Hey everyone im fairly new to cycling and have been riding my Poseidon Redwood Flatbar for 200+ miles now on a variety of terrain. I have no complaints so far but before i even think about making an investment into a super light weight high end bike id like to get as much as possible out of the redwood before i move up. I want to get it as light weight as possible given its at roughly(close to) 30lbs at the moment just so that climbs are a challenge on myself and not so much from the weight of the bike if that makes sense. With all this being said what are some parts to switch out to make those bike as lightweight as possible.
by AV8-BTech69
10 Comments
It’s cheaper to change to a smaller chainring to make the climb gearing easier and lose a few pounds in your waist line and do hill repeats training than it is to take a brick and whittle it into a Rocket.
Nice tubless tires. Replace anything you can with carbon. Wheels, seatpost, handlebars, stem, crankset etc. Before you know it, you’ll have an average weighted bike that cost an above average amount of Money.
Easiest place to shave off weight is the wheels/tyres.
Those tyres weigh almost 1kg each, so that’s an easy way to shave weight off as well as setting up the new tyres tubeless if the wheels support that.
Poseidon doesn’t seem to list a weight for their wheels online but I’d wager they’re on the heavier side too.
That said though, I think weight savings especially on a bike like this is a fool’s errand.
Get yourself ready for a ride, tools ready, spare inner tubes, full water bottles, phone, battery, snacks, lights, maybe a lock, whatever you usually bring on a ride.
Now weigh yourself and the bike together.
That’s your total system weight, the amount of weight you need to move up those hills.
Now look up whatever light weight parts you want to buy, wheels tyres, whatever and calculate exactly how much weight those would save when you take the savings away from your previous total system weight.
Even with significant weight loss from the bike, you’ll be looking at a tiny saving when compared to your total weight, I’ve seen instances where knocking 1kg off of a bike’s weight accounted for less than a 0.5% saving taking into account an average weight rider, tools and water.
200 miles isn’t much, losing body weight, gaining fitness or swapping to a smaller chainring will all have a bigger perceived impact on climbing hills, and they’re all far cheaper than a new set of wheels!
Take the rack off.
everything that is not the frame and can be easily swapped over to the next bike. I’d start with the tires/wheels
That saddle looks craaazy low. You might have more power if you ensure the saddle height is right
Not sure your budget, but I’d get a set of good carbon wheels that you can take to your next bike. I’m an Elite Wheels fan and bought a really solid, bulletproof set of carbon gravel wheels off Ali express for like $400. You can pay $1-2000 for western QA and warranties, but the actual product will be similar when you’re riding.
Not worth it. It would be like modding a Nissan Altima. No offense. Just let it be what it is
I have this same bike and also struggle with hills. Solidarityz
Shaving 7 pounds is not really going to make a climb easier
New wheels.