Sunday, October 19, 2008

Crash Diet


PA190365a
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

When the pressure is on, everyone becomes a weight weenie, and after the savage pasting I got in the Waitakeres yesterday, I'm pleased that I have wisely invested in a pair of fancy wheels to assist me at K2.
Lacking the power to get any advantage from aero wheels, I opted for low weight and minimal rolling resistance.
I horsetraded a set of Campag Record 28 hole hubs from Wellington's Capital Cycles, and loaded my credit card with a pair of IRD Cadence rims. Spokes are Wheelsmith- 1.8mm doublebutted on the front & lefthand rear, 2.0 double butted at the driveside.
With Gran Bois Cerf 700 x 28 tyres, the wheels are 620g lighter than my everyday 36 spoke Mavic MA3/Campag Veloce/Gatorskin 28 wheelset, and reduce the weight of my Breakaway to sub-20lb.
Despite the possibility that my scales may be a few decades past their best, I choose to believe that the Ritchey, with a Brooks saddle and no carbon, is no heavier than Oli's 8.76kg/19.31lb Hillbrick.

3 comments:

Redwoods said...

You could ditch the inside chainring - that would save a few grams...

Oli said...

I'm stripping my Hillbrick down tomorrow to look for the lead weights someone has obviously stuck down my seat-tube...

Nice wheelset, by the way.

David Benson said...

Oli- those digital scales are like cycle computers, and only result in heartbreak & disillusionment.