I'd be more interested to see a longevity test of a bike like this. I'd would love to see the cost of keeping something this fragile on the road over a period of a couple of years.
A guy in Germany has/had a bike like that ~10 years ago and rode it a couple hundred miles per week for years. However…. IIRC he was like 60kg and had great road quality and didn’t have huge hills to mash up.
I would imagine that the carbon chainrings and jockey wheels would need replacing every few hundred miles. And brake pad replacement would be an awkward job.
I feel like are missing the point, If you’re asking about durability. I watch because it’s cool to see but I’d never own this, even if I could. We all know strong - light - cheap, pick 2.
@@samgreen5622 I’m more intrigued as to how much it costs to keep a super light bike on the road. It’s something the bike industry never actually wants us to know.
ive added 15kg lead to my bike😂 700c/23c alloy specialized , once your up to speed you carry far more coast momentum (i'm thin build 50kg ) and can just pedal a little bit every 5secs and get around for low watts it seems , im adding more weight soon i can probably add 50kg and will only be the equivalent of a 16st lad in total including me . I'm verrrrry lazy and more weight genuinely feels less effort to maintain speed .
I miss GCN plus already. Gotta love Ollie and his passion for bikes. Out of everybody on GCN he is the one I can most relate to. Mere mortal bike nerd that is passionate about it.
@@whatwelearned He has greater FTP than the rest of the crew because he's been working harder then the rest of the crew, who have greater natural talents.
"you can make quite a big saving when it comes to bearings". I will never understand weight weenies, but I really love the length people are willing to go to to reach this ultimate goal
this case was extreme, was a business trying to make publicity, on the road bike ambient, yes, the weight is importante, but, only if you're racing, or reaching goals or training hard, there's a lot of guys that weights 100 kg and his bike 9, and they chance everything to make it lighter without looking themselves, is a less is better conception, i'm saving for a bh, i was between the rs1 and the aerolight, which is heavier, but faster, there is not the point 100grs less, the aero benefict is stronger, always got to see the whole image
I think he's not allowed because it's a customers bike. But it would be a challenging ride anyway. It's a 58, and the seatpost and saddle are fixed. So it's probably just to big for him.
Off topic but have just finished Ollie's rouvy challenge. I did the 3 climbs in a week and thought I was going to die on the last one. Ollie doing them 3 in a row is amazing, chapeau!!
10:50 the cage has not been swapped out on the front derailleur. That's a standard Record cage from the early 2000s. The plastic chain bumper has been taken out tho'.
Carbon chainrings and pulleys are not designed to last at all. They are pretty to look at and are light, but you'll need a subscription to the manufacturer to keep replacements coming.
I have the original Cervelo R5 California frame, sub 700 grams, as well as the last R California frameset, sub 650 grams ... I did not build the bikes to be the lightest bikes possible, but I did load them up with the best components, in the most beautiful build look. They are below 5kg, so less than 11 lbs ... I tend to agree, a bike can be too light. When I ride my California's, I feel like I am piloting an F16! ... it is fun tough, to see how a shop makes the lightest bikes possible ... why not! ... Ok GCN, let's see a rider on it!!!
I love how stoked he seemed when feeling the lightness of the wheel getting up to speed so quick and easily! That’s his utmost genuine reaction ever as the bike/science nerd he is at heart!
I built a weight weenie bike similar to this a few years ago, down to 9.6 lbs. After a while of riding I found that the drivetrain was not as responsive and reliable, so I took off the fibre-lyte chainrings and put on Di2 shifting. Now it's much more of a daily driver, up to 10.7 lbs. It's still pretty scary going down long steep descents, so better to use another bike for that. The aerolite pedals are very good and efficient and easy to use, but if you are sprinting hard especially uphill and you move your knees outward, the foot can come out of the pedal since this is the way to get them out. It's a knee-in and knee-out to clip in and out (not sliding in and out as Ollie mentioned).
I built a Klein Attitude in the 90s that weighed around 7 kilos. My ex girlfriend stole it and later sold it for £300. Around one thirtieth of its value. Three decades later I'm still pissed off about it.
Reminds me of Art Stump in Santa Monica CA in the early 1970s. His black-chromed custom steel frame and meticulously drilled and pared components kept the weight around 19 lbs / 8.8kg, which was damn good in those days.
