Saddles... before and after

As part of the continued bargain bike challenge, I picked up a new saddle on ebay for a third of RRP. So here's a gratuitous before and after.

Before: Giant Performance Road saddle (OEM)

After: Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Flow saddle with carbon rails

As you can see, according to the Kitchen Scales of Inaccuracy^TM, swapping out my saddle has saved me 209g - a weight reduction equal to very nearly five KitKats. And okay, I've yet to complete a long ride on the new saddle, but a very unscientific test (poking with my thumbs) suggests it is better padded than the saddle I did LEJOG on, so fingers crossed.

Bargain bike challenge update

So far, I've replaced both wheels, swapped out the QR swekers for some bargain super-light confections, switched the bottle holder for the very light one on my old bike, and removed extraneous items (notably the bracket that held an ineffective pump). Oh, and I've upgraded the brakes, fitting a pair of Ultegra calipers I had spare, and put a new tyre on the back wheel. The bike, which weighed 9.6kg when I got it, now tips the scales at approximately... (drum roll...)

Total expense so far, if you ignore regular maintenance items like tyres and tubes, is:

• The bike (secondhand): £200
• Wheelset (secondhand): £100
• New QR skewers: £18.99
• Total: £318.99

Everything else I either had already or has been swapped for kit on my old road bike, or is an expense that I would have incurred anyway if I'd bought a new bike as originally planned, like an aero Wahoo mount and Bike Register fees. Basically, I'm only counting costs that are unique to my purchase of the project bike, and that wouldn't have been otherwise incurred.

Anyway, the next job will be switch saddles, putting my superlight sliver of carbon on the proect bike. But that's a job for another day.

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!

Another update on Trigger's broom

In Only Fools and Horses, Trigger famously opined that, in his job as a council road-sweeper he's had the same broom for twenty years... just with seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles.

Only a totally unrelated note, I've been running the same bike for more than fourteen years, but with a few new heads and handles... here's an update on the current state of play:

Still original	Replaced or upgraded
Frame Fork Headset Front derailleur Rear derailleur Gear shifters Brake levers Brake calipers Grips	Wheels (M/U) Tyres (M/U) Inner tubes (M/U) Cassette (M/U) Brake pads (M/U) Brake cables (M) Shifter cables (M) Bottom bracket (M/U) Chain (M) Crankset (M/U) Chainrings (M/U) Handlebar (U) Pedals (U) Saddle (U) Stem (U) Bar ends (U) Top cap (U) Seatpost (U) Seatpost clamp (U)
Key: M = maintenance, U = upgrade

I've still got a set of Ultegra brake calipers to go on at some point ... beyond that, things will only get upgraded if they break and need replacing.

Anyway, as Del once asked, how can it be the same broom? But on the plus side, my bike is unique...

An update on Trigger's broom

In Only Fools and Horses, Trigger famously opined that, in his job as a council road-sweeper he's had the same broom for twenty years... just with seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles.

Only a totally unrelated note, I've been running the same bike for more than thirteen years, but with a few new heads and handles... here's an update on the current state of play:

Still original	Replaced or upgraded
Frame Fork Headset Seatpost Seatpost clamp Front derailleur Rear derailleur Gear shifters Brake levers Brake calipers Grips	Wheels (M/U) Tyres (M/U) Inner tubes (M/U) Cassette (M/U) Brake pads (M/U) Brake cables (M) Shifter cables (M) Bottom bracket (M/U) Chain (M) Crankset (M/U) Chainrings (M/U) Handlebar (U) Pedals (U) Saddle (U) Stem (U) Bar ends (U) Top cap (U)
Key: M = maintenance, U = upgrade

I've still got a set of Ultegra brake calipers to go on at some point, and a very light seatpost clamp... beyond that, I've only really got the seatpost to possibly upgrade, but it's already decent(ish) carbon, so it might come down to a question of cost, I guess.

Anyway, as Del once asked, how can it be the same broom? But on the plus side, my bike is unique...

Money well spent ... and not so well spent

My latest weight reduction/upgrade was to replace the OEM bar-ends on my bike with some Extralite UltraEnds. Extralite have replaced these with the CyberEnds now, but I got the UltraEnds on eBay from a bloke in Italy for a bargain price, because one bolt was missing. Thanks to Extralite's excellent spares policy, I was able to source an original bolt (also from Italy). All told, I spent about £40 buying and completing these - not bad considering they would have been (a slightly mad) €99 new, and even better when you consider the g/£ weight saved to cost ratio, as evidenced by the Scales Of Inaccuracy™, look:

  

So, money well spent.

