'weight weeners'

[charlie]

hey guys,

i was reading a review of the 'stealth hub' (see biketrials.com) and they mention 'weight weeners'. These are the riders who try to save weight on their bikes where ever they can, basically Jenny Craig,... basically jole. (just kidding, your bike rocks!)

but seriously, it made me think, does weight matter?
personally, i think it does, especially from the perspective of a beginner. Take jole's px or seans old brisa, when riding these bikes i find it heaps easier, not only for gapping, but also for things like pivoting on the front or back and also rotating whilst hopping.

The other day i tried to do some trials stuff on my kona (it's for sale if anyone wants to buy it!), but couldn't! not a single thing (well maybe a couple of back hops, but that's it). And it was because it's just too heavy. I honestly think you need a fairly light bike for trials.

which poses the question... is there a critical weight? ie, is there an optimum weight for trials riding? im pretty sure there would be, as you dont want to compromise on strength too much.

i was recently talking to rowan about the weight of my bike, and he said it doesnt really matter too much, and that my bike was by no means obese! which is good news for me, however i still think i could shave a bit of fat off it.
which poses the question.... whats the best/most effective way to save weight?
i reckon ive saved a fair bit just by changing the front tyre of my bike (kenda kinetic to a skinny IRC backcounrty), but there's always room for improvement. really soon im changing the bars and stem to brisa elites, not only to save my wrists, but also to save the scales...

this is some major food for thought, so post away!

-charlie




ps, i reckon we should include two new sections on the bike profiles on canberratrials.com... 'weight', and 'cost' (for the bikes, not riders!) alexx... can we do this please?

[Seb LG]

hey
i reckon GET THEDRILL OUT AND LET THAT MOTHERf**kER HAVE IT!
hehehe, nah . not really . i would never let my bike "hve it" . i like it too much .

ummm, i am gonna drill my front rim (i AM becoming a REAL WEIGHT WEENIE!) if someone like joel would tell me the best way to do it without killing my rim .

ummmm, well, looking at some other bashrings llike the koxxonemaybe u could drill like 10 holes in ur bashring? i dought that would make muchof a difference .

speaking of bashring i just ordered my DMR ringthing from chain reaction!! hooray!!!

drill some holes in ur seat?

and, i dont mean to be going a bit too far, but that canadian guy that had hooles in hisfront forks gave me an idea.....what do u guys reckon would happen if i drilled some little bits out of my front forks?¿ would the break?¿

hehehe, maybe if u wanna get OUTRAGEOUSLY , OVERTHETOP DRASTIC u can drill holesin ur cranksand frame ......aintgonna happen .

[SeanA]

Seb,

Don't drill your forks man, it is not a good idea even though people do do it.... it does make them heaps weaker...

Thats just my opinion bro

~Sean

[Seb LG]

ohk.....i was just sortof throwing some ideas around!hehehe. ;D

[Craprock]

alexx if you're gonna do that cost and weight thing, for my bike:
cost: $500
weight: 5g
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Seb LG]

omg....ur bike is a god, in the weight sense.....it weighs less than any mod or anything! but mine looks better though ......is ur bike easily breakable though, simon?

hehe, i drilled holes in my seat and put it on 2day....i dont know if i will keep it on though....i am going 2 drill my front rim....not all the way through, only the first wall(or whatever u call it) coz i cant be bothered getting new rim tape .

oh yeah....i just noticed 2day.....are my brake calipers meant 2 shake back and forward? is this bad?

cyall....seb

[alex markwart]

Obviously weight is a HUGE factor in how well you will ride trials. No matter what you think, riding a light bike will be easier. Infact, you can never have a bike light enough. Although this is where the compromise occurs, because a really light bike will most likely be weaker than a heavy one. You can defiantly go overboard with "shaving" weight off your bike. And ofcourse your wallet will probably feel most of the weight loss. just do it gradually unless you have heaps of cash lying around. But dont go drilling stuff, especially forks and frames. i would say weight in the rear is the worst place to have weight, as your sort of dragging the bike behind you then and it becomes quite a task. Some bikes also ride lighter than others. I have no idea how heavy my bike is but it will always ride lighter than a rhino ofthe same weight becasue of the geometry, namely chainstay length. the shorter the chainstays the lighter your bike will ride.

