Friday, February 4, 2011

Weight Weenies

Shimano 7-speed sprocket showing 'Hyperglide' ...Image via Wikipedia
By Brent:

I love my bike. I love that it's carbon. I love that it looks like it's moving 62 kph all the time. I love it so much, it makes me speak of things using the metric system.

However, I am a weight weenie, kinda. I am constantly aware of all the weights of some of the products on my bike. Every little part still adds SOME kind of weight. This can drive me crazy. To think adding 2 bottles of water can weigh half as much as your bike itself. Keep in mind being 6'3" I ride a size 60 bike, which is one of the biggest sizes out there, so I am instantly penalized for having to have the larger frame. This made me want to do some investigating. Lets take some of the most popular and heavy products on a bike and shop around and see how much weight we could lose if we picked a "reasonable priced" item and quality brand and see what it would total out to. Notice I used air quotes? This is still cycling we are talking about. A cyclist sees a tyre for $45 and sees a DEAL! A normal consumer sees a "bike tire" for $20 and freaks out. The one thing I will not put on this list is wheelsets. They don't start until you hit the $700 price range and there are almost too many options. The costing would come from 2 sources: competitivecyclist.com and amazon.com. Honestly I have never bought from "cc.com" but they carry tons of brands and do a good job listing weights.


The line up will follow this format:

Product / Current Brand / Model / Weight
NEW Brand / Model / Weight / Savings
CC.com price / Amazon price

Stem / Cannondale / C2 / 128 grams
Ritchey WCS 4 Axis OS / 122 g / 6 g
$75 / $51

Handlebars / ControlTECH / ONE / 315 g
PRO / PLT Compact II / 257 gr. / 58 g
$60 / $60

Brakes / Tektro / R580 / 314 g
SRAM / Rival / 288 gr. / 26 g
$115 / $79

Saddle / ProLogo / Scratch Pro T2.0 / 279 g
Fizik / Antares VS Kium / 208 gr. / 71 g
$180 / $162

Seat Post / Cannondale / C2 / 268 g
Easton / EA70 / 220 gr. / 48 g
$90 / $70

Crankset / FSA / Gossamer BB30/ 808 g
SRAM / Force BB30 / 658 gr. / 150 g
$355 / $249

Cassette / Shimano / 105 / 245 g
SRAM / PG-1070 / 229 gr. / 16 g
$95 / $79

Front Derailuer / Shimano / 105 / 95 g
Shimano / Dura Ace / 66 gr. / 29 g
$159 / $85

Tires / Vittoria / Zaffiro Pro Slick / 250 g ea.
Continental / Ultra Sport / 235 gr. ea. / 30 g total
$67 for both / $36 for both

Pedals / Shimano / R540 / 330 g
LOOK / Keo Classic / 256 gr. / 74 g
$120 / $85

So the totals are as follows....

508 grams saved at a price of $1,316 through competitivecyclist.com OR $956 by luck shopping on amazon.com.

508 grams? Umm.... here in the States, that means 1.1 POUNDS!

For $1300 you save 1 pound. Really? So how about hitting the road, or treadmill or put the cookie DOWN!

Thanks for not shopping!
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1 comment:

  1. I usually buy asics, but i tried these shoes on and they felt very comfortable and supportive, and i wore them for about a week and a half and was happy with them. But then they really started to hurt the side of my heel, towards my ankle. Im not sure if there is just something wrong with the pair i got, but it feels like the side of my foot is being pinched by the shoe and its very painful. Its only in the right shoe though. I just can't figure out the exact problem, i felt the inside with my hand and it feels like the structure of the shoe may be like bent out of place? I don't really know how to describe it, its like there is a metal piece within the shoe that is rubbing against the side of my foot. The inside of the other shoe feels the same but it doesn't bother me. I can't even wear the shoes anymore, because moments after running, or even walking in them the pain is so bad. I've been wearing my old shoes and they haven't given me problems, but they're pretty worn out.

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