[Closed] What's a decent weight for a 140mm bike?

Depends on the build so need more details. I've got a Five that's currently 28.5lbs but has been 32lb before, and more so because of the configuration rather than it being a case of pimp kit or not pimp kit.

Wheels and tyres are where you'll feel that weight the most, I have an enduro that I sometimes use for trail bike duties and when in this role I use a set of arch ex rims on pro 2's with conti barons as opposed to 721's and dual ply der barons - the difference is night and day.
The Ariels (well the old ones anyway) came with cheap finishing kit so more weight to be saved there, cranks maybe then the rest will be small weight savings which won't be as good value.

33 is either light or bloated depending on hoe you built it. Best way is time look for the obvious weight sometimes though something small will make it feel lighter

The only original kit on it is the headset. Everything else is SLX/Revelations/Easton.

I've been getting in to the whole enduro racing thing. Been doing ok on a hardtail this year and fancied a proper crack at it on a bouncy bike. This is going to be great on the descents, but useless on the flat sprints. I've done the Mega a couple of times on a Prophet I used to own and that felt like a better 'all-round' bike.

Wheels are Hope-hubbed WTB rims (not overly hefty) with High Rollers. I don't want to go over-light on the wheels or tyres for obvious reasons.

Edit: Beginning to think I just need to look out for another Prophet.

My Blur LT alloy is 28lbs @140mm front and back
Its a lightish build though with crossmax STs and XTR drivetrain and brakeset
Fox 32 vans on the front so could be built lighter with an air fork though
Currently got 36talas and a dropper post on it plus wheelset change (pro 2s on flows)for winter has put it over 30lb
Maybe nearer 31lb

Most magazines quote 30lb as a good weight. I personally think that's bollox because there are far too many variables. For example some bikes "ride" much lighter than their weights would suggest. I have a Helius ST that weighs 34lb with air forks, air shock & trail kit, but once is switched to tubeless - it felt like it lost loads of weight. It made it very sprightly.

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable weight to me.

My Five is heavier than that at the moment mainly because of dual ply 2.5" tyres, coil fork, dropper etc.
I'll be lightening it up a bit soon but wouldn't expect to get it much less than yours at the end of it.

My mate's "allday XC" hardtail is pushing almost 38lbs (it's not XC at all - just a bit lighter than his other bike!!!). XL steel frame, tough wheels, lyrics, dual plys with downhill tubes in, etc. It soon adds up.

I had an Ariel earlier this year so I know exactly what you mean.

Amazing to ride on anything downhill, bloody hard work uphill. Was going to keep it as a play bike/mini DH bike but couldn't afford the luxury.

Did the Eastridge Gravity Enduro on mine and the course was more pedally this year, with longer sections, so not the perfect bike choice.

My Five at 28lbs is 32 Floats, x9, American Classic All Mountains with Kenda Blue Groove/Small Block 8 combo in 2.1. Not very burly and about as light as it's going to go without throwing silly money and marginal gains at it.

As soon as I put something like High Rollers on with a dropper post, it's going to hit 31lb easy. I think the Five frame is a fair bit lighter than the Ariel so I don't think you're too far out.

Stans flow or arch ex rims will save you a decent bit of weight presuming your wtb rims are a decent width. Someone on here (can't remember who) had done a season on arch ex's including racing the mega. The flows get raced dh on the world cup circuit. Both seem an obvious option to lose weight without compromising on strength. Tyres are personal preference, depends which high rollers you have too, dual plys and/or super tacky's (especially on the rear) will be draggy and heavy.

It's not a bike that 'feels' light.

I did Eastridge on my hardtail - it was great in the twisty stuff, hopping over roots and having fun. Not sure the Ariel would be as enjoyable.

I guess I was hoping to get a 29/30lb build with 'normal' bits. That way, when I stick dual plys and big brakes on it, it'll be around 34lb.

Maybe that's just unrealistic without paying silly money.

Edit: Quoted weight for the rims is the same as Stans. The tyres are single ply maxxis (double for racing) and run tubeless. I'm not prepared to go lighter with tyres. There's a small amount of weight to be lost by switching to Stans rims, but not much.

If you can ride it up a local steep hill then its light enough.

Any chance of a picture so we can start pulling the spec apart for where the weight might be… Even my Orange Gyro with dropper and Hans Dampfs (tubed), bash, etc is comfortably lighter than your Ariel.

Either that or the Bathroom scales method is so way off that it's giving you a huge false reading.

