satisfaction (and ended up riding faster) by losing weight on myself first.
That said, good tyre setup and good tyres wheels also make a huge difference to how perky your bike is and, by extension, how perky you feel. I rode the SDW on my Stache with my regular everyday 29er wheelset earlier this year and was glad I had semi-reasonable tyres on; I've not slashed a tubeless tyre before but did (and was lucky enough to be riding with someone that had anchovies). I'm running 28H Hope Pro 4s on Pacenti TL28 rims, a High Roller 2 on the front and a Spec GC 2.3 on the rear. I build my own wheels, so tend to pick up different parts at different times in sales and keep the cost down that way.
I'd consider treating yourself to a second pair of wheels that are properly nice, and maybe some lighter new forks - there are still a few OEM bargains to be had out there, or you could consider carbon rigid if you have forearms of steel. As you say, it'll be your turbo bike for the rest of the time, so think pretty hard about whether you want to buy something super nice and then stick it on a turbo 90% of its life.
Oh, and have a fab time doing the SDW! I was properly done by the end of it, and we were lucky to have a really lovely day on the day - despite running into some Giant Hogweed along the way...

Get an f29 lefty my 2014 alu frame bike is circa 10.5kg, although recently stuck a dropper on so will have done up

Always coming up on eBay

@njee20 – you need to read what I wrote. I stated that my Solaris had Hope wheels and Bontrager tyres, I didn’t say it was light. 😉

Yes, there are options to make it lighter but there’s two caveats – price and the fact that I’m not exactly flyweight. 😳

What you said was "there’s not a lot of options to make it any lighter", which is totally untrue (and implied to me you think what you have is light), literally every single component could be upgraded to save weight, in some cases easily. You don't think those upgrades are worthwhile, and that's fine, it's totally diminishing returns, but wading into a weight weenie post with your XT groupset, Bontrager tyres and 21lb bikes being as light as you can go!? That's heresy! 😉

Anything with a Lefty is definitely a good place to look second hand, they're significantly lighter than conventional forks. A second hand carbon F29 is probably within budget.

I have been thinking about this. What you need is a reward incentive. The incentive is many shiney bike parts.
For every kg of lard that you lose give yourself £100.
Put your money in a safe place then when you have enough buy a frame. You can then look at forks, wheels, etc so every other month parts turn up, light weight, in budget and , even more importantly you have made yourself lighter.
As there is nothing more frustrating than having a pile of shiney nice things that need putting together you will be better at dieting, then in a year's time you will be 82kg with a bike that is also 2kg lighter.
No cheating, or selling your other bike to generate funds. It has to be bought with fat, or the loss of the fat.
Zero point in rolling up with a carbon scalpel when you are tipping the scales at 95kg.
Fastest bike I have ever ridden was a bling bling lefty scalpel. And they Re be coming affordable, if you lose enough weigt
Xx

singletrackmind, that's a delightful strategy. Really satisfyingly symmetrical!

Weeksy, you should definitely do this!

You might need to tweak the numbers a bit, though. 10kgs weight loss gets you a grand. How much can you/ do you want to lose? And how much do you think might be worth spending?

Ned, I bought a CX bike for a trip to Belgium in spring instead sorry.

The weight loss plan a d cycling still stands though

No need to apologise! Crack on, good luck!