If you knew anything about AeroLite pedals, you'd know that the cleat snaps down onto the roller bearing supported barrel (black piece_ and to release, you tilt your foot outwards (away from the bike) instead of twisting at your heel. I owned some in the early 90's ... super smooth, but walking in cycling shoes with those cleats is SUPER DUCK walk!
Regarding the pedals, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong, you do not slide the shoe into the pedals, but yourather push down your foot into the pedal applying pressure on the edge first then it will snap on! Excellent review by the way!
The cleat and hardware are light - mainly plastic. They work as the top commenter states. The resistance (how difficult to get in-out) was tuned by screw mounts of the cleats on the shoes. Hard to describe fully so I haven't done well here. These first appeared in the 1980s.
Hey Ollie come and check out what we are doing with Andrew Feathers hill climbing bike! ..we are about to make his 2018 frameset lighter still using robotics. Come see us, It’s been a while!
You can build a sub 6.8 kg rim brake bike without even trying. No special light weight components, no compromises on safety or structural integrity, and compared to modern bikes at a fraction of the price. The old paradigm was a harmonious, refined set of complimentary components that when combined thoughtfully produced a bike that was much more than the sum of its parts. Road bikes were better before disk brakes.
I had aerolights on a tri bike in the ‘80s. You just click in and twist off. The cleats are bulky and you must lengthen your seat post over an inch and adjust everything to compensate. Lean angle is incredible too. Didn’t know they were still made.
I actually think the downtube shifter is quite a neat idea. You've still got a reasonable range of gears available out of the saddle; I'm pretty sure they looked at how often you change the front mech compared to the rear and decided to save a couple of hundred grams instead...
Very nice video. I've just got one small correction: I've used several 11-23, and one 11-27 10S Recon cassettes. They are not anodised. Instead, they are ceramic plated. This extremely smooth ceramic layer is not wearing at all, unless your chain is skipping hard on the cassette, damaging parts of it. I've had anodised KCNC as well, made of same alloy, and it was not lasting long, due to abrasion. This ceramic layer is so hard, that cassette is lasting as long as the steel one rather than any anodised aluminium one. I'm familiar with machining metals, including Al 7075. Also I'm not very powerful rider, though usualy riding long slopes - so I can only guess, Recon would be finished much faster being riden by more powerful rider by denting Al 7075 teeth rather than normal abrasion wear, because even hardest aluminium alloy is much softer than hardened steel - you can hit a sample with the hammer, and it's dented easily.
i like very much, its amazing that all pins in the chain seem to be hollow, very nice machine, i totally agree about the weight sweet spot at apx 4.6 to 4.8 to give a more sturdy feel for decending, yes would love to watch andrew tackel a notorious climb on it.
I have been to fair wheel bikes and several things struck me: 1. they have cultivated international relationships where they can get hand made parts from Europe that are mostly unavailable for these exotic builds. 2. They have people in Tucson who can anodize, coat or otherwise finish parts that have been tuned. 3. The builder I spoke to claimed (at that time) that those builds were ridable. I had 10 pound bike once that was a nightmare to maintain. These are much lighter than that.
does anybody remember the "Gunther Mai" bike, assembled by the same guys from Fairwheel Cycles? Twelve years ago, this project creates a 2,7 kg bike!!! THIS IS THE LIGHTEST. You can easily find photos and info on line.
Feather riding a feather up a hill, ohh yes please, would love to see that. Be interesting how much quicker he would be compared to his normal bike up the same hill 👍
Keen eyed among you will recognize the the brake / shifter hoods are original Sram Red 10 speed, heavily modified and victim of the dremel by Fairwheel. Us old farts will also recognize the downtube shifter to save weight, he who's name will not be spoken (LA) did this in the 2000 TDF. Don't forget to cut the seat post and all bolts to be as short as possible yet still be functional. The seat post only needs ot extend below the junction between the top tube and seat stays. Bottle cage bolts typically only need to be 10MM long. Keep unique content coming GCN, anyone with deep pockets can buy a pro tour level bike, not everyone has the vision or creativity to build a unique bicycle.
I actually looked at that bike in person. It is was more amazing than this video can show. BTW, the bike was at Fair Wheel Bikes warehouse on Park Avenue in Tucson Arizona. BTW, this bike was covered by Bicycling magazine and was listed as 6.8 pounds vice the UCI limit of 6.8 Kg. I didn't see mention of the price, but when it was built it cost in excess of 30k USD for all the work and parts.