Don't have any pictures sorry. I think the weight's in the frame...

I can't imagine the frame is going to be hugely more than comparable bikes? Say for arguments sake it's a pound more than an Orange 5, so it comes in around the 8lb mark, you can still comfortably build a bike with a frame weight like that to 30lbs without too much difficulty.

First and foremost, ditch the dual ply tyres. You don't need them for the Enduro's. Worst case scenario I ran one on the back when I did the Mega & an EXO on the front & never flatted. On the Enduro's I raced I used EXO's front & rear & didn't flat, and still haven't.

All you are doing it making the bike feel awful putting them on it.

List the spec, I know the cotic rocket is fairly heavy (7lbs plus) for a trail bike frame and I've seen peoples build come in reasonably light - 30lbs ish without compromising too much.

. I think the weight's in the frame...

Definitely.

But because the Ariel seems to be building a reputation word-of-mouth for being such a fun play bike you should be able to sell it and get something lighter. Mine went for OK money on Pinkbike.

I ended up with a much lighter 160mm frame.

Having punctured everything bar tubeless dual plys, I'm not up for dropping them, at least not on the back.

Spec is basically SLX 10 speed throughout, bar an XT rear mech and cassette. Revelations RP23, Easton Haven Bar, easton stem, unbranded (but light enough) post, charge saddle, Hope hubs with WTB rims (listed at 470gm) and single-ply high rollers run tubeless. These are admittedly wire-bead ones, but I find kevlar ones stretch and blow off rims when riding fast. Brakes are SLX/XT 180 front/160 rear.

At some point, dual plys and a dropper will go on.

As I said, maybe I'm being unrealistic trying to get a light bike without spending silly money.

I vaguely remember the mags saying the Ariel frame was around 8lb. I had a Mongoose Khyber that weighed 33lb. That frame was ~8lb with a ~6lb fork and wheels over 2000g, plus a mix of SRAM X9/LX and Deore.

Its attention to detail that saves weight. Tyres and wheels the best place to start to make it more sprightly but some suspension systems just feel sluggish regardless.

Foam grips are cheap and will save 50-100g on a pair of lock on grips? It all adds up.

As I said, maybe I'm being unrealistic trying to get a light bike without spending silly money.

I would agree with that tbh, you'll just be throwing money at it otherwise.

My Stumpjumper fsr is about 28.5lbs with pedals. That is stock apart from xt crank & kcnc bar, stem & post. The kcnc bar is actually a bit heavier than the original Spesh branded one, but It is wider.

Edit - oh and I seem to remember reading reviews of the Ariel that basically said good, but heavy.

Mojo SL 26-27 lbs 🙂

It's probably more to do with the tyres & suspension design which makes it feel the way it does.

I went from a 26.5lb Nomad Carbon to a Commencal Meta AM thats a gnats bollock under 30lbs & the weight makes no difference to my speed. They ride very differently though.

It depends...I invested a lot of time tinkering with spreadsheets to get a medium Marin Quad 140 down to 29lb, it rode reasonably well but the compromises resulting from the light weight made it feel a little too light and fragile for its intended purpose, especially when I already had a perfectly good 130mm xc bike for all day rides in the shed.

To cut a long story short, I've now got a large Marin Quad 140 frame with Wotans and scant attention paid to saving weight, which tips the scales at 33lb and feels like it would survive the apocalypse. The lightweight bits were transplanted to my xc bike, where they belong.

Another thing is I'd say the weight of a tyre is probably less important than how fast rolling it is (on the rear). I've had heavier tyres feel quicker than lighter ones due entirely to the tred pattern.

But yeah aside from that, if you can't compromise on dual ply tyres then I think any weight saving you do manage will be utter and totally marginalised by those tyres anyway.

Put it this way - My XC 100mm Giant Anthem is 28.5lbs, my 150mm Trek Remedy is 32lbs and both feel just right for what they do, so I'd think a 140mm bike around 30-31lbs would be perfectly suited to the riding it's meant to do.

Mine did bob like crazy when climbing or sprinting out of the saddle.

Combined with the weight and a very draggy rear tyre, I was almost crying when I took it on a Lakes epic.

My old prophet was 26.5 lbs (1x10) when it had xc race tyres on tubless wheels. My remedy was 28lbs with beefier forks and wheels/tyres.

Replace the rear High Roller with an Ardent and it will seem quicker. I have a real love/hate with High Rollers on the rear, swapping it to something with less tread/weight makes it snappier IMHO...

