Weighing up the issues...

I realise this question should have went into the Lite DH/FR/AM (whatever it ended up being) build off thread but since it has finished I'm starting a new one!

Anyway, I am building up a SX Trail but I am slightly worried because as an estimate of what the bike will weigh when complete it is coming out around 39 pounds! I basically have a list of things that I would like to put on the bike and this is the weight of it all.

Is that weight going to be redicilous to pedal uphill? I have only bought forks and wheels so far, what could I realistically lose weight on whilst not sacrificing strength? I obviously still want the bike to look good with some 'bling' components though.

I know stock SX Trails are 36 pounds and are said to be ok for pedalling, what would people say is the upper weight limit that pedalling gets beyond a joke?

I have only bought forks and wheels so far…

Those items are going to have the largest impact on the bike's weight. Getting other, lighter components is obviously going to help keep the weight down, but won't make up for having a honkin' heavy wheelset on the bike.

PS: You would save some major weight if you only use one fork, rather than multiple forks;)

depends on you

just a couple of short years ago a 39 lb bike wasn't heavy and everyone pedaled them everywhere.

if you have some fitness and aren't a wimp you can pedal a 40 pound bike all day.

otherwise just don't be a wimp, ride it lots, and you will become in really good shape.

if you have some fitness and aren't a wimp you can pedal a 40 pound bike all day.

otherwise just don't be a wimp, ride it lots, and you will become in really good shape.

my bike fitness is shocking! But I am hoping to change that for next summer.

Cheers for the comments guys, it has reassured me that my rig isn't going to be like pedalling with an anchor attached!

Yes I have bought heavyish wheels (syncros fr 32 laced to pro 2's) and a heavyish fork (66 ata) but I see these as two components that need to be strong especially the wheels as i tend to damage my wheels alot from not being perfectly smooth all the time.

I have been thinking about going tubeless, how much of a difference will this make to weight?

if you have some fitness and aren't a wimp you can pedal a 40 pound bike all day.

otherwise just don't be a wimp, ride it lots, and you will become in really good shape.

Isn't that a training method authored by The Cannibal?

you probably wont notice tubless when lifting up the bike but you will notice a difference on the trail as its rotational weight same reason why dh tubes feel heavier when riding

depends on you

just a couple of short years ago a 39 lb bike wasn't heavy and everyone pedaled them everywhere.

I ride my 45lb Norco up Fromme no problem.
If you are in good shape it shouldn't be a issue, use the granny gear if you have to.

Don't worry about it. My Nomad is fairly porky as well. I'm not out to win any XC races on it, so who cares what the weight is. You're going to have to pedal a couple extra pounds to the top, but I'm guessing the couple extra pounds are going to help it feel extra good on the way down.

It depends on which part of the ride you care about most.
I'd rather grunt on the way up so I can have a great dh rig on the way down.
I ride (rode) my 47lb bike uphill all the time.

My VP Free is about 40 pounds and I ride up Vedder regularly with it. While riding a porky bike up hill can be done by anyone, the question should rather be, do you want to do this regularly. I love the discipline of earning your downhill….I'm a masochistic, aerobic ex-xc racer type. I love it. The fact that there are but a small handfull of guys that will actually come out to ride with me when a shuttle isn't involved is testament enough to how popular this is. And I can say from the bikes I have tested over the years that there are definitely very different quality of rides when you are pedalling up. Some 40 lb bikes are easy on the rider (my VP Free is a case in point). Others that may even be a tad lighter will make you see visions of heaven before you get to your destination.

I am going to suggest that in order to max out your fun quotient, you should endeavour to keep the pork off….the wheels will give you the greatest bang for your buck and tubeless will definitely help. Excessive rotational pork is gonna rip your heart out. Good strong wheels, do not need to be Atom Lab heavy. You can save weight up front as well without loss of performance (have you seen the retardedly light 09 WC Boxxer?). Everything else that saves weight will help but not as much as in these 2 areas and it will cost you substantially.

Regardless, you need to get a star on your crown for making it your goal to ride up……rep coming your way brotha.

I have a sxtrail built up to about 40 pounds and ride it all mountain, all the time.--and I AM NOT a particularly strong xc type.

Could easily drop a couplde of lbs with a switch to single ply tires but I have tried that and will not likely give up my dh rubber any time soon.

I have found the weight a non-issue, now that I have the suspension components properly valved and sprung for my weight and have swithed to tubeless.

The sxtrail pedals pretty damn good, and carries it's weight really well.
Enjoy it!

cheers everyone for your responses.

I was getting worried because it seemed everywhere I looked there were sub 35lb bikes! I definitely prefer the down part of any ride and always push myself as hard as I can on the descents so I guess the extra weight would accommodate this riding style better. I am working on getting my fitness up so the ascents aren't as knackering.

I noticed when I calculated the weight with single ply tyres and tubeless I was able to lose a fair amount. I currently run 2-ply tyres and love them because they feel so solid and I have yet to puncture (before I punctured regularly). Does going tubeless mean I can get away with single ply or are they still likely to fold under speed in corners etc?

Post up your proposed build and wait for the suggestions to roll in. You'd be surprised to see where you can lose weight for small amounts of $$$