Tech special

Index to all Interbike 2001 reports

The 10.5lb bike

By John Stevenson

In last week's Interbike 2001 show report we mentioned the lightest bike of the show: Richard Bryne of Speedplay's 10.5lb Holland titanium with a selection of parts picked very carefully for minimum weight. We recieved lots of emails from people wanting to know exactly which parts went into this featherweight wonder, and Richard was quite happy to share the fruits of his weighing endeavours.

Richard's response to our request for the full spec was: "It is no secret but it was a whole lot of work finding the lightest real part available for every component. Attached is the list of parts. Hope this satifies your readers."

For those who don't think in two measuring systems simultaneously, 10.5lb is 4.8kg. That's 2kg less than the UCI's 6.8kg minimum legal weight for a road bike, and in a situation where weight makes a significant difference like a mountain stage or time trial, that's worth having. Keith Bontrager once worked out that one per cent off the total weight of bike and rider was worth 52 feet per mile on a climb, assuming constant power output. For a 65kg rider, Bryne's bike lops off 2.7 per cent compared to a UCI bike. On the 8.5 mile climb of the Alpe d'Huez, that's an advantage of over 1,100ft, or about 48 seconds (at 15mph). No wonder there's a push to reduce the weight limit.

Richard Bryne's 10.5lb (4.8kg) bike

The superlight Ti bike featured by Speedplay.
Photo: © Cyclingnews

Chassis

Frame: Holland Chem-milled 6Al/4V titanium frame (861g)
Fork: Reynolds Ouzo Pro carbon
Headset: Cane Creek Ultralight

Wheels

Front hub: American Classic micro 18 hole
Rear hub: Tune MAG 24 hole
Rims: Zipp 650 carbon
Spokes: Marwi Titanium
Nipples: DT Swiss aluminium
Tires: Tufo (122g)
Sprockets: Custom made alloy
Sprocket lockring: Action Tec 11 tooth
Skewers: Control Tech titanium
Rear wheel: Total weight without skewer, tire or cogs: 466g
Front wheel: Total weight without skewer or tire: 305g

Transmission

Bottom bracket axle: American Classic
Bottom bracket cups: Ultimate Machine
Bottom bracket lockrings: Topline
Cranks: Cat Cheetah carbon, 172.5 mm
Crank bolts: Alloy
Chainring bolts: Alloy
Outer chainring: Shimano Dura Ace 53 tooth
Inner chainring: Shimano Ultegra 42 tooth
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Record 10 rear derailleur (187g)
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace
Chain: Campagnolo 10
Derailleur cables: Gore ultralight
Pedals: Speedplay Titanium

Brakes

Brake levers/Shifters: Campagnolo Record 10 levers
Brakes: Cane Creek calipers
Brake cable housing: Alloy
Brakes: Cane Creek calipers

Contact points

Saddle: AX Lightness (87g)
Seat post: Moots chem. milled
Brake shoes: Weinmann with titanium studs
Stem: Holland titanium, 140mm
Handlebar tape: Cinelli Cork
Handlebar plugs: Plastic
Handlebar: Smolke carbon

Other: Titanium and alloy fasteners throughout

Total bike weight: 10.5 pounds

• Interbike 2001 trade show reports:
  • Main Report - US industry hits the pavement
  • Road bikes - Weighing up the options
  • Mountain bikes - New dirt
  • The 10.5lb bike - full specs of Speedplay's sub-5kg show-stopper
  • Division 1 suppliers - US bike makers take on Europe
  • Trackbikes and carbon - More track bikes and carbon specials
  • Trek's custom OCLV - New paint jobs and other releases from Trek

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