I've finally ended up at Tubeless Ardent EXO's from HR/Minions the Dual Plys never come out unless it's a DH race/uplift.

If you are puncturing everything but tubeless DP tyres then maybe (please take this as intended) you need to look at your riding or at least your pressures.

Even on single ply minions in the Lakes I only got punctures on stupid mistakes with sharp edges in the end.

Sounds like there is not much else you can do with the weight without changing the frame. So the feel is key, is the suspension sluggish or saggy/bobbing.

My heckler is coming in at 33lb down from 37lb by dropping the bombers to revs, tyres down to Ardent Exo and swapping cranks. That includes a dropper post EX721 wheels, slx groupset, m4 techs with 200mm floating rotors and braided hoses and a weighty nukeproof bar and heavy stem...

My plan is to head to XM719's lighter stem and bars.

If your high rollers are say 2.5 ST then they'll feel a bit sluggish on the flats.

If you are light and ride light then you could get away with something lighter.

33lb's sounds like a decent (too light even?) weight for a bike thats going to get "put through its paces" though.

I think if you wanted light weight then you'd be better off selling up and buying something light weight rather than throwing loads of cash at your current bike.

How much weight do you want to shed? The old £1/gramme probably still holds true.

The Prophet I had a few years back felt loads lighter and more fun.

Also, I think this is key.

I dont have a clue what any of my bikes weigh, aslong as they ride well (in your case it doesnt!) then thats all that matters. People seem to get a bit to obsessed by the weight of their bike. Worrying about numbers that in reality dont mean anything, its just they've heard that say 33lb is heavy for a 140mm bike.

As you say, your prophet rode light, weather it actually was is a different matter. Perhaps its time to buy one of those again?

It's too heavy. Not because of the weight it actually is, that's fine- but just because you're finding it too heavy, by definition it must be as it's your bike.

But the thing is, even if you shed a couple of pounds off it, that's not going to massively change how it rides. I did a couple of runs at innerleithen on an Ariel and it was a definate blunt instrument- you could make it lighter but it'll cost a fair bit to make it actually light, and unless you achieve that, you're quite likely to just make it less good at being a blunt instrument.

Take it apart and weigh everything, then swap out stuff that is too heavy. If you ever swap the frame for something else you've still got light gear to put on it.

My 140mm HT is coming in at 24lbs with pedals/crudcatches and reasonably heavy tyres.

We recently built this up for a customer - Ibis Mojo SL 140mm travel, under 25lbs, that's a pretty decent weight.

[img] [/img]

Or if you want a burlier frame and more travel then how about this, built up two weeks ago for a customer - Ibis Mojo HD 160mm travel, under 27lbs.

[img] [/img]

Both bikes can be thrown down pretty much anything and you'd be hard pushed to exceed the limits of the HD

i deal weight is 25.9 lbs, which is conveniently what my Blur LTc weighs.

As the guys say - you can go as low as 25lb on carbon superbikes, but 27-28lb sounds a rideable compromise without breaking the bank.

My 2011 5spot ranged from about 27.2 up to nearly 29, depending mostly on whether it was 1x9 or 2x9, and what tyres I decided to run. A set of burly alu flat bars helped to lift it to nearly 29.

I liked it best on the lighter side of things, but the kit to get it to 27.2 was mostly a bit too light duty and didn't last that long or needed constant TLC. The balance of decent durable kit came at about 28.2/28.5 (running 1x9).

The Sultan I'm replacing it with has come up at 29.75 with a 140mm fork, which is a bit too porky for my liking.

The issue is almost certainly not weight but the combination of suspension design, geometry and weight.

Having ridden an early Ariel I recall that it is really a play bike, it was a blast on the downs and hucked well but to steal an expression from another thread... it is a 'winch and plummet' bike.

I hate to say it Brown but the fact is you bought the wrong frame, your kit sounds ok, a sensible mix so to speak.

Get on the classifieds and seek out a Zesty for example and you will get a better all rounder, same with the prophetthough and many others, plenty of Stereos about but keep an eye on the bearings.

Strip it, sell it and ride the HT through the winter whilst waiting for the 'right' frame to come up.

All of the above is imho of course.