I’m around 88 kg and I would be very uncomfortable riding this worrying about it just shattering. That said, it’s incredible what is possible when it comes to weight savings.
@@vonderponey3596 I'm 105kg +/- and I actually have a couple of these components on my bike: the THM cranks and I currently have a 30T fibre lyte little chainring on since I could only get the aluminum KCNC down to 32T. (mountains!) As for this build overall I'd take a hard pass. I'll pay for lightness, but not for inferior functionality. (Big carbon chainring chipped a tooth on me.)
These videos are cool for me because I'm from Tucson. Given you all were down there making these videos Im sure you checked out Mt Lemmon (or as i jokingly call it: col de Sonmex). It would be epic if you did some kind of epic climb video in Tucson. Have andrew feather fly in and ride with Lionel Sanders and Sam Long who live down there and have battled over that KOM. Heres one for you....3 man relay up lemmon. Just to see how fast they could do it as a team. Or a 3 man GCN team against one of those guys. Thanks for the great videos and for coming to the states!
Heck Yes.... Get Andrew Feather on that bike. One:: It suits his name and two: it would be epic to see him take on an epic climb and see what he sets the KOM by.
Some obvious additional weight savings: Shave down the brake pads (you only need enough to last a couple of rides). Ditto for the tyres (why lug around all that extra rubber?) The saddle nose looks like it could be a few mils shorter. And the branding only needs to be the outline of the letters.
I'd love to see a sub-4 kg bike race contest. Like a bunch of people build bikes as light as possible and then compete on them. Similar to how Red Bull has their wild challenges like the hang gliders and downhill carts.
@@dan43544911 the point isn't to see who's the best cyclist, it's to see who can build something that can handle the race. Look up Red Bull's hang glider contests or downhill carts contests. They're a blast.
This is an old bike that could be made lighter. You could even get those cable housings in Carbon at 1 point. Fairwheel bikes were pioneers back in the day on the weight weenies site. I once built a 4.6 kg Scott CR1 LTD using a lot of the same components. Light as a feather but not the best to ride for any sort of distance. But, I would use the Clavicula cranks & Tune hubs on any bike. Top quality stuff.
Am I the only one thinking it's really weird how rim brakes in 2024 have such limited options, like for tire/wheel widths etc? It's like the industry is really pushing to phase them out completely for no reason but to push heavier, more expensive disc brakes that are harder to repair
I would have liked if they made the cockpit finish as impressive as the weight. The shifters just look unfinished and rough, the molded plastic right hood has a jagged cut out and the downtube shifter looks like a junk part. You can also see the bar tape unraveling and blowing in the wind at the end of the video. I know that this is essentially a "concept" bike but I would have spent more time to polish the cosmetics since you know they're going in close on camera.
i imagine walking this bike down some stairs with my chest out, put it down on the road and confidently mount the bike, with one pedal stroke i accelerate to 30k get two punctures and then can’t brake
single chainring, so no front derailleur, regular brake (non-shifting) levers; single downtube shifter for the rear derailleur, no bottle cage, no bar tape, no plugs; that might be 100 grams
That's the standard issue carbon fiber cage on the Record derailleur. They've been carbon on Record since around 2005. Looks funky, is very light, but unfortunately also a lot less durable than the aluminium cage on Chorus... Other than that, I liked how Ollie goes on and on about the acceleration of the rear wheel. However, what REALLY is unusual here is how insanely many engagement points there are on that prototype Tune hub.
@@space.youtube I recently broke one from about 2016, and I can guarantee that it's just carbon fiber. Maybe some model years were carbon-wrapped steel.
@@Antti5 The FD on this bike is badged "Titanium" which dates it to circa '04-'06, so the 2016 iteration is almost irrelevant. It's from the late square taper carbon crank, black brake caliper era. I do not have this Record 10v groupset, but I do have earlier and later Record 10v groupsets. So I checked what I have. The '07-'08 Record "UT Ultra Torque/QS Quick Shift" era FD has a heat treated alloy cage with the outer plate reinforced by a carbon layer. The FD chain interface is still metal on metal, both shifting up onto the big ring, and down. Campagnolo may have utilised a full carbon outer plates in '04-'06 Record, but for whatever reason (durability, stiffness perhaps) it didn't in the UT/QS 10v Record era. It seems odd to me that they'd take an apparent 'step back' though? Maybe they had issues that were later resolved in time for the 11v era? Or maybe the '04-'06 Record 'Titanium' FDs were in fact also alloy with carbon reinforcement?
