[ZHendo]

I'm riding an 08 Stolen Wrap completely stock. The bike was a great deal at the time I bought it, especially with the wonderful Dan's coupon, but I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the weight of the bike. It's close to 29 lbs if not a bit over, so it's a hefty little bastard. I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective places to lose weight. My main concerns with the bike are the unsealed pieces, namely the cranks and headset. I think that I can remove substantial weight from the cranks in particular, so I was thinking of getting a set of Fit Flow cranks as they're cheap and on the lighter side of things. I've also heard they're nice quality especially for the price.

The wheels are also heavy, Alex Y303 rims on no-name black hubs (at least they're sealed). I'd like to be able to replace the wheels, but a decent wheelset will be far too expensive for me right now, so I'm trying to choose other areas. I'm thinking I'll get some of the KHE single ply tires to replace the stock Aitkens once they start to show more wear.

Other heavy items include the seat, post, stem and fork. The stem is a beast, it's a forged mass of aluminum that probably weighs close to a pound on its own. The post is some complete POS, probably steel judging by the low quality. The fork is a stock fork, but it's straight gauge and probably a relatively thick material. The bars are also heavy, but I don't care about those as much.

What should the order be in terms of what I replace first? Any recommendations on parts? I need to prioritize because I'm not going to be able to spend much on my bmx when my downhill bike needs a few new parts. Also, I'm pretty terrible at bmx right now because I'm not experienced, so I don't need top end stuff. I ride street almost exclusively because I have a hardtail for dirt stuff. Thanks for the help, I'm new to bmx and I really have no idea what to look at.

 

[sittingduck]

With that bike, you eventually will want to replace EVERYTHING.

 

[ZHendo]

understood, but for my purposes many of the parts should be fine, especially considering that when college rolls around in about a year i'll be getting rid of the bike.

 

[newrider3]

Keep it heavy and build muscle, then upgrade to lighter parts when others break.

 

[w00dy]

If you're only going to have it for another year then leave it as is. There is something to newrider's statement. I rode a tank for a long time and now my bunnyhops are strong as hell.

 

[sittingduck]

understood, but for my purposes many of the parts should be fine, especially considering that when college rolls around in about a year i'll be getting rid of the bike.

Maybe you have your reasons, but why not bring your bike? If you are not even that serious about riding, might as well just quit now and save your money for beer and hookers. :biggrin:

 

[morethanjake543]

I keep two bikes in my dorm room. A bmx and a DH rig. Just so you know it can be done. I use the bmx to commute everywhere, and my campus is super hilly. Passing all the cool fixies on uphills is always satisfying.

Anyways. If you're really planning on getting ride of the bike, I'd probably just keep it at those new tires and that's it. After getting my first stock bmx bike, I upgraded things in this order:

New bars: Not for weight, but for hight. I actually gained weight with these.
New Seat: My old one bent so I grabbed a super light Oddy Junior.
New Rear Wheel: Probably didn't gain or lose any weight. Upgraded to a cassette for awesomeness
New Stem: I lost weight by grabbing an oddy elementary.
New Tires: Lost a tiiiiny amount of weight here.
New Fork/Bars: Dropped a lot of weight by grabbing a set of WTP Heliums
New Frame: Got a seshin ****hawk on the cheap. Love it!
New Cranks/Smaller Drivetrain: Dropped loads of weight.
New Front Wheel: Got a mosh justice light. My old front hub was dying, so I specifically went out and got something light.

Keep in mind, I've been on a massive budget while this has all been happening. Also, I never really bought parts with losing weight as a main concern until I snagged the bars and forks. That new rear wheel I got was a poverty hub laced to some heavy double walled chrome rims. I've always just wanted stuff that will be durable over the traditional lighter stuff. My bike went from around 34 pounds down to around 26.

I still hop as high and spin just as well. Getting hit by the bike itself hurts a little less now, though.

 

[ServeEm]

These types of questions make me shake my head. 29lbs doesn't seem heavy, I rode my first rig for two years before I thought I earned a new build. I don't know if morethanjake543 rode my first 20 but the batch was around 36lbs. I learned to ride it, got used to the weight and loved it. Weight savings won't help your leaps or rotations, it's all technic, (sp?).

Broken parts= new parts. Then you'll know what you need, earn your parts don't buy em.

 

[ZHendo]

i've thought everything over more, and realized that, like ServeEm, i'm kind of shaking my head...at myself. thinking about things more, i'm just going to ride the bike as is, i have other things i'd much rather spend money on (beer and hookers?). the weight isn't necessarily making my riding any worse, though if i could somehow validate that idea it'd do wonders for my self esteem. i can't decide if i'm serious about riding on the bmx, it's fun, but i'm just not sure if i like it as much as being on my hardtail and dh bike. i love my hardtail and dh bike too, and i'm thinking i'd be taking those to college if i had to pick 2 bikes. i like the idea of broken parts=new parts, if i want new stuff i better start riding more.

 

[sittingduck]

Now you're talkin' Ride that thing like you stole it!

 

[pnj]

29 Pounds!!! boo hoo.

ride it, replace what needs replacing when it needs it.

I once rode a 42 pound bike.

 

[ZHendo]

29 Pounds!!! boo hoo.

ride it, replace what needs replacing when it needs it.

I once rode a 42 pound bike.

the thing is, i'm completely new to bmx and never really followed it at all, so after seeing the majority of bikes on here being in the mid to low 20s in terms of weight, i figured mine was heavy. i'm an mtb guy trying to get some skills from the bmx.

 

[ServeEm]

the thing is, i'm completely new to bmx and never really followed it at all, so after seeing the majority of bikes on here being in the mid to low 20s in terms of weight, i figured mine was heavy. i'm an mtb guy trying to get some skills from the bmx.

You're right, being new to bmx and then seeing what people are doing lately to their rigs can give a person the wrong idea. It sounds like you got a pretty legit bike right now. Keep riding her and it'll get more fun down the road.