If you really wanted to save weight you could try it but as druid h says its going to cost.
Lots of small weight saving will add up quickly.
E.g. Change the SLX crank and cassette for XTR or top end SRAM. Run 1 x 10 instead of a double? Carbon bars might save a few gms. Narrower tyres-say 2.3's? Wheels-Stans Rims, American Classic Hubs could drop a bit. Tubeless? IS the rev a light fork (no idea myself!)-could you put something else on that saves 2-300g?

But might not be worth the £££.

[i]We recently built this up for a customer - Ibis Mojo SL 140mm travel, under 25lbs, that's a pretty decent weight.

[/i]

With pedals? Need a picture on scales..., otherwise its just cyber-bragging.

I think thats an entirely possible weight for an SL.

My mate has the SL-R blinged out in typical trail XTR style spec and on my garages 'scales of truth & justice' its 25lb dead.

Not bragging, why would I do that?-it's not my bike?, genuine weight on digital bike scales hung from bike stand and I'm not about to drive to work to satisfy your skepticism either. FWIW You can get the ibis super light down to sub 22lbs if you have very deep pockets.

Five with light wheels tyres, 2x9 no carbon, flats 26.9 lbs, alpine mode heavier duty wheels tyres dropper post max 28.5lbs.

Cheers everyone.

It's the 'feel' that's bugging me. I don't think the bike is necessarily 'too heavy', but it's bigger than I'm used to, which doesn't help. Fantastic heading downhill fast over rocks, less goo nipping through the trees.

I have no idea what any of my other bikes have weighed, but then they rode more to my taste. The Ariel is fantastic downhill, but I like hitting the flats and climbs just as fast (I'm really looking for a bike to have a proper crack at some enduros). I think I did indeed buy the wrong frame. Ah well, every day's a school day!

My Pitch is 32lb with coil lyrics, dropper post, chain device and a pretty tough build. I've ridden it round 40mile loops and finished without feeling too dead, maybe even fresher than the guys on XC bikes!

I'm sure for not much more money I could have made it lighter (maybe 3lb?) but it wouldnt have been as tough or as good such as loseing the dropper post and using an i-beam post and i-fly saddle, no chain device, float 36's (Ok these might be the same/better, but cost £££), flows on pro2 (rather than EN521 in XC/bulb), lighter tyres, and generaly being a bit more weight weenie in my kit choices (lost almsot 2lb off my road bike just by being sensible and buying top of the range alloy finishing kit rather than middle of the range alloy and cheep carbon bits).

If you want to lighten it start by stripping and weighing everything individualy on some digital kitchen scales. Then in the next column listing the weights of some bits you'd like to change, probably be suiprised where you can save a lot of weight.

Best places are finishing kit and soid bits like wheels, cranks, grips, saddle, etc. As they have the least impact on performance by going lighter. Then maybe the brakes withign reason. I'd not buy lighter suspension or tyres unless they were also better (eg swap domains for float 36's or Intense DH's for Maxxis HR SPC) as chosing light over high performance here will cost you more speed.

Ohh and don't neglect the gym. Not just for losineg fat, but if you're stronger the bike will be easier to move arround regardless.

And if it's your first big FS bike, give it time, it took me a few months and some time on uplifts to get dialled into my Pitch, the huge wheelbase and slack/low geometry seem to reward getting good smooth (as in one long arc, not the buffed smooth) lines through corners more than a nippy hardtail where you can turn in late and take whichever lines you fancy.

We recently built this up for a customer - Ibis Mojo SL 140mm travel, under 25lbs, that's a pretty decent weight.

With pedals? Need a picture on scales..., otherwise its just cyber-bragging.

The last time someone responded to a post like that from you you didn't even have the courtesy to reply! And where's the proof of your 'cyber-bragging'?

Five with light wheels tyres, 2x9 no carbon, flats 26.9 lbs, alpine mode heavier duty wheels tyres dropper post max 28.5lbs

Next purchase, some scales that work 😉

I'd have to agree there! 😆

As the guys say - you can go as low as 25lb on carbon superbikes, but 27-28lb sounds a rideable compromise without breaking the bank.

You can go far lower than that if you want!

There was a 19lb Mojo SL on MTBR years ago, was absolutely horrendous!

Pretty meaningless question though, as with all of these things. I've always hankered after a Mojo, and my intended build would be sub-25lbs I'm sure, but then I'd go light on certain parts where I'm sure others would add weight.

Sounds from comments like the frame and geometry are the issue more than the parts. I ride a meta 5 and its a few ounces short of 33lbs with a very similar build but don't have any problems. Frame weighs 7.5lbs. Then again sometimes it's what you are used to and how you ride - I have a habit of breaking things so generally don't buy light stuff.

