Would like to drop some weight from 2015 Felt F3... If possible

[TronnyJenkins]

I know this is a fairly light bike at around 17lbs, and I've already moved to lighter DT Swiss wheels. Are there any other areas that you guys see where I could lose weight? I know at some point it makes more sense to get a new bike (which I'm not going to do) but I'm just curious. Also, I know the common response is to lose weight myself, and I can and will lose 1-5 pounds, but there isn't much left to lose after that. The point is I'm doing some climb rides including the Stonewall Century in CO and want to be optimized for that :-)

Specs are all here under product description:
http://revolutionbikeshop.com/felt-2015-f3/

[JAGI410]

Budget? Because coming down from 17lbs won't be cheap.

[pdmtong]

Assuming you are not going to change the frame, the group, the wheels, all you have left are

- post, saddle
- stem, bar
- pedals
- maybe tires

looking at reasonably price parts in those categories, you might be able save 30g x 5 parts = 150g without breaking the bank. tires, 10g each?

so now you are at 16.7. it's not a game changer. save your money.

[rustychisel]

I should think some carbon bar caps might save you 3 or 4 grams.

[eBAUMANN]

wheels are usually the fastest easiest way to lose weight, but probably not the cheapest way...whats the weight on the DT set you got?

[Joxster]

Ti Cassette would lose abit of weight, you could slowly upgrade to DA with a plan of moving the components to a lighter frame at a later date. Carbon brake calipers as well

[verticaldoug]

rs11 rim at about 1950 g f/r

dura-ace c35 will be about 1488 g f/r.

Plus you get much better hubs.

Your wheels will feel sprightly and that's where I'd spend the money.

[shovelhd]

That's a great frame. Wheels, crank, pedals, DA cassette, that's about it except for small stuff.

[Tandem Rider]

Starting at 17lbs,...

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but here goes. :)
Maybe take the money you would spend shaving 3-4 ounces off, use it to pay for a couple of long weekends in big hills/mountains and do mini training camps. You would probably see more speed for $ spent, and your legs would be happier at the end of the day.

[Black Dog]

So...a pound shaved off the bike for a bike + rider combo of lets say 180 pounds is just over 0.5% lighter. Do you really think that this is going to make you that much faster up the climbs? I would say that you are good to go as is. Unless you are a pro and your pay check depends on that few seconds you will save then focus on enjoying the ride. Put some latex tubes in your tires and save more watts than you will gain buy making the bike lighter.

[pdmtong]

How much do the wheels weigh? You can get used Kysrium elites 1500g for ~$400

If you're are 1600g+ I'd do that before anything else

[cdn_bacon]

campy record 10 or sram red
carbon crank

Start eating lots of salad.

[chiasticon]

sell ultegra, buy force. swap crank for red 22 crank.

get c24 clinchers.

should be about 15.5 lbs then.

[nmrt]

+1
what weight are your DT swiss wheels? Most weight savings come from there.
wanna save more weight (about 1.5 lb) ? Get a sram 22 groupset.
Sram Red 22 groupset -- 3.8 lb
Ultegra groupset: 5.3 lb

http://www.thebikelane.com.au/2015/06/2015-road-groupset-weights/

wheels are usually the fastest easiest way to lose weight, but probably not the cheapest way...whats the weight on the DT set you got?

[bcroslin]

sell ultegra, buy force. swap crank for red 22 crank.

get c24 clinchers.

should be about 15.5 lbs then.

Force is surprisingly light. You could go with the DA crank and cassette like Shovel recommended. K-Force seat post and bars will knock some weight off. Lighter tires and tubes will shave a tiny bit more.

[sitzmark]

Do you have target weight?

Tossing a 14-15lb bike around is kinda novel and fun, but on its own not a lot of real performance increase. Definitely trips a psychological kick in the butt that makes you want to ride harder ... and you probably will.

About the best you can do weight-wise with DT clincher (or any other) is RC 28 Spline Mon Chasseral 1,255g - around $3,100 retail ... will save you about 1.7lbs over stock RS-11 wheelset.

