For decades, probably since the dawn of the bicycle, cyclists have been trying to make their bikes lighter. I’m sure Octave Lapize – the first rider to crest the Col Du Tourmalet in the Tour de France back in 1910 – wished his bike was lighter as he winched it skyward. Fast forward several decades and the British time trial scene was gripped by ‘drillium’ with competitors drilling every and any metal component in sight in a bid to save weight.
Today, the understanding of how to ride faster is more rounded, and aerodynamics plays a greater part. But hill climb events still see modified lightweight bikes dripping in carbon fibre, sawn-off handlebars and drilled-out derailleurs.
Regardless of the era, if you’re riding a bike, you are having to propel the weight of the machine with your own effort. As a result of this, cyclists are often preoccupied with shaving weight from their machines and even small weight savings bring excitement.
In recent years, as aerodynamic understanding and knowledge have improved and become more widely available, aero is now seen as king. The general understanding is that an aerodynamic bike setup will still be faster than a featherweight bike on all but the steepest of climbs.
This is critical for racers and professional riders, but for the majority of us, knowing our bikes are lightweight and saving weight is still a welcome morale boost. Below we have outlined a few weight-saving upgrades and tricks to help lower the weight of your bike.
1. The cockpit
It may sound like an insignificant saving but swapping your alloy handlebars for the carbon-fibre equivalent can free up as much as 80g. You could go one step further and cut them – a modification I don’t recommend if you’re going to use the bike daily – but the rounded, non-aero, non-integrated bars are easily the lightest options currently on the market. I’d recommend the Fizik Cyrano R1 Bull Carbon bar which tips the scales at a reasonable 200g. Don’t be tempted to buy cheap, lightweight carbon components online if you aren’t sure of the quality. I’ve seen some no-name carbon handlebars fail and whilst I’m all for weight saving, personal safety comes first.
While it’s not rated in our best bar tape guide for obvious reasons, wrap your bars in the 29g Deda Traforato Perforated Bar Tape and you’ve got one of the lightest (reliable) cockpits in the game.
A favourite stem amongst the weight weenie crowd is the Kalloy Uno model which can be picked up for well under…
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