Super interesting build, but as you pointed out it's just suitable for hill climbing. Sadly the chainrings from Fibre-Lyte will be the first thing to be gone, carbon fibre tooth against titanium-steel chain... not going very far before abrasion took over
I'm curious how long it took to tune/source all of the parts for the build. It takes a lot of time to grind away stuff and have it look good in the end. Also, cost of course, not to critique, just curious how much it took to get it to that weight. Awesome build!
This bike is very very oldschool and represents the pinnacle of light bike builds. 15 year ago I was in the weightwennie rabbit hole myself and on this bike all tricks are uses to make it very light. In my opinion a lot of these part are not very durable and not practical. I already can hear the creaking from the Aligator I Links and the old Ax parts are flexible like butter. Good luck riding this bike on bad roads or jumping over something , or putting over 1000W into the Fibre Lite chainrings.Not to mention the tires. But it is also a great example how far the bike industie has come today. Today it is possible to build a 5,5- 5,0kg bike with normal parts, power meter, electronic shifting, normal tires and disc brakes.
That's what I was thinking about, or at least a single speed. Can it break the 3 kg wall taking off shifters, a brake (in case of the fixie) and so on?
Fixies and front brakes are a bad mix. If you do an emergency braking with the front brake, the momentum from the back wheel will make the bike buck and send you flying head-first into what you are braking from. That's simple physics. I rode a fixi for apr. 20,000 miles as a messenger three winters a couple of decades ago (single-speed freewheel in the summer half of the year) and I never used a front brake. In stead, I learned to brake and manoeuvre properly with the rear wheel.
Outstanding video. Yes, I would be totally excited to follow a video of yours where Feather climbs a challenging hill with a lightweight bike like this, perhaps comparing the performance (and his impressions) with using a current, modern bike like the one the Pros use for TdF climbs. Btw, I think the climbing times will be in favor of the lighter bike, even though every race (except for time trials like the one on the last stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023) also features as much downhill and especially flat...
I dont know a thing about road bikes but in downhill bikes i learned that when you go too far in weight savings parts starts to break or bent. It would be interesting to see a durability test in these ultra light weight builts, in a real world without a super light rider in a ultra smooth road.
Weird combination. A 2x which you dont need for hill climbs, but brake levers which will snap the first time you have any serious braking on road. Where are you meant to ride this?
Ride it? Nah, it's just to look amazing hanging on a scale. Screwball stuff like this was all the rage before the UCI minimum weight rule came into force.....just like Spinaci bars... remember those..coolest things ever...until they were banned?
We are with you if we can ever get the US congress off their butts long enough to send you money! Probably training your pilots here right now. Praying for you guys! 😢
"We could use your support" was a worrisome comment. ☹️ That said, I'll always be a fan of Red 10. It was way ahead of its time and is still an impressive mechanical gruppo. I loved the bike i had it on.
Well, every component has been compromised in some way to save the last bit of weight. It's stupid, shaving off those final 3 kg off a bike is not worth it at all.
@@glossymouse7712 lol the same can be said for shaving a bike down to 7kg. If you have trouble riding a 10kg bike fast up inclines it's a "you" problem
@@kennethg9277 I agree, when I started cycling I couldn't go up inclines at all cause "my bike was too heavy" or something. 2 months later I was going up steep inclines in the top gear.
If you value the fastest, best feeling, lightest and easiest to live road bike with then rim brakes, sram red and external cables cant be beat.
Shhhhhhh! Keep quiet. You're revealing top secrets on a large . . . scale?🤭🤭
eat your cucumbers
Lightest bike has to be fixed gear one!
I'd be more interested to see a longevity test of a bike like this. I'd would love to see the cost of keeping something this fragile on the road over a period of a couple of years.
A guy in Germany has/had a bike like that ~10 years ago and rode it a couple hundred miles per week for years. However…. IIRC he was like 60kg and had great road quality and didn’t have huge hills to mash up.