Less well spent was the £17 I parted with to buy an IceToolz Ocarina torque wrench. I'm usually a bit sceptical about such bargains, on the basis that they're probably cheap for a reason, but I was swayed by this complimentary review from the usually reliable BikeRadar. What arrived, again from an eBay seller, certainly looked the part, and I was glad to finally have the chance to use it. Turns out that gladness was short-lived. Yes, the Ocarina correctly tightened the bolt on the right bar-end to a torque of 5Nm. Fixing the left bar-end in place, the Ocarina got to about 4Nm and then something inside let go, so that the shaft now turns freely from side to side in the handle ... rendering it completely useless.

So is a £17 torque wrench that covers a range of 1-10 Nm too good to be true? Seems that way. Whilst there are certainly some areas of bike upgrade and maintenance where economies can be sensibly made, it turns out that torque wrench purchase is probably not one of them. Buy cheap, buy twice...

"He's a boss, he's a VIP, he's a championship..."

I have a new top cap. Here it is on the the slightly dusty Scales Of Inaccuracy™, look:

The claimed weight, bolt included, is 2.9g - as you see, my kitchen scales aren't refined enough to prove or disprove this. Certainly doesn't seem to be overweight, at least.

This is an Extralite HyperCap - not cheap (no Extralite gear is, sadly), but I got this at a factory-special reduction because of "very small cosmetic imperfections". Works for me, because the one that was delivered (all the way from Italy) looks absolutely flawless.

So is it worth it? The cost and European postage? Well, it replaces a stem/bolt combo that weighed 17g, so I only strayed slightly the wrong side of the "£1 per 1g" cost/weight trade-off. Plus, I mean, come on, look at that hollow bolt... (don't look too closely at the design, I had no choice in that, it's the only one they do...)

So, swapping out a top cap to save 14g at a cost of €19... the transition is complete. I am officially a bike nerd.

P.S. The title of this post is a punning reference for readers of a certain age... because "top cap" sounds very much like this...

Stem subject

Before...

...and after...

I had got to the stage where every gram of weight saving was costing me £1, so to save 37g with this Specialized stem, bought secondhand for £15, seems to be good value.

Trigger's broom

In Only Fools and Horses, Trigger famously opined that, in his job as a council road-sweeper he's had the same broom for twenty years... just with seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles.

Only a totally unrelated note, I've been running the same bike for more than twelve years, but with a few new heads and handles...

Still original	Replaced or upgraded
Frame Fork Headset Stem Seatpost Front derailleur Rear derailleur Gear shifters Brake levers Brake calipers Grips Bar ends Top cap	Wheels (M/U) Tyres (M/U) Inner tubes (M/U) Cassette (M/U) Brake pads (M/U) Brake cables (M) Shifter cables (M) Bottom bracket (M/U) Chain (M) Crankset (M/U) Chainrings (M/U) Handlebar (U) Pedals (U) Saddle (U)
Key: M = maintenance, U = upgrade

I've got a set of Ultegra brake calipers waiting to go on next time the bike is serviced, plus I may yet change the bar ends and top cap (and possibly the stem, though that's a lot of money for a tiny gain, so...)

Anyway, as Del once asked, how can it be the same broom? But on the plus side, my bike is unique...

Saddled

Yes, that's a picture of my nice, new saddle, the Prime Primavera, on The Scales Of Inaccuracy™ (formerly The Scales Of Truth, but GCN called dibs on that), registering a scarcely credible 137-138g. For comparison, the saddle it's replacing tips those same scales at 345g. How is this kind of weight-saving possible, you might ask, and the answer is ... carbon. Lots of carbon. The body of the saddle is carbon. The rails are carbon. Everything that can be carbon, is, basically.

Also pictured, the little packet of Haribo those nice folks at Wiggle sent with the saddle. No, they didn't pay me to say that (though I'm open to offers, Wiggle et al.), they just seem nice. Plus they had a 43% reduction on this, bringing a saddle that weighs the same as three and a quarter KitKats into the realms of affordability. Still not cheap, but it's so light it's hardly there, for goodness sake...

Inevitable flip side? It appears to have less padding than the stock Giant saddle it's replacing, so it remains to be seen how comfy I find it on a long ride. As soon as I actually get my lazy, locked-down arse into gear and have a long ride, I'll report back here and let you know.

Dieting is hard

It's getting harder and harder to shed the pounds. This was a hard-won tenth of a kilogram...

Two changes - first, I finally got around to fitting the new (to me, it's secondhand) carbon handlebar, a Truvativ Noir T40, which, as we have previously established, is so light it would blow away in a stiff breeze. However, it turns out that the original bar was pretty light too, for aluminium, and this only yielded an 83g saving, if the Kitchen Scales of Truth™ are to be believed. Never mind. Also pictured is the newly fitted replacement aero bracket for my GPS, which quickly failed in the same way as the original. Never mind.

The rest of the tiny weight saving came by putting on these excellent Shimano PD-R8000 Ultegra SPD-SL carbon pedals. I didn't buy them to save weight, I got them to enter the world of cleats and clipping in... but even so, I got a 14g weight saving across the pair. Yes, I weighed pedals to record a 14g weight reduction. You ought to feel sorry for me really.