Grab a Cannondale Si or SiSL2 crankset with one-piece chainring and you can cut another 0.5lb or so. $600-$1,000. Without going all out exotic that's the lightest. Maybe close to 0.2-0.4lb savings with top end shifters and ders - $800+.

For another $1,300+/- you can cut about 0.5lb with Enve stem, bars, post, and a Fizik '00 saddle. All prices retail. So best case you're around 3lbs saved for $6000 give/take. Shop well!

The biggest single opportunity to save # was wheelset, so hopefully you leveraged your $$ with the new one.

[FlashUNC]

I dropped a pound in bike weight just swapping out a group. Went from Chorus/Super Record to Record/Super Record with ee brakes. And most of that weight probably came from the ee brakes over the Record non-skeleton calipers.

But it wasn't cheap, nor was dropping weight the goal.

So, yeah, easiest way? Get a super light group and lighter wheels and bob's yer uncle. Swapping stem bolts won't get the big gains you're looking for.

[Black Dog]

Do you have target weight?

Tossing a 14-15lb bike around is kinda novel and fun, but on its own not a lot of real performance increase. Definitely trips a psychological kick in the butt that makes you want to ride harder ... and you probably will.

About the best you can do weight-wise with DT clincher (or any other) is RC 28 Spline Mon Chasseral 1,255g - around $3,100 retail ... will save you about 1.7lbs over stock RS-11 wheelset.

Grab a Cannondale Si or SiSL2 crankset with one-piece chainring and you can cut another 0.5lb or so. $600-$1,000. Without going all out exotic that's the lightest. Maybe close to 0.2-0.4lb savings with top end shifters and ders - $800+.

For another $1,300+/- you can cut about 0.5lb with Enve stem, bars, post, and a Fizik '00 saddle. All prices retail. So best case you're around 3lbs saved for $6000 give/take. Shop well!

The biggest single opportunity to save # was wheelset, so hopefully you leveraged your $$ with the new one.

This is the argument for taking the money and flying to the Alps for a few weeks of rinding that you will never forget even if you add the extra 30 seconds per climb while riding there with a super heavy 16 pound boat anchor of a bike...:rolleyes:

[carpediemracing]

I know this is a fairly light bike at around 17lbs, and I've already moved to lighter DT Swiss wheels. Are there any other areas that you guys see where I could lose weight? I know at some point it makes more sense to get a new bike (which I'm not going to do) but I'm just curious. Also, I know the common response is to lose weight myself, and I can and will lose 1-5 pounds, but there isn't much left to lose after that. The point is I'm doing some climb rides including the Stonewall Century in CO and want to be optimized for that :-)

Specs are all here under product description:
http://revolutionbikeshop.com/felt-2015-f3/


TL;DR - optimize for aero because bike weight you can save cheaply won't mean diddly. Also get stuff you can move to your next bike.

I dropped about 30 lbs off myself and got a bike that was about the same weight (but fit me better). I went and did a climb that took me about 2 hours at my old weight. I did it about 5 minutes faster. From here (http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.com/2010/01/california-palomar-analysis.html). You'll notice I used less power to do the faster climb, so there's that. But keep in mind we're talking a THIRTY pound difference in my own weight. The components were the same, I moved them from the old frame to the new one I needed a bit longer cable housing and I think I had to use a different front derailleur, but same post, bars, stem, build kit, etc. Literally the same SRM spider/powermeter from year to year.

Also, the "Full Assault" means I rode about 2.5 hours to the base of the climb (and 2.5 hours back). The "Short Assault" was an organized ride the day before the Tour of CA stage and we started out a couple miles from the base of the climb. I pushed super hard and blew sky high about an hour in.

1. 2009 Short Assault
Climb time 2:00:04
HR 152 bpm
Power 184w
Speed 5.9 mph
Weight 185 lbs.
(I stopped at least once, but I was in a group until the turn off halfway up, and then in another group towards the top. I started out way too hard, exploded, and crawled in at the top.)

