- There are more than just a few ways
that your bike is literally wearing you down on the climbs.
In this video, we're going to talk you through
a few of the obvious, a few of the less obvious
and some of the slightly more expensive ways
that your bike can be made a little bit lighter.
(upbeat music)
Let's kick off today by saving some free weight
'cause if something's free, it's always better, isn't it?
Two 750 mil bottles weigh around 1-1/2 kilos.
When you include the weight of the bottle,
it's going to be a little bit more.
I'm only going to ride for an hour,
so I know that I don't need to take 1-1/2 liters of fluid.
For me, that would be enough for around three hours.
For one hour, I'm going to need around 500 mil,
which is going to save me an entire kilo.
Now, that doesn't sound like a lot,
but if you consider I'm going to do quite a hilly hour's ride,
around 400 to 500 meters of climbing,
that could be as much as one minute saved.
And whilst one minute over an hour doesn't sound much,
imagine if it was one steady climb of just 30 minutes.
That one minute is going to feel like an eternity
if Hank's waiting for me at the top.
By moving away from the center of the bike now
and up towards where my saddle bag should be.
Unfortunately Hank's borrowed it
for another bike packing trip,
which he seems to be doing a lot of these days,
and good on him.
He enjoys it.
Now, picture they contents of your saddle bag.
What would you have in there?
An inner tube, a multi-tool perhaps.
Maybe you'd have some puncture repair patches,
some gas canisters, that kind of thing.
Is all of that really necessary for an hour long ride?
Imagine you've got one of those big multi-tools
with a chain breaker,
when was the last time you used a chain breaker
on a bike ride?
Could you perhaps get away with using
a much smaller multi-tool like this one?
And then when you come onto you tubes,
could you get away with maybe using one
of those ultra light, tiny emergency tubes
that you see on the internet these days?
I think you probably could.
That saves around 300 grans alone,
and that sort of weight up high on your bike
is really going to make a difference,
especially if you're climbing quite a bit.
Whilst we're talking about saddle bags,
how about the part of the bike
from which they are hung, the saddle?
Are you guilty of doing something which I've done for years,
which is using the heavily padded version
of the same saddle, which I'm currently using on my bike?
It's not saving me a huge amount of weight
between these two saddles, but going from a saddle
which is wildly padded compared to using
a lightweight racing carbon saddle
could save you as much as 200 grams.
That 200 grams might not sound like lots,
but when it's at the top of your seat post
and being propelled from side to side
as you're climbing at the saddle,
that's costing you a lot of energy
which could otherwise be put
into propelling the bike forwards up the climb.
Now, when it comes to choosing a saddle,
it's actually the shape of the saddle and the design
not the quantity of the padding
that's going to dictate just how comfortable it is for you.
And you should always try your best to find a saddle
which matches your body and makes you feel comfortable
on the bike.
One of the most often overlooked ways to save a little bit
of weight from your bike is to change the tires.
There's a chance that when you bought your bike,
it was spec-ed to a price point,
meaning that the tires probably weren't the priority.
Something like the wheel set or the group set probably was.
I'm not saying you should throw
your tires away straight away.
That's completely wasteful,
but when they wear down, it's the perfect opportunity
to upgrade to something a little bit lighter.
Maybe you can go from a steel bead to a folding bead.
That's going to save a little bit of weight,
or you can just go to a slightly more expensive version
of the tire you already have.
It's going to do more to make your bike feel zippy
and fast on the climbs or on the flat
than almost any other change you can make
for that sort of price.
If you are upgrading your tires,
it's also the perfect opportunity
to upgrade your inner tubes, as well.
Latex inner tubes are proven
to have lower rolling resistance
than standard butyl inner tubes.
So you should feel a bit of a benefit there,
and if you're playing around with your tires
and stuff like that, why don't you go tube-less?
It doesn't make it any lighter,
but it buys you that piece of mind
that you're less likely to puncture,
which may mean that you dare go out
without taking a spare tube and a pump,
and that is saving you weight.
Now you know we're clutching at straws
when it comes down to saving the micrograms from your bike,
but there are a few things that were on your bike
when you bought it which you don't necessarily need
for day to day use.
For a start, valve caps and valve stem collars.
You don't really need those,
although the collars can perhaps prevent the valve
from rattling in your rim.
When you bought your bike, you may have noticed
that your rear wheel came with a plastic disc
between the cassette and the spokes.
That's to protect the wheel
from having derailleur shift up and into it.
If your derailleur is well adjusted,
you don't actually need one of these at all,
although it would be a costly mistake if it wasn't.
Your bike probably also came with reflectors on the wheels.
You don't necessarily need those,
although I am a big fan of being well seen when at the bike.
I try and wear bright colors, but most importantly,
I always ride with my lights on, as well.
And to that end, I've also removed the standard reflectors
that would've come with the bike.
We really are only saving a few grams here,
but it does make the bike look that little bit neater,
that little bit sleeker, and you can't argue
that when something looks cool, it feels fast.
On this video so far, we have tried to focus
on more of the cost effective ways
to save a little bit of weight,
hence the rotational mass of the tire.
Other things that turn, the rims, very expensive upgrade,
disc brake rotors, cassettes.
Now, surprisingly, you can get a much lighter cassette.
It's not as much as a set of wheel,
but it will save you up to 200 grams again.
I can't believe that.
That sounds staggering to me.
Pedals is a place you could lose a bit of weight,
as is your chain set.
And if you really want to go fast,
maybe some ceramic bearings in your hubs, as well,
is a great way to upgrade.
Now, if I was being really pedantic
and I wanted to save every last gram,
I could always choose to remove my bike computer,
the ELEMNT ROAM, the Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM
and use its smaller sibling, the ELEMNT BOLT.
That is only saving me a few grams,
and since I like big data on my screen,
I'm going to keep that one there,
but it is something to bear in mind.
So there are just a few of our favorite ways
to save that little bit of extra weight from your bike
without really changing anything about the way it rides.
Have you ever tried any of these,
and if you have, how much weight did you manage
to trim from your favorite ride?
Drop it in the comments below,
and also let us know if there are any extra ways
that you save weight from your bike.
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