COOLWALL: Sub 20ib mountain bike? Weight saving gone too far

Super lightweight tricked out sub 20 ib bikes? Cool or rubbish?

  • No way - pointless - feel like riding uncooked spagetti. Wouldnt risk my life.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kinda ok

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Awesome weight engineering prowess. I'd drill my tyres if I could.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

jez-4-bikes-max

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Now this may raise some decent debate...

Are sub 20ib mountain bikes cool?

Remember that period when bikes went silly light? Im talking about season throw away framesets, drilled out - alloy bolted - weenie gear here. Cranks that were so spindly and underengineered they lasted a fortnight.

That period (94ish) when things went a bit over the top.

Im sure you have all owned bikes from this era that were a little too weak and dainty.

What do we think of these supposed Mountain Bikes that were supposedly designed to be ridden hard (but obviously werent designed for it)

Crack, bend, fail...death

..but were they/are they cool?
 
cooler than f***

:D


you should see the stuff I filed/drilled/stripped
washers? bin
rim tape? bin
bolts? alloy everywhere
chainrings and cranks? drilled
barrel adjusters? only one needed


these was the golden age :D
 
As with most things retro they were definitely cool, because at the time I was 12 and couldnt afford anything! Uber lightweight kit was the stuff I read about in magazines and lusted over.

Great article in Sptember 93 MBUK, "Pro tweaks to make your bike lighter" "I drilled 108 8mm holes in a Mavic M231. The weight saving was just over 20g. The strength loss was quite significant" :LOL: :cool: :LOL:
 
alloy nips
radial spokes, narrow gauge
smokelitecomps :shock: on the front :shock: :shock:
drilled out thumbies
slotted bar clamps
cut seatpost
no chainstay protector :LOL:
ti spd spindles
no qr on seat
and a 3.9lb steel frame
 
I remember a bloke in MBI that had basically machined every component on his bike (merlin frame) think the weight was down to sub 18lbs.

also didnt someone drill a frame as a showbike? Im sure i remember pics of that

interesting period. but not cool. as anyone thats ever snapped lightweight bars/seatpost will probably agree.

Although maybe you have to push the limits to move them forward.... I wouldnt want to pedal a 35lb unbreakable rigid tank of a bike around. Experimental developments are cool, just dont flog it to unsuspecting bikers.

light is good, weak deffo isnt... therefore i vote OK
 
Ice cold..

Am a regular visitor to http://www.light-bikes.com/ to check the weight of components I'm eyeing up :oops: ;)

Nowhere near the lightest thing up there, but check this out.. 17.93lbs, ultimate minimalism..

ssmb7.jpg
 
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