[ThePriceSeliger]

Well, as some of you know, I recently got a Ventana El Curevo, and reading the thread about the Demo 8's and other certain things, I really want to get the weight down on my Ventana. Right now it is in the range of 43-45 pounds. Any sugestions are welcome.

Right now I want to get a Ti spring for the DHX.

Don't mention things like, tubeless, or a different fork, but I am interested in what you guys think.

 

[Mike B.]

we can see most of the parts but how about a listing of the build?

 

[DRB]

Attach cinder blocks to it.

 

[Dirty]

Attach cinder blocks to it.

 

[motomike]

XC tubes? carbon bars? cut your seatpost? DHX air? lighter BB?

 

[PonySoldier]

Take a torch to it and cut off everything you would consider superfluous....

 

[golgiaparatus]

Tires are always a good place to start for saving weight... As for components forks, wheels, rear shock are where the noticable savings can be had. With everything else you are counting 5-10 grams and sh!t you know?

We are talking about a DH bike right? What is a few extra lbs on a bike like that?

 

[MMike]

Attach cinder blocks to it.

Not a very elegant solution. I suggest drilling small holes and filling the frame with lead shot.

 

[grundy]

Not a very elegant solution. I suggest drilling small holes and filling the frame with lead shot.

just fill the tires with water, much cleaner and easier.

 

[MMike]

just fill the tires with water, much cleaner and easier.

...or lead shot.

 

[MMcG]

replace your cranks with some lighter XT hollowtechs and matching shimano bottom bracket. Would that help a little?

Maybe some lighter weight bars instead of those Chromags?

 

[todbanner]

carbon bars?

This guy is trying to kill you!

It's a downhill bike?! it's a tank at that... why do you give a sh!t what it weighs? Surely if it's heavier it gets to the bottom of the hill faster

 

[robdamanii]

Not a very elegant solution. I suggest drilling small holes and filling the frame with lead shot.

Go whole hog, drill hole, pour molten lead in, let it solidify. Gets rid of all that pesky weight saving air space.

 

[frznnomad]

yeh tod im not a fan of the bars either but calm down man. trust me the dude knows what he is doing so lay off. if your not going to be nice dont say anything and if your going to critisize (****y speller) someone elses opinion then theres something wrong and it isnt us.

i say wheels, hubs, new bars, ti spring, and from there count the grams. although 43 lbs isnt that bad its only a big deal ,or atleast for me, when you have to start pushing up the hills.

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

My home trails are all hike-a-bike. The bars are about the same weight as my old Easton EA70 DH, according to my gram scale. I deffinitly want to change cranks and bottom bracket, the tubes are an easy fix, but the DHX Air is something I really want to do, but according to Go-Ride, its in the 450 $$$ range, which is a big deal, but maybe around Chirstmas time I can gather some cash. My steertube is WAY long, would cutting that down to a normal legth make a differance? What about the Go-Ride lowrider crowns which I'm about to get? Thanks for the help.

 

[narlus]

ride your bike and enjoy it. unless you are racer joe or having burning holes in yr (or yr dad's) wallet, don't be a weight weenie.

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

The spec list is(the best I can)
Marz 05' 888 RC with Heavy Ride kit
Ventana El Curevo Medium
Fox DHX with Steel Spring
Sun MTX Wheel Set
Hadley Rear Hub
Sun Ringle Front Hub
F & B Maxxis Minions 2.3
Truvative Cranks & BB
Road Seat
Thompson Layed Back seat post(need to change)
Chain - SRAM holllowpin
R. Derailure - SRAM X.0
Hayes MAG's F&B with Shimano XT rotors

My bike is Shimano free besides the Rotors, which I really like, not sure why, but SRAM products won my affection with the X.0 derailure.

 

[golgiaparatus]

My home trails are all hike-a-bike. The bars are about the same weight as my old Easton EA70 DH, according to my gram scale. I deffinitly want to change cranks and bottom bracket, the tubes are an easy fix, but the DHX Air is something I really want to do, but according to Go-Ride, its in the 450 $$$ range, which is a big deal, but maybe around Chirstmas time I can gather some cash. My steertube is WAY long, would cutting that down to a normal legth make a differance? What about the Go-Ride lowrider crowns which I'm about to get? Thanks for the help.

Dont go cutting into your frame. In my book thats just asking for trouble.

 

[lovebunny]

replace your cranks with some lighter XT hollowtechs and matching shimano bottom bracket. Would that help a little?

Maybe some lighter weight bars instead of those Chromags?

i agree with that. i think my bikes about as light as i can get without getting rid of my shiver. im running the new xt's, rhyno lites, single ply tires and regular tubes, im gonna be getting some carbon bars soon because mine are bent. i also have a thompson stem and seatpost. heres a pic

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

The steertube is in the fork, not the frame, its normal to cut it down.

 

[riderx]

Ti chainring bolts. That's all you need to do...

 

[lovebunny]

oh yeah get ti screws. and dont forget only three bolts in each rotor. and drill some holes in your bashguard

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Middleburn cranks, lighter rims go UST, db spokes

 

[narlus]

in the quest for lighter stuff, a lot depends on yr weight and riding style too...it'd suck to have to be constantly replacing stuff you've broken.

 

[golgiaparatus]

The steertube is in the fork, not the frame, its normal to cut it down.

Oh sorry, I misread that... Yeah, cut that crap. Of course... only saving a few grams.

