Your Bike Is Heavier Than It Needs To Be

How I removed nearly 700g off my Trek Emonda ALR 5 - without buying a new frame

One of the biggest misconceptions in cycling is that you need a new bike to save meaningful weight. The reality is that many bikes are carrying hundreds of unnecessary grams in components that can be upgraded over time.

Some upgrades are expensive while others cost very little.

The key is understanding where the biggest opportunities exist and tackling them in the right order. Before you start dreaming about a new bike, take a closer look at the one already sitting in your garage. You might be surprised how much weight you can

Start With TPU Tubes

If you’re looking for the best value weight saving available today, TPU tubes are hard to beat.

A typical butyl tube weighs around 100 to 120 grams while Most TPU tubes weigh approximately 35 to 40 grams.

That’s a saving of around 150 grams across the bike for a relatively small investment.

Not only are you removing weight, but you’re removing rotating weight from the wheels, making the bike feel more responsive when accelerating. For many cyclists, this should be the very first upgrade.

Tyres Can Save Weight Too

Tyres influence far more than grip and rolling resistance, they also affect overall bike weight. Many stock tyres are surprisingly heavy and switching to a performance-focused tyre can often save between 50 and 100 grams while simultaneously improving ride quality and rolling speed.

It’s another example of an upgrade that delivers multiple benefits from a single change.

Rotors Are An Easy Win

Rotors are often forgotten when riders start chasing grams. A move from heavier stock rotors to something like Shimano CL800 or CL900 rotors can save approximately 20 to 40 grams per rotor.

That may not sound like much, but remember the goal is to stack multiple savings together.

Small wins become big wins.

Don’t Ignore Your Contact Points

This is one area where surprising amounts of weight can disappear, A stock saddle can easily weigh over 300 grams, many performance saddles sit closer to 180 to 220 grams.

That’s potentially 100 grams or more from a single component.

The same applies to seatposts and handlebars, many alloy seatposts weigh 300 grams or more and are often on high end bikes too from factory, it is how they keep costs down. A quality carbon seatpost may save 100 grams sometimes more.

Carbon handlebars can often save another 50 to 150 grams depending on what you’re replacing, combined, the cockpit and saddle area can represent several hundred grams of opportunity.

Look At Your Cassette

Most riders automatically buy the biggest cassette available or simply ride with what the bike came with, most new bike 105 more often, come with an 11/36 cassette.

However, if your fitness and terrain allow it, a smaller cassette can save meaningful weight. Moving from an 11-34 cassette to an 11-30 cassette can save approximately 50 to 70 grams depending on the model.

It’s not a game-changing upgrade on its own, but it’s another piece of the puzzle.

Bottle Cages Add Up

Most cyclists run two bottle cages, many standard cages weigh 40 to 50 grams each.

Lightweight carbon cages often weigh closer to 20 grams each, that can save another 40 to 60 grams without affecting performance.

Again, not huge individually, but important collectively.

Wheels Are Usually Where The Biggest Savings Live

Eventually we arrive at the upgrade that delivers the largest single reduction.

The wheelset, many stock alloy wheelsets weigh between 1,900 and 2,300 grams. (wheelset only)

A quality carbon wheelset can often weigh between 1,250 and 1,600 grams, that’s a potential saving of 400 to 800 grams from one upgrade.

Unlike many other upgrades, wheel weight is also rotating weight, meaning the improvement is often noticeable immediately, the bike accelerates quicker, feels more lively and climbs more efficiently.

A Real World Example

My Trek Émonda ALR 5 started life weighing approximately 9.1kg.(my trainer bike)

Through a series of carefully selected upgrades, the bike now weighs just 8.4 kg.

The changes included:

• TPU tubes - 34g each

• Lighter tyres - GP5000

• Carbon seatpost - Roval alpinist

• Carbon handlebars - Roval Rapide

• Lighter saddle - Specialized 155 Power Comp

• Carbon wheelset - Zipp 303s

• Lighter rotors - CL800 ( Ultegra)

None of these upgrades transformed the bike individually, together, they removed nearly 700 grams.

That’s roughly the equivalent of carrying one less full water bottle every time I ride.

Final Thoughts

The mistake many cyclists make is chasing the most expensive upgrade first, the smarter approach is to start with the cheapest grams.

In order I would recommend these.

1) TPU tubes.

2) Tyres.

3) Rotors.

4) Contact points. - Seat, Bars, Seatpost, Pedals

5) Drivetrain components.

Then, when the budget allows, invest in a wheelset, weight reduction is rarely about one magical upgrade.

It’s about finding 50 grams here, 100 grams there and 200 grams somewhere else.

Do that often enough and the results become significant, before replacing your bike, ask yourself a simple question:

How much weight is still hiding in the one you already own?