Dont go buying all this light stuff while your beginning though as your generally less smooth and more likely to break things, therefor you need a more reliable and consequently heavier bike to withstand your abuse.

In regards to the "weight" and "cost" sections in the bike profiles, i have no problems with that although it will be a bit unreliable. i think people may lie about the cost and weight of their bikes.

cost: $500
weight: 5g

even though simon was just kidding, he probably felt he was being serious about the cost, when infact he has spent more on a new hub, wheel, bars, and plaz. i know you subtract the price of the previous parts but it still wuld have cost more overall.

Also with weight, i dont know where to weight my bike as bike scales arent really accurate enough and im not taking it somewhere i have to pay to get it wieghed.

Your call, i dont mind doing it but i think i will be constantly updating it (and as you can see by the lack of updates to the site recently i am a lazy prick) but i dont mind doing that if people email me the details.

Alex(x)

[Seb LG]

hey
well, i would never go over the top with shaving weight as i am allways too sketchy about it and think that i will probably break my bike more than make it better . With simons thing, its kiddingly exagurated, but so true!!heheh . very true!

neway, arent the stays on a koxx heaps long . my echo has some pretty nice short stays ;D ....but it dosnt ride as "bouncy" as everyone elses bikes that ive tried....why is that? like with alexx,s levelboss when u kick the pedals it flings forward alot more, but with mine i have to actually "fling it" myself....is it just me? some1 try out my bike 2 see if its just me.....

is anyone gonna tell me the best way to drill my rim, because, as i said, i am ALLWAYS scared of breaaking stuff when i work on it .

how would you get rid of some weight on the back alex? there is nothing on there that can be comprimised....

[Craprock]

sorry alex

Bike: 500
bars: 70
grips:10
front vee: 50
hub: 170
rim: 40
spokes: 60
rear tire: 55
plaz: 20
front tire: 30
mini seat: 20
sold front magura: -90
total: 935
FUCK
i didnt know i had that much money.
damn. oh well its still an ok bike.
weight does help but it doesn't necessarily make you a better rider
(eg. me)

[Seb LG]

well.....even so , i still wanna get rid of some weight in time .

i just saw this thing where some rider drilled out dimples on the in-side of his cranks to save weight.....not drilled all the way through......who reckons this is a good weight thing?

and.....for those of you that are mod riders.....hes drilled holes in his bash, plate . alot of holes .

ummmmm, then theres drlled rims and thats pretty much all .

[tomac]

seb (and everyone) drill nothing but rims...ever... no bash, cranks, frame, fork...anything...other than with rims, drilling saves very little weight...think about it this way...

if you want to lessen the weight of your crank by 10% (not a very big weight saving) you'd have to remove 10% of the material, the excess of which has already been removed by the manufacturer to get the initial weight down...you'd lose far more than 10% of the strength of the product...

just not worth it...

my bike is light because as parts wore out, I replaced them with high quality parts (which also tend to be low weight, and high cost) so that I wouldn't have to worry about them anymore...

now I don't have to worry about bars, stems, hubs, brakes, cranks etc because I replaced them with high quality bits when the originals wore out (in most cases shimano deore bits)...

mostly my bike is light because it is simple...having dual v-brakes helps, having modest rims helps (having drilled out 1/3 of the material from the front rim helps - but is not recommended :-) etc etc...

so yeah, everyone's bike starts out heavy, and gradually gets lighter, you don't even notice the difference really as you change bit by bit...

- Joel

[Seb LG]

well i still wanna drill my front rim ;D .... hehe . i dont have any drill bits that will go through metal! (they are for wood) . can some1 plz lend me a drill bit that will? ;D

[rangers]

Seb if you got the money like Charlie, you could buy another set of Rims (321 Mavics) and drill your old rims, to see what u would prefer. 321s or 521s are good and light so there is no need for drilling.

ben

[Seb LG]

hmmmm, well i dont haf tha money.....and i dont rekon 521's are light! hehe....every1 does bit compared 2 the rhino lites from my old norco are heaps light ......i think its probably just the tire....hehe .

[sherro]

hay guys
i ride BMX at the moment cause i have no money for a trials bike and the same thing happens with it people wantin their bike real light and bars narrow i say just adjust to what u have specially if u dont have lots of $$