@@ericpmossuphill isn't too bad, the downhill is the scary part on this kind of bike
I would imagine that the carbon chainrings and jockey wheels would need replacing every few hundred miles. And brake pad replacement would be an awkward job.
I feel like are missing the point, If you’re asking about durability. I watch because it’s cool to see but I’d never own this, even if I could.
We all know strong - light - cheap, pick 2.
@@samgreen5622 I’m more intrigued as to how much it costs to keep a super light bike on the road. It’s something the bike industry never actually wants us to know.
Feather. Hill climbing. This bike.
Make it happen, GCN!
I second this motion. All in favor say aye
@@seattlegrrlieaye
He might just rise up into the sky and never be seen again! Be careful! But yes, Feather, this bike, climbing. Perfect!
@@aliensporebomb💀
Pretty sure he would break this bike in pieces when putting his normal power through it.
Magnetic hubs. Lightweight builds. F-16's.
Ollie is in nerd heaven.
tf is a magnetic hub
@@2darkdragon Google search is free
This truly is Ollie's happy place 🙌
ive added 15kg lead to my bike😂 700c/23c alloy specialized , once your up to speed you carry far more coast momentum (i'm thin build 50kg ) and can just pedal a little bit every 5secs and get around for low watts it seems , im adding more weight soon i can probably add 50kg and will only be the equivalent of a 16st lad in total including me .
I'm verrrrry lazy and more weight genuinely feels less effort to maintain speed .
@@TheCraigy83 Wait wait wait, how did you add lead, did you fill like the frame or something?
I miss GCN plus already.
Gotta love Ollie and his passion for bikes. Out of everybody on GCN he is the one I can most relate to. Mere mortal bike nerd that is passionate about it.
Likewise to missing the GCN+ aspect. But disagree about Ollie. Not entirely mortal.
The dude likely has the highest ftp of the entire crew so he's hardly the most 'mortal'
@@whatwelearned Agreed, but he's achieved it by working his arse off
@@davidf2281 and pros just get born like that? Everyone good has worked hard
@@whatwelearned He has greater FTP than the rest of the crew because he's been working harder then the rest of the crew, who have greater natural talents.
"you can make quite a big saving when it comes to bearings". I will never understand weight weenies, but I really love the length people are willing to go to to reach this ultimate goal
this case was extreme, was a business trying to make publicity, on the road bike ambient, yes, the weight is importante, but, only if you're racing, or reaching goals or training hard, there's a lot of guys that weights 100 kg and his bike 9, and they chance everything to make it lighter without looking themselves, is a less is better conception, i'm saving for a bh, i was between the rs1 and the aerolight, which is heavier, but faster, there is not the point 100grs less, the aero benefict is stronger, always got to see the whole image
Seriously sad that Ollie didn't get to ride this one. It's like a lesson in restraint.
it's because it's can't be ride. pretty sure ollie break the saddle
@@buenox1414I think he meant it's unrideable 😂😂😂.
I think he's not allowed because it's a customers bike. But it would be a challenging ride anyway. It's a 58, and the seatpost and saddle are fixed. So it's probably just to big for him.
@@jolandhseat is adjustable. He told us the clamp weighs 6 grammes
@@KeatB he's short and the bike is about 2 sizes too big for him
This bike will break into pieces the moment i am coming closer than 10m. Amazing work.
Think of trying to motorize this bike! Lolol
Off topic but have just finished Ollie's rouvy challenge. I did the 3 climbs in a week and thought I was going to die on the last one. Ollie doing them 3 in a row is amazing, chapeau!!
After a few minutes of watching, I had to do number 2. I feel 300 grams lighter 👍 amazing feeling really 😌👌
😆
Impressive build and the level of details is mindblowing!
Just needs 1g of glue for the bar tape at 4:13
I once made a commuter V brake 27 speed at 10 kg.
I thought I was a legend. 😂
It was lovely though.
10:50 the cage has not been swapped out on the front derailleur. That's a standard Record cage from the early 2000s. The plastic chain bumper has been taken out tho'.
I think it has actually. The arm says very clearly "record titanium" but the cage on that is curved, not square edges like this.
I'm not a "roady" at all, I have 0 interest on road bikes, but this is very interesting as an engineering exercise.
Yes would love to hear Andrew Feathers review of this bike after a hill climb
Carbon chainrings and pulleys are not designed to last at all. They are pretty to look at and are light, but you'll need a subscription to the manufacturer to keep replacements coming.
so refreshing to see a rim brake bike being featured on this show
We do still love rim brakes 😢
And a downtube shifter… 😂
+1000 !