🙂 Whenever there's a thread about bike weight a lot of opptimistic numbers get mentioned.

The mojo's we built did have finishing kit at the top-end of the scale and price (£4000ish build for the SL and (£5000ish build for the HD) but in no way was the function and strength compromised for lightweight parts, these bikes are built to take abuse and regularly get it, certainly no car-park posing bikes - we worked out we could have built the Sl down to 23lbs and the HD down to 25lbs but that would be pointless as there comes a point in a lightweight build when components limit the effective use of the frame and suspension travel and if a customer is paying that much money we prefer to offer him a guarantee that the components will work in harmony with the frameset and forks, time and time again without fail.

Anyway back to the OP. As others have said problem with the Aerial is probably not weight but geometry and feel.

somafunk , whats the exact spec of that HD thats below 27lb?

Mine comes in at 30lb, and I dont think it'd go much lower without compromising its ability (or spending several thousand more £). The only thing I can think of is to ditch the dropper post,which would knock ~1 lb off

Mine is :-

Large HD
Fox 36 160 talas RLC
CCDB air
rockshox reverb post
Some sort of super light saddle (masively uncomfortable) .
Pro II hubs, with DT ex 5.1 rims, hans dampf 2.35 tyres, tubeless.
Easton haven carbon bars
SHimano xt brakes (203mm front, 160mm rear)
SLX crank (2x9)
Xt derail, sram cassette (cant remember which one, but not top end, not bottom end)
wellgo mg 1 pedals

My rocket is 30lb on rubbish ebay digi-scales. That's a med with 2x10, revs, arch ex, minion on the front, ardent on the back. My ST4 weighted about that. It's a bit strange as it did feel 'heavier' than the ST4 when I first had it but since I was running 2x10 from 3x9, I couldn't tell if I was riding in a lower gear.

Now it just feels 'fine'. And that's in the Malverns which is steep. Sure I'm not going to sprint up any hills but it's perfectly fine for a 1000m of climbing. And awesome lobbing it down the other way.

See how I feel after 4 days back to back in Tenerife.

From memory :

Full titanium bolt kit
Hope hoops sp with cx-ray and polyax alloy nipples on flow ex rims
Full carbon sram xo groupset
Cane creek pimpy headset
Hope ceramic bb
Easton carbon xc 90 riser bars (specced by buyer)
Easton EC90 stem (specced by buyer)
Easton carbon post (specced by buyer)
wtb lightweight saddle but not superlight
2.2 conti lightweight tubeless tyres (specced by buyer)
Fox floats 34's ctd/trail adjust
Formula R1 brakeset with titanium bolt kit/floating alloy spider rotors
Riders own lightweight xtr pedals (not crank bros in picture)

I think that's it?..........oh grips?, can't remember but the usual lock on of some variety.

Personally i would've dropped the sram groupset completely and went xtr 2x10, fitted easton haven finishing kit, 2.4 tyres, and a dropper post of some sort, i'm undecided as to whether i prefer the fox d.o.s.s or the reverb? - the reverb has issues with lifespan, i'm not overkeen on the fox lever so i would prob wait for the thomson dropper to arrive 😉

My Edison comes in at 30lbs with a not-superlight build.

Most of the bikes I've seen on the Enduro scene this year are around the 28-30 mark, the odd few have been a bit lighter, but most riders are going for strength and reliability.

33 does seem a bit high. You got a full build spec?

Thanks somafunk.

Those components explain it. mainly the 34mm fox fork,the 2.2 tyres ,the lack of dropper post and the XO cranks

I wouldnt change what I have now for the above(with the exception o f the cranks).

XTR cranks would knock quite a lot off what I have now, but not worth the money for me at the moment.

Hobnob
scales tested biannually as medical scales
Good try though
nb it is a 2010 frame set which is lighter than the current one.

Spec of the Alpine then?

If you can ride it up a local steep hill then its light enough.

This, potentielly 14 kg is a very good weight for a USABLE mtb with 140mm of travel.

Think logically:

Realistically you could throw a lot of money at it and loose a few pounds, say 2kg max without compromising strength.
Weight of bike plus rider (approx 100kg), this equates to a 2% performance difference.
That may be relevant for XC racing but it doesn't sound like it would be relevant for you?

If it feels heavy / uninspiring then it's a case of shock tune / geometry / tyre setup.