Please help settle an arguement that I’m having with one of my roadie friends. I believe that the lightest production frame is the composite version of the Giant TCR at 2.1 lbs. The aluminium version was only 2.2 lbs.
Am I right or is there a lighter production frame available?
What frame size are we talking about? The Calfee Dragonfly, Litespeed Ghisallo, and most anything made out of U2 can come in under the kilo mark in smaller sizes.
check out www.weightweenies.starbike.com for details, they have the Ghisallo at 889 gms!
The interesting piece on Cervelo in the current issue of Cycle Sport says their new R2.5 is, not surprisingly, also “sub-one kilogram” – so add that to the list.
Piece also has a great photo of their initial, extremely radical design TT bike – the 1994/5 Baracchi.
That’s a cool site, Gary. (Although I think I’m a bit embarassed to admit it.) Thanks for the link.
cool site. Lots like they need a bit of help getting triathlon bike details on the website though.
Does anyone know the weight of a 52cm 2002 P2K frame?
dt.
Everyone makes this claim. The only way to know is to weigh the smallest example of each and go from there. I don’t tend to put much weight (he he) into these claims. I think of the 99 gram stem that was something like 85 or 90mm long.
You can get a Parlee pretty light, and it could be termed as a “production” frame, even though each is custom built. It depends on how much work you want to put into the bike, how much you weigh (for strength of componentry), and how much money you want to spend and you can build many a bike under 15 lbs. I remember in 1996 that regular (pre- 110 and 120) Trek OCLVs were coming in at under 16 lbs, and that was before the threadless fork came into vogue.
Go to the weightweenies.com page that Gary spoke of, and you can get the links to the lightest bike in the world.
Once again…the best way to save a few grams is to go potty and get a hair cut before a race. What I like is the guys who spend TONS of money on a super light gizmo (remember SRP Titanium bolt kits for $400.00?) and then they put 44oz of fluids, a tool kit, spare tubes, patches, CO2, heavy ass cycling shoes that they did not weigh and uber heavy gel padded shorts (to compensate for the ultra hard carbon shell on their seat).
LOL
What was the weight of the Cannondale frame that lead the one team in the tour to put “Legalize my Cannondale” on their jersey?
Bwuahahaha! Gotta agree with you on this one. Every time I do a sprint race I look at the equipment on the bikes and just shake my head.
Two water bottles (full) plus the water holder on their aerobars.
Full repair kit for an 11 mile bike leg! (I once saw a guy changing a flat about 200 yards before the finish line. I am not making this up! Who says triathletes have brains? 
)
A 105 pound, 5’ 3" girl riding a 58cm Walmart special road bike that weighed about 26 pounds before she loaded it up! (Why am I so slow on the bike? Uh…) I could barely lift the sucker! The bike was even too big for me.
-Robert
well the tour magazine just puplished a test of the new Scott carbon frame. At 850gr (56-57cm) it would make it the lightest prd. frame. The real surprise was its stiffness, which exceeded I think Principia and Klein AL frames. They have developed a new
'secret" Mfg. process. The bike is developed in Germany and if I am not mistaken is built in CA.
Maybe I need a new frame:
‘The new Team Issue C1 frame is an incredible 895 gr. Together with the new C1 SL carbon fork (280 gr) the C1 combo will be lighter than a lot of frames on the market without fork!’
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Once again…the best way to save a few grams is to go potty and get a hair cut before a race. What I like is the guys who spend TONS of money on a super light gizmo (remember SRP Titanium bolt kits for $400.00?) and then they put 44oz of fluids, a tool kit, spare tubes, patches, CO2, heavy ass cycling shoes that they did not weigh and uber heavy gel padded shorts (to compensate for the ultra hard carbon shell on their seat).
LOL
Another second to this one.
A trackie buddy of mine swears he used to race against a guy who filled his tires with helium and drilled holes in the rims of his glasses. Try clipping your toenails instead, buddy!
As for the “who said triathletes are smart?” (great story about the final 200 meter flat change, BTW), we roadie TT’ers are no better…
Have raced a 2 mile very steep pure climb TT – best times about six minutes total or so, start to finish – with guys (some of them legitimate contenders) who appeared at the start line carrying full water bottles, pump, under-the-saddle flat fixing kits w/spare tubes, etc., etc.
Many of the races I do are so short that I will lose the race if I flat, anyhow. Might as well DNF and go on the sag wagon on a bike leg of less than 25 miles if you flat.
I second that, Bunnyman. I rarely carry more than a waterbottle on a sprint. The only time I carry flat stuff is if I’m planning on riding after the race. If I flat in a sprint, well, that race is done anyway. I’ve either lost the grudge bet and/or I was just training through the race. T2 loses its training effect if I’m off the game from a flat. Just fix the flat and head out on the road. Usually I just take off my bike shoes, walk the bike, cheer on everyone else as they pass by and wait for a lift back to the race site.