Hello fellow riders, I am looking for weight-saving upgrades for my Trek Xcaliber and I am looking for your input to see if I am good with my choices or if you can suggest something else.
This bike is based on Shimano, so that is what I chose for simplicity but feel free to mention something else as long as it is good quality and compatible. This is the stuff I have chosen so far while trying not to spend a lot:
Carbon handlebar options:
Santa Cruz: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/santa-cruz-bicycles-carbon-flat-bar
Session: https://www.sessioncomponents.com/products/xc-carbon-handlebar-760mm (is it good brand?)
Second hand Syncross Fraser iC 80mm – 720mm (I am not sure about the size here)
Brake rotors: Currently using SM-RT56 rotors on BR-MT410 brakes, Planning to upgrade to RT66 or perhaps RT76 (6-bolt). RT56 are 160/180mm limited to resin pads.
Crankset/chainring (tentative): Upgrade from Deore crankset (12 speed) to XT crankset? Or just to the XT chainring SM-CRM85 if possible to save some money? I might want to go from 32T to 34T if allowed…
How does this look? I appreciate your help. š
by JPH_77
4 Comments
Lets pretend you are an 80kg rider on a 15kg bike currently. With clothes and bottles on the bike that’s something like 100kg system mass.
Let’s say that you spend a couple thousand dollars on lighter components and it all adds up to an entire kilogram less bike mass.
100kg -> 99kg = 1% reduction in system mass.
The bike will now be about 0% faster in flats and descents, and a little less than 1% faster on steep climbs.
Now everyone has their own marginal utility for a little extra climbing speed and a little less money, so that could mean “oh hell yeah lets get light!” for some people and for others “oh, weight is a waste of time worrying about”. That is up to you.
But I would say that spending money on optimizing tires, tire pressures, drivetrain lubrication and cleanliness, and good skinsuits matters more than gram shaving. By a lot.
Iād ask in r/xcmtb and r/weightweenies
unless your oem bar is rock heavy i wouldn’t change those.
You’d get more weight savings in the crankset.
i honestly would swap out the wheelset for weight savings before anything else.
Counterpoint I think mt410 w resin are already great for an xc bike, ppl act like resin is terrible vs metallic, but less bite is good for xc imo. I basically have the set up that you want to upgrade to and it’s not that different really…They just want you to think it is to spend money. If you could somehow test it blind I don’t think you would be able to tell the difference. Like others said new wheels+tires you’d probably notice a lot more, or just apply the budget to a new bike.