 

[motomike]

This guy is trying to kill you!

really? blame Easton.

 

[PatBranch]

You could get an oxy acetalene welder and melt lead into the seatpost. You could open the front tubes and melt some lead in the there. That will weigh it down significantly.

Personally, I wouldn't ever get carbon fiber bars; a crash could weaken them and they could brake just riding along. I prefer aluminum bars.

A new wheelset would help, maybe a mavic ex. 729 with some lighter hubs. An integrated stem if you don't allready have one, maybe some TI hardware in places.

 

[sanjuro]

Usage Lesson: Weigh down means to add weight. Lighten would have been the better term.

 

[skinny mike]

ti bolts and shimano hollowtech II xt cranks. unless you are a hack, theyll be fine. plus they are as light as xtr cranks with the granny tabs ground off.

 

[mack]

My DHR is 45! And its got light stuff on it, cept for the shivver.

05 DHR medium
Fox DHX with ti spring
MTX wheels
FSA carbon bars
Thompson Stem
American Classic Road Stem
FSA xtreme v cranks
Shivver
Road Ti Saddle
Road Casset
Shimano 105 der. short cage
E 13 guide

Heres where the weight starts
Kenda super thick DH tubes
Kenda nevegal super tacky tires 2 ply.

 

[Andy_B]

My DHR is about 39...
Boxxer w/mojo kit/Romic top crown direct mount stem
Azonic WF Bars
Thom. Post
Ti- Road Saddle
E-13 SRS
XTR Cranks/38 tooth SS ring
Time Z
Maxxis 2.5 DFH/Maxxis TS strips/Stan's
Single Track/14-15 double butted spokes/Hadley's
X9 med cage/X9 trigger
Hayes Mag
Sram Road cassette
Sram Hollow pin road chain
ODi Lock`ons

 

[mack]

My DHR is about 39...
Boxxer w/mojo kit/Romic top crown direct mount stem

This is my next move. I weighed my shivver the other day, damn near 10 pounds. Going to go for a boxxer world cup or somthing that i can afford.

 

[Andy_B]

This is my next move. I weighed my shivver the other day, damn near 10 pounds. Going to go for a boxxer world cup or somthing that i can afford.

Mine comes in just under 5.5lbs

Im going to get a WC for next year...

Maybe a DHX Air also...

 

[black noise]

You could cut your seatpost to the bare minimum if this is a race bike.
You could shave some weight down off the chainguide by going with that new Evil guide or a Gamut, I know E13s aren't the lightest.

 

[Biscuit]

Functional weight savings:
drop crowns
carbon bars (less arm pump, and yes they are plenty strong)
light tubes (depends on the rider)

Just weight savigs:
XT cranks
Gamut or new e13 guide
run a regular chainring insetead of a dh chainring (you have a bashguard)
XC bb, with isis you can save a lot of weight here, they just dont last as long.
SDG I-beam seat & post (heavy duty version only! carbon-look ones snap!)
Ti spring

You could also get a boxxer or dhx air and crap like that, but your adding big $$$ then, and maybeeee losing performance.

 

[PepperJester]

cut any extra leanth of your seat post.

cut down the bars as skinny as you feel safe with.

swap out the rear 8" rotor for a 6" you will save weight on the rotor and caliper mount. won't loose much power.

take a few extra pins out of your pedals.

take off all the decals.

use masking tape insteed of the plastic rim tape.

swap out heavy steel bolts for light ti bolts.

swap out thoes heavy mtx rims for lighter rhynoXL's with butted ti spokes.
(keep the mtx around for gnarrly days and only use the rhyno's for raceing)

try a smaller road cassete, dereailer, hollow pin chain.

carbon headset spacers.

drill some speed holes in the bash guard.

remove thoes bar caps.

DHX air?

 

[ioscope]

You could get an oxy acetalene welder and melt lead into the seatpost. You could open the front tubes and melt some lead in the there. That will weigh it down significantly.

Personally, I wouldn't ever get carbon fiber bars; a crash could weaken them and they could brake just riding along. I prefer aluminum bars.

A new wheelset would help, maybe a mavic ex. 729 with some lighter hubs. An integrated stem if you don't allready have one, maybe some TI hardware in places.

'

That is exactly what happened to my aluminum bars.

 

[OGRipper]

Just about everything you can do has been discussed, but there just isn't that much room to reduce weight without spending lots of cash or risking weak parts. The crankset is definitely one place to start, so are the rims and tires. I don't think you are going to save that much weight on hubs unless you go full bling like King. Ti coil will save you a little weight but you might put the cash towards a DHX air - the money saved plus the money you could make selling your DHX coil might be enough. Pepper Jester's ideas should give you an idea of what you're left with - in my opinion a lot of silliness that in the aggregate won't save anything worth mentioning on a DH bike. Those tips might make sense for an XC rig, but when you are talking about a few grams out of a 42 lb bike I don't see the point. Just eat one less donut per week and that should cover all the speed holes and carbon spacers...

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

Thanks for all the help. I really like the rims and they are perfect for me, im a bigger guy, around 200. I am getting a new seatpost and seat soon from SDG and new pedals. The DHX Air is my next perchase, but will I think I am loosing proformance with it?

 

[Biscuit]

Oh, I got one! Strip all the paint off the frame! Can look cool too. That's what I did to mine, but only because the paint looked like crap.

Now I can just take steel wool to it when I get a scratch.