I have the original Cervelo R5 California frame, sub 700 grams, as well as the last R California frameset, sub 650 grams ... I did not build the bikes to be the lightest bikes possible, but I did load them up with the best components, in the most beautiful build look. They are below 5kg, so less than 11 lbs ... I tend to agree, a bike can be too light. When I ride my California's, I feel like I am piloting an F16! ... it is fun tough, to see how a shop makes the lightest bikes possible ... why not! ... Ok GCN, let's see a rider on it!!!
I love how stoked he seemed when feeling the lightness of the wheel getting up to speed so quick and easily! That’s his utmost genuine reaction ever as the bike/science nerd he is at heart!
A Great review every detail explained nothing left out thank you Ollie.
Love how crudely dremeled out the carbon parts are. Tuning at its best!
A RUclips bike mechanic.....it looks like🤣
I love it when people make bikes like this. Impractical, yet functional and head turning!
Impractical AND functional, how does that work?
@@johnnunn8688Because it does what its intended to do its just not worth it. The weight savings do add up but the trade off is bad
Impractical yet functional... reminds us of something (cough cough) someone else 😉
@@Derpynewb, gotcha 👍.
What do you mean I practical . The fact I beat a bunch of road cyclists uphill on my 6.3kg mtb shows light bikes work .
It's not a cotton bar tabe, it's an automotive electrical harness wrap XD
I built a weight weenie bike similar to this a few years ago, down to 9.6 lbs. After a while of riding I found that the drivetrain was not as responsive and reliable, so I took off the fibre-lyte chainrings and put on Di2 shifting. Now it's much more of a daily driver, up to 10.7 lbs. It's still pretty scary going down long steep descents, so better to use another bike for that. The aerolite pedals are very good and efficient and easy to use, but if you are sprinting hard especially uphill and you move your knees outward, the foot can come out of the pedal since this is the way to get them out. It's a knee-in and knee-out to clip in and out (not sliding in and out as Ollie mentioned).
I built a Klein Attitude in the 90s that weighed around 7 kilos. My ex girlfriend stole it and later sold it for £300. Around one thirtieth of its value. Three decades later I'm still pissed off about it.
Fantastic Ollie thanks a great review every detail covered .
A beautiful bike to keep on the decorative wall, because it's true that it can't handle a hard pedal after a curve
Fairwheel is such a great shop. They cater to everyone from commuters to serious bike nerds. Never miss a visit to the shop when I’m in Tucson.
Ollie had to be forcibly removed from the shop as they feared he wouldn't leave!
I'm tired of mountain bikes getting heavier all the time so I'm happy anyone is talking about light bikes
If you want to get the that sweet spot 4.6kg, just add a full bottle and you're done :D
Reminds me of Art Stump in Santa Monica CA in the early 1970s. His black-chromed custom steel frame and meticulously drilled and pared components kept the weight around 19 lbs / 8.8kg, which was damn good in those days.
That rear hub is crazy!
If you knew anything about AeroLite pedals, you'd know that the cleat snaps down onto the roller bearing supported barrel (black piece_ and to release, you tilt your foot outwards (away from the bike) instead of twisting at your heel. I owned some in the early 90's ... super smooth, but walking in cycling shoes with those cleats is SUPER DUCK walk!
I loved the part where he tries the bike
In my shop days we built a 14lb bike for a guy. Climbed great but descended like shit. Still, bring back light bikes!!
7 pounds
Regarding the pedals, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong, you do not slide the shoe into the pedals, but yourather push down your foot into the pedal applying pressure on the edge first then it will snap on! Excellent review by the way!
Are the pedals are actually a weight saver or is the increase on the cleats eating the benefit of the pedals?
The cleat and hardware are light - mainly plastic. They work as the top commenter states. The resistance (how difficult to get in-out) was tuned by screw mounts of the cleats on the shoes. Hard to describe fully so I haven't done well here. These first appeared in the 1980s.
I've seen shoes with these cleats. They get worn out rather quickly and badly.
apologies about that! I've never used them! my bad
Hey Ollie come and check out what we are doing with Andrew Feathers hill climbing bike! ..we are about to make his 2018 frameset lighter still using robotics. Come see us, It’s been a while!
