One very light bicycle

I have been a cyclist since 1980 and have ridden road bikes and mountain bikes. I view a bicycle as the object and the means. Much like cars, bicycles are technical sculptures, functional yet stylish, but utilitarian. A bicycle is unsurpassed in its ability to convert human movement into motion and distance covered.

The 2003 Giant TCR carbon frame and fork, has Campagnolo Ultra 10 shifters and derailleur, Stronglight Pulsion cranks, AX Lightness seat and CF post, light Syntace stem and 3ttt bars and American Classic carbon wheels with Tufo S3 Lite 215g tubeless tubulars. Total weight is about 5.7Kg, or 12lbs 12oz. Very Light!

More details of the bike are given below.

Having once gone down the "gram counting" route with a mountain bike, I knew what was in store for me when I started thinking that 6.8Kg (15lbs, the UCI official weight limit for bicycles in sanctioned competition) was achievable for a bike based around the TCR carbon frame. I had a pretty light set of American Classic wheels with 420CR aluminum rims, running Kenda Kaliente tires. The components were Shimano DuraAce 9-speed.

Next thing to get were the handlebars. I had a Cinelli RAM one piece carbon bar for a long time, which is still the most amazing bar and stem I've ever ridden. But it's pretty heavy, and so for the moment I'm running a Syntace stem and 3ttt bars which are about 100gm lighter than the RAM.

More weight savings and the Campagnolo Record 2004 components beat the scales with carbon fiber brake levers and derailleur made of alloy, carbon and titanium. While the brakes calipers are good looking, they are a little heavy, so I got a pair of the Zero Gravity brakes. Together they weigh less than the front Record caliper, and due to a novel cam design they actually stop quite well. I have a traditional placement (as opposed to the contemporary "Lance" position) for the brake hoods on my handle bars.

No Campy Record carbon fiber cranks here--overpriced and not so light. I went with the Stronglight Pulsion cranks, made in France, and still amongst the lightest cranks available, even this day of integrated cranks and bottom brackets.) The bottom bracket is a Token titanium ISIS, which weighs a respectable 125g. I am using Speedplay X1 pedals, with titanium axles. They are pretty light. I've never suffered foot related problems so I can ride almost any pedal system without much bother. After many years of riding Sidi shoes, I am now using DMT carbons, which are cool, and incredibly garish in Pearl White. Other aspects of the drive train include the Campy Ultra chain, with drilled plates and pins, and the Cycle Dynamics titanium cassette (with the 21 and 23 cogs stolen from the American Classic aluminum set, just to keep the weight down!)

Even though the aluminum clincher wheels from American Classic were pretty light (1450g the pair) I finally caved in and got their carbon wheelset, which uses the Zipp 280g rims mated to the very light AC hubs with standard stainless spokes and nipples. No funky spokes and threaded hubs for me--call me an old fart, or conservative, or just plain practical, but I'd rather see familiar spokes in the right places on my wheels! The wheelset weighs in at 1120g, which is not too bad, even though many thousands of dollars more could have got me those German Lightweight wheels with the fiber spokes (oh... yeh.) Being rims for tubulars, I decided to go with the Tufo tires, which are tubular, and tubeless. Very light yet quite durable, I can run sealant inside them that does a great job against goat heads (known mostly as puncture vine it's the bane of cyclists in the desert southwest, and proof that God doesn't ride bicycles.) The rims have ceramic braking surfaces, much like the fancy carbon-ceramic brakes found on racing cars and the Porsche Carrera GT.

Brake cables are by Nokon, and I stuck with the Campagnolo shifter cables as they seem to work best with the finicky 10 speed gears. The Campy Record carbon fiber water bottle cage is an extreme indulgence but among the lightest cages made at 18g.

Well, that's about it. How does it ride? Who cares... No, really, it is the best riding bike I've ever had, and that includes quite a few. On a good day all I can hear is the hum of the tires on the road, and the sound of the chain over the gears. Nothing else.

I have ridden road bikes for that entire time, and mountain bikes since 1988. In 2002 I got a new road bike to better enjoy my daily commute. My previous road bike, a Merlin Extralight with DuraAce gruppo was a great ride, but I'd had it for over 5 years and it was getting old. I also have a Merlin mountain bike and a custom built time trial bike from the early 1980s (which doesn't get ridden).

A list of the components and weights of my bike is here.

I fabricated a new integrated saddle and seatpost. The post comes from an integrated piece I got from a guy in Holland (he went under the name GRace). Nicely made and extremely light, but the saddle just didn't suit my butt. I molded a new saddle on the shape I like most, and adapted it to the post for a unique combination that weighs 130gms.

You can find out more about light bikes at weightweenies.
Here's a list of links to the parts on my bike:
Giant TCR carbon frame and complete bikes
Campagnolo gruppos,
Stronglight Pulsion cranks,
USE carbon seatpost,
AX Lightness carbon saddles
Cinelli RAM bars and stem and combos
American Classic wheels and other parts
Tufo tires

Some other Light Giants