Where else can I shave some weight off? Well, I could get a carbon stem, but that's going to be a lot of money for a tiny saving. A better bet might be to treat myself to a new saddle, maybe with carbon rails. Other than that, I'd just have to buy a new bike...

Bar none

My new handlebar arrived today. As you can see from the kitchen scales of truth, it's quite a bit more than the claimed weight of 110g (nearly 13% more, maths fans)...

...but it's still so light it feels like it would blow away in a stiff breeze.

I hope it's worth the weight...

...and that I'm not just ruining my bike with all these mods...

Some new bits

A flavour of some new bits for old faithful...

Hutchinson Fusion 5 Kevlar Pro Tech

Schwalbe Extra Light

SRAM PG950 11-28T 9-speed

Less is more

There are whole corners of the cycling web devoted to weight reduction. Go on, Google "weight weenies", I'll wait.

Quite a rabbit hole, isn't it?

Now I'm not going to get into a bespoke set of bike-weighing scales (yes, they exist) but I have been quite inspired by the thought of upgrading my trusty old road bike, in part inspired by this excellent video. The final push has come from the recent spate of punctures though, prompting me to replace my somewhat worn tyres. So out go the brilliant (until this week) Schwalbe Durano Plus, which have put in well over 2,000 miles in the last nine months. And in come... what?

After extensive Googling, in will come Hutchinson Fusion 5 Kevlar Pro Tech. Yes, you read that right. Kevlar! Whereas the Durano Plus relied on an extra 5mm of rubber on the outer surface to provide sterling puncture protection, the Hutchinson have Kevlar. That, and the fact that they're foldable tyres, rather then the wired Schwalbe, should equate to a fair weight saving. Ditto the new Schwalbe extra light tubes I'd ordered.

That's what I thought when I went to bed last night. This morning, I got the scales out, to see whether this was rational in the cold light of day or whether I was falling down the weight-weenie rabbit hole. The results are in:

Part-worn Schwalbe Durano Plus 700x25c wired	494g	(Unscientifically weighed with, er, kitchen scales)
Hutchinson Fusion 5 Kevlar Pro Tech 700x25c folding	215g	(Claimed)
Potential weight saving of (494g-215g) x 2 tyres =	558g
Schwalbe 700c 18-28c 60mm Presta tube	113g	(Kitchen scales)
Schwalbe Extra Light 700c 18-25c 60mm Presta tube	80g	(Claimed)
Potential weight saving of (113g-80g) x 2 tubes =	66g
Potential total weight saving =	624g

Now part of me thinks brilliant, that's a great saving! And part of me looks at my old-man's paunch and thinks that there are much bigger weight savings to be made, if I could only stay off the flapjacks and Minstrels. But the point is, I may save nearly two thirds of a kilogram just by judiciously replacing things I needed to replace anyway, and without breaking the bank. That's a win, surely?

Next consideration - the wheelset. I weighed the Giant IOU333 front wheel that came with the bike, twelve long years ago, and it clocked 865g with the quick-release spindle in. That's not bad, actually. But I've been looking at the Prime Baroudeur SE Road wheelset from Wiggle (Prime being one of their in-house brands), where the front wheel weighs in at 661g. Assuming a pro-rated saving on the heavier rear too and I could be looking at another 465g of weight saving, just by upgrading my wheels. Except, brilliant value though the Prime wheelset is in the Wiggle sale, it's £175 that I don't actually need to spend...

The joy of brakes

After one too many near misses, I replaced (and upgraded) my brake pads recently.

Here are the pads that came off. They had done about 5,000 miles, in all weathers, and were shot.

Frankly, it's a miracle I hadn't stacked it...

These were not visibly branded but are likely to have been bog-standard Tektro pads, since that's what came on the bike when it was new, oh so many moons ago. Time for an upgrade then, I thought, and splashed out on these from the Clarks Elite range, which promise great performance in all weather conditions and have cut away carriers for weight reduction. I like the idea of weight reduction, even when it's only a couple of grams. Pathetic, I know. Anyway, here's a side-by-side comparison of old and new:

Yes, white carriers. What of it?

This isn't an in-depth review but I can tell you the new brake pads stop an old man on an old bike as well as any pads can reasonably be expected to, and allow you to feed pressure in nicely. Equally, it is once more possible to brake so hard that the back wheel locks up. Which is nice. Will be interesting to see whether I get 5,000 miles out of these...

TLDR: decent pads at this price point, docked a star because the carriers really show the dirt (who'd have thought?) ★★★★☆

BUY: Clarks CPS240 brake pads with extra cartridges, currently £10.99 per set from Cycle Replublic

Full disclosure: I bought these with my own money. If anyone wants to give me kit in exchange for an honest review, I'm open to that, but unless I explicitly say otherwise everything I review on here will be sourced and paid for by yours truly.