You can build a sub 6.8 kg rim brake bike without even trying. No special light weight components, no compromises on safety or structural integrity, and compared to modern bikes at a fraction of the price. The old paradigm was a harmonious, refined set of complimentary components that when combined thoughtfully produced a bike that was much more than the sum of its parts.
Road bikes were better before disk brakes.
They were far worse. Thank God rim brakes are a dying relic of the past.
I'll second that emotion!
I love my discs.
I just like the simplicity of those gorgeous components. It is impressive but only as an experiment. Loved the video nonetheless. Cheers
I’ve had a LOOK 695 XL equipped with 10s SRAM red and Mad Fibers wheels at 5.8KG. Solid all-round climbing bike.
I had aerolights on a tri bike in the ‘80s. You just click in and twist off. The cleats are bulky and you must lengthen your seat post over an inch and adjust everything to compensate. Lean angle is incredible too. Didn’t know they were still made.
Don't put a bottle of water into it!!!
HEY GCN guess what?? This bike has rim brakes !!!!!!!!!
I actually think the downtube shifter is quite a neat idea. You've still got a reasonable range of gears available out of the saddle; I'm pretty sure they looked at how often you change the front mech compared to the rear and decided to save a couple of hundred grams instead...
It's also a binary switch: It's either up or down. Don't have to worry about indexing.
Very nice video. I've just got one small correction: I've used several 11-23, and one 11-27 10S Recon cassettes. They are not anodised. Instead, they are ceramic plated. This extremely smooth ceramic layer is not wearing at all, unless your chain is skipping hard on the cassette, damaging parts of it. I've had anodised KCNC as well, made of same alloy, and it was not lasting long, due to abrasion. This ceramic layer is so hard, that cassette is lasting as long as the steel one rather than any anodised aluminium one. I'm familiar with machining metals, including Al 7075. Also I'm not very powerful rider, though usualy riding long slopes - so I can only guess, Recon would be finished much faster being riden by more powerful rider by denting Al 7075 teeth rather than normal abrasion wear, because even hardest aluminium alloy is much softer than hardened steel - you can hit a sample with the hammer, and it's dented easily.
i like very much, its amazing that all pins in the chain seem to be hollow, very nice machine, i totally agree about the weight sweet spot at apx 4.6 to 4.8 to give a more sturdy feel for decending, yes would love to watch andrew tackel a notorious climb on it.
I have been to fair wheel bikes and several things struck me: 1. they have cultivated international relationships where they can get hand made parts from Europe that are mostly unavailable for these exotic builds. 2. They have people in Tucson who can anodize, coat or otherwise finish parts that have been tuned. 3. The builder I spoke to claimed (at that time) that those builds were ridable. I had 10 pound bike once that was a nightmare to maintain. These are much lighter than that.
Diminishing returns has entered the chat.
does anybody remember the "Gunther Mai" bike, assembled by the same guys from Fairwheel Cycles? Twelve years ago, this project creates a 2,7 kg bike!!! THIS IS THE LIGHTEST. You can easily find photos and info on line.
Feather riding a feather up a hill, ohh yes please, would love to see that. Be interesting how much quicker he would be compared to his normal bike up the same hill 👍
Keen eyed among you will recognize the the brake / shifter hoods are original Sram Red 10 speed, heavily modified and victim of the dremel by Fairwheel. Us old farts will also recognize the downtube shifter to save weight, he who's name will not be spoken (LA) did this in the 2000 TDF. Don't forget to cut the seat post and all bolts to be as short as possible yet still be functional. The seat post only needs ot extend below the junction between the top tube and seat stays. Bottle cage bolts typically only need to be 10MM long.
Keep unique content coming GCN, anyone with deep pockets can buy a pro tour level bike, not everyone has the vision or creativity to build a unique bicycle.
I'd love to see a series with a track sprinter trying to snap that thing 😂
Brad the Body builder.
Wouldn’t need a series, just .25 of a very short video clipette.
They need to get Quadzilla on the channel. Look him up, he is insane
What do you mean trying? It would break if someone who weights 80 kg try to ride it
@@larshaukenfrers is he not a rugby player?
Instead of Andrew Feather, can we ask Andre Greipel to do a couple of standing starts on it? 😂
It's nice to see a rim brake on GCN
Yep, it's a reminder how ugly all disc braked bikes look... this is much better.
