A mixed bag

Why yes, I have finally found a use for the spare set of Shimana Ultegra R8000 brake calipers I had knocking about...

And yes, I have fitted some Lifeline Professional carbon and titanium (and very aesthetically pleasing) QR skewers...

But also, yes, the Lifeline budget chain whip I tried to remove a cassette with did break on first use...

All of which goes to show, there are some things you can economise on and others (like those that need to handle in excess of 40Nm of force) that really reinforce the maxim, "buy cheap, buy twice." Or, in this case, send back to Wiggle in a bad mood.

P.S. For the weight-weenies amongst you:

• The front Ultegra caliper with stock pads weighed 181g, compared to 194g from the caliper it was replacing. However, I had to use the extra-long pivot nut from the old caliper because of the depth of my front fork, bringing the weight as fitted back to to 187g.
• The rear Ultegra caliper with stock pads weighed 180g, compared to 190g from the caliper it was replacing. All in all, I realised a 17g weight saving by replacing both calipers. More importantly though, I now stop much better.
• The combined weight of the Lifeline Professional carbon and titanium skewers is 45g. Yep, for the pair. This represents a saving of approximately 75g over the original pair, which is astonishing value given that these are currently reduced to just £18.99 (Wiggle) - be quick!

Worth the weight?

I wrote last time about changing the project bike's wheelset, specifically swapping out the stock 2016 Giant SR-2 alloy clinchers with a pair of Mavic Aksium Elite hoops that I'd sourced secondhand.

Well, I haven't done the back wheel yet, as I'm waiting for a new lockring tool to be delivered, but the results are in for the front wheel. And they are, truth be told, a little underwhelming.

The weight of the front Aksium Elite, bare except for rim-tape and skewer, registered as 882g on the Kitchen Scales of Inaccuracy^TM. The Giant SR-2 front wheel, in the same bare state, clocked in at 910g. So a weight saving, sure ... but 28g isn't much. I must admit to feeling a little disappointed. Part of the reason for this is that Giant make it very hard to find weight information for anything they sell, whether that's a stem, a wheelset or a whole bike, to the extent that you're reliant on reviews to find any weight data. Unsurprisingly, I hadn't been able to find any reviews of a six year old wheelset, just this comment on Reddit that gave the weight of the front wheel as 930g.

Anyway, it's not all bad news. Since I had the wheel off and the scales out, I weighed both skewers separately too. The Mavic skewer showed as 60g, the Giant at 56g. So the Giant skewer went on with the Mavic wheel. Another 4g saved.

I also took the opportunity to fit a light weight inner tube whilst I was at it, specifically a Schwalbe Extra Light. My size of choice is the 18c-25c with 50mm Presta valve, so I can tell you that size weighs in at 76g. As for the Vavert that came out of the tyre, well, it's quite hard to fit a deflated, user tube on some kitchen scales ... the only reading I managed to get was 125g. I'm not convinced that's right but, if it was, I made more of a weight saving changing an inner tube than I did replacing a wheel...

Oh, and since prospective Giant owners have to rely on bloggers and reviewers for weight data, let me reiterate the following:

A 2016 Giant SR-2 front wheel, bare except from rim-tape and skewer, weighs 910g.

The skewer that comes with a 2016 Giant SR-2 front wheel weighs 56g.

It's unlikely, but I hope that helps someone.