How To Lighten Your Road Bike
One of the easiest ways to improve the overall performance of your bike is to reduce its weight. From minor tweaks to big changes, we have compiled the best ways to do this, while keeping budget in mind.
Cycling is mostly about power-to-weight and aerodynamics. Reducing the weight of your bike is often cheaper than improving its aerodynamics. Most people go with Carbon fibre as it is the lightest material when it comes to bike components/materials. However, Carbon components, while being light and strong, are expensive.
Usually, an alloy alternative can be found without much weight penalty at a much lower price. However, if you want the lightest and best, then carbon (and sometimes titanium) is the way to go.
Wheels
Upgrading your wheels will give the greatest weight saving, however, is often the most expensive upgrade. When you look at how much money is spent compared to weight saved, getting new wheels is your best bet to gain better performance. In terms of actual weight saved, all the other components combined would add up to about the same weight saved as new wheels.
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Tyres
There’s always a balance between fast rolling and puncture protection to consider. For longer distances it’s best to have the latter in mind, making sure you can go the distance without worries about puncturing. For quicker rides, you could potentially risk a bit more and get lighter tyres if speed is the main focus.
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Pedals
Pedals have a high-density and often have a large surface area too. This makes them an ideal item when attempting to reduce the weight of your bike. Titanium axles are one of the best ways pedal manufacturers keep the weight low without sacrificing longevity, as are Carbon pedal bodies.
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Handlebars
As well as reducing the weight of the bike, lighter handlebars – especially carbon bars – will also benefit the performance of your bike. A well-made handlebar can absorb any bumps in the road that are transferred from the wheels. And paired with quality bar tape, this can significantly reduce weight but improve the comfort of your bike.
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Seatposts
There are a few carbon seatposts that will come with no budget concerns. However, some can be found to save weight and often serve the dual purpose of giving you a more comfortable ride. This will be specific to your bike, as many new bikes have specific seat posts and are not easily replaceable.
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Saddles
Saddles are such a personal preference, and mostly that’s down to the individual riders shape and comfort preferences. However, if you’re looking for the pinnacle of featherweight saddles, titanium or carbon rails and carbon shells offer the most weight savings.
It’s a common misunderstanding that saddle comfort can be directly attributed to the amount of padding it has. What’s less understood is that the shape of the saddle plays a greater part. For this reason, finding the correct shape can allow you to find a saddle with less padding and so less weight.
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Cassette
An upgraded cassette can be a good idea because it sits on the rear wheel, and it’s not ideal for weight distribution. To reduce the weight here will benefit the handling of the bike as well as climbing prowess.
This can be one of the pricier upgrades, but will also increase the shifting performance of your bike.
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Stem
Alloy stems are often a similar weight to Carbon, so there’s a good chance you can get a cheaper stem that’s also lightweight. Other reasons you would look at a different stem is to increase steering accuracy from a stiffer stem, to increase or decrease the length of your reach, and to change the height of the handlebars by changing the angle of the stem.
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Bottle Cages
It’s a small addition to your bike, but Titanium and Carbon cages offer the greatest savings but come at a fair cost. Nylon or plastic cages can be a happy medium. Many professional cyclists will opt for lighter bottle cages for climbing/mountain stages.
For a carbon option, we recommend the Specialized S Works Rib Cage II. It weighs less than 20g. Titanium cages are stiff and lightweight, but very expensive.
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Water Bottles
This really comes down to the length of ride you’re embarking on. If you’re off on a quick jaunt around the city, a small 500ml or 600ml bottle can suffice, which will save a few grams in the bottle and quite a few in the liquid.