2. 2009 Full Assault
Climb time 2:05:28
HR 138 bpm
Power 185w
Speed 6.0 mph
Weight 185 lbs.
(I stopped a few times on this climb for various reasons, hence the weird speed:time relationship.)

3. 2010 Full Assault
Climb time 1:59:35
HR 140 bpm
Power 167w
Speed 6.3 mph
Weight 156 lbs.
(I stopped once briefly, to shed some clothing, but I'm not sure why the discrepancy with speed:time)

At the same time consider this - there's a local downhill that's a hard turn off of another downhill. I did the downhill twice over a couple days. One day I was in the group, at the back, and hit the turn near the back, maybe 20 riders from the front. I sprinted hard, did an aero tuck, blew by all the riders in the group (which was okay, else I wouldn't have done it - I eased as soon as the descent leveled out). It was a "max effort descent" if you will. My max speed was 49 mph. I was using HED Bastogne wheels, which are 2010 Ardennes type wheels.

The next time, I think 2 days later, I was using my Jet 6/9 aero wheels front/rear. They have literally the same brand/make/model hubs, spokes, tires, tubes, rimstrips as the Bastognes, just the rim is different. I was at the front going into the turn so I didn't sprint, I tucked briefly and then sat up, and basically went down the hill very casually. My goal was to not distance the group. I inadvertently did. Max speed on that very casual descent? 49.5 mph.

I know it's not very scientific but wait me out here. It's a tree shrouded descent, not much wind on those days, and not much wind on the descent (else the Jet 6 front would have been a handful). 50 mph is where air resistance really starts to count.

When I ride home I have to descend a 10% grade in our complex. I'm hyper aware of my speed because the speed limit is 25 mph and I live here. On the Bastognes I can coast and not exceed 28 mph, which is about where I draw the line for the complex's speed. On the Jets I have to brake. If I don't ride the brakes immediately I'll easily hit 31 mph before I brake for a very acute turn.

In hilly terrain with wind you do NOT want a very tall front wheel. I've gotten pretty spooked on otherwise super stable bikes. So my thought would be to get a shallower light front wheel, a taller more aero rear wheel. The tall rear wheel will stabilize your bike on fast descents, it won't affect you too much. The not-tall front wheel will be light and it'll be easier to control at very high speeds or in very windy conditions. Generally speaking you can go 100% on a downhill with a non-aero front wheel, but any aero and you start dealing with some wiggles and such once you hit about 45-50 mph.

I'd also think about getting lighter stuff for you, meaning shoes (and pedals), helmet, better fitting jersey (more aero). You can move that stuff to another bike, so to speak. You won't save a lot of weight but as you get new whatevers you can consider weight/aero each time. I've been using the same posts for 20-ish years, for example. Same pedals for almost 10 years. If I'd gotten pedals that were 100 or 150g heavier I'd probably be thinking "why didn't I just spend the extra $50?" for 7 or 8 of those 10 years. Etc.

Ultimately it comes down to you. Equipment might make a minute or two difference but if you're 30 minutes down on your goal in a century then bike weight won't make up a significant portion of that. Aero should help significantly, esp if the weight isn't far off from the non-aero stuff.

[TronnyJenkins]

TL;DR - optimize for aero because bike weight you can save cheaply won't mean diddly. Also get stuff you can move to your next bike.

Thanks carpediemracing and all the rest of you for the detailed posts and input. I think I will stick with the Ultegra group for now and just put any upgrade money toward a new bike in a couple of years... or that trip to the Swiss alps. Supposedly my family came from there so that's a good excuse to visit, right?

My DT R23 Spline wheels are right at 1600g, but I really bought them for the width and just to have anything more than the RS11s which I put on a different bike. I guess the one upgrade I might make is a set of either 202s or 303s (or whatever people recommend before that time comes). Those could move to the new bike when the time comes.

Also, I'll try to remember the "don't buy upgrades, ride up grades" saying until the Colorado ride.