Project 18 - success!

Back in March, I mentioned my plans to get Grace's mountain bike down to the 18lb range. While a fully rideable and reliable mountain bike weighing in under 19lbs sounds like an impossibility, it's been done. Of course, she's riding a road cassette and dérailleur, and the front dérailleur has been pulled off and replaced by a very minimalist chain guide -- you can't get to 18lbs without making some compromises (or massive investments) -- but we've succeeded. I still have some work to do and some more parts I'd like to order. Unfortunately we're into the realm of diminishing returns, and to see a sub 18lb weight, we're going to be looking at those massive investments.

At some point I'll detail the work I've done to get the bike down this low. In the meantime, Grace has been absolutely LOVING the bike!

The typical response of the non-weight weenie to the investment of time and money required to accomplish a bike this light is "why not just lose 5lbs from yourself". Sure, that can be done ( and she's been doing that, too) but if you've ever ridden a bike that's 5lbs lighter, you'll know it rides TOTALLY different, and if it's been done right, it's different in a fantastically good way. Ask Grace, she'll attest to it.

What's really sad about this success is that Grace's 18.65lb bike is still equivalent to a 32.6 -- that's thirty two point six -- pound bike for me, based on body weight percentage!! To draw even with the 26.6lb weight of my Santa Cruz, we'll have to get her bike down to 15.2lbs!