@@nellyx1x493 I prefer disc brakes look, looks masculine and remind me of motorcycles :)
@@Gicus94 disc brakes look masculine? er ok. Carry on, whatever it takes.
Cyclist raving about rim brakes remind me hipsters and their vinyl records
@@ssensselExactly. The same people who wax poetically about their old-school RIM cellphones that were “better.”
"Just so HEAVILY modified" -- Ollie being unintentionally ironic all of a sudden!
I actually looked at that bike in person. It is was more amazing than this video can show.
BTW, the bike was at Fair Wheel Bikes warehouse on Park Avenue in Tucson Arizona.
BTW, this bike was covered by Bicycling magazine and was listed as 6.8 pounds vice the UCI limit of 6.8 Kg.
I didn't see mention of the price, but when it was built it cost in excess of 30k USD for all the work and parts.
I miss GCN+. Thanks Ollie for keeping it exciting after the closing of GCN+. I know that’s tough!!
Absolutely agree!
I’m around 88 kg and I would be very uncomfortable riding this worrying about it just shattering. That said, it’s incredible what is possible when it comes to weight savings.
I’m 64 kg and I wouldn’t feel comfortable riding this down my driveway! 😀 I do like that it exists though, just not for me.
One tiny gust of wind and that would be it!.
I'm 100kg and obviously I don't ride bikes 😅 Well motorcycles, and my old Colnago Sprint
The rider weight still makes the biggest difference - That said, a bike like this will make you fly up hill 💨
@@vonderponey3596 I'm 105kg +/- and I actually have a couple of these components on my bike: the THM cranks and I currently have a 30T fibre lyte little chainring on since I could only get the aluminum KCNC down to 32T. (mountains!) As for this build overall I'd take a hard pass. I'll pay for lightness, but not for inferior functionality. (Big carbon chainring chipped a tooth on me.)
Who needs 2 brakes, overkill baby.
Ditch the rear brake and one front chainring and we are heading for 3 kg
These videos are cool for me because I'm from Tucson. Given you all were down there making these videos Im sure you checked out Mt Lemmon (or as i jokingly call it: col de Sonmex). It would be epic if you did some kind of epic climb video in Tucson. Have andrew feather fly in and ride with Lionel Sanders and Sam Long who live down there and have battled over that KOM. Heres one for you....3 man relay up lemmon. Just to see how fast they could do it as a team. Or a 3 man GCN team against one of those guys.
Thanks for the great videos and for coming to the states!
Awesome info that’s what we need lightweight bikes 😊
Heck Yes.... Get Andrew Feather on that bike. One:: It suits his name and two: it would be epic to see him take on an epic climb and see what he sets the KOM by.
Sponsors wouldn't like a home build embarrassing them ...
Sponsors wouldn't like a home build embarrassing them ...
I would've said: Hack Yes!🤭
Some obvious additional weight savings:
Shave down the brake pads (you only need enough to last a couple of rides).
Ditto for the tyres (why lug around all that extra rubber?)
The saddle nose looks like it could be a few mils shorter.
And the branding only needs to be the outline of the letters.
The acceleration of the back wheel is given by how quickly you manage to do your one rev
What?
These bikes are excellent we can all run carrying these bikes up hills and stairs and ride effortlessly to work.
Dig this big time. More aesthetically pleasing than most modern aero durge. Love the downtube shifter, very Lance.
And 'infinite trimming' of the front derailleur.
Incredible, how cool it is that these people can work on such a level of detail!
True cycling nerd territory for sure 👀
I'd love to see a sub-4 kg bike race contest. Like a bunch of people build bikes as light as possible and then compete on them. Similar to how Red Bull has their wild challenges like the hang gliders and downhill carts.
Great idea!
A good cycler in a 6.5 kg bike would crush ever moderate biker on a 3 kg bike so I don't see the point.
@@dan43544911 the point isn't to see who's the best cyclist, it's to see who can build something that can handle the race. Look up Red Bull's hang glider contests or downhill carts contests. They're a blast.
Super interesting O.Keep up the excellent vids.Thanks mate
It looks beautiful too and I love the rim brakes! 👍🏼💜🇬🇧
Rms brakes and external cables, Baby!
This is an old bike that could be made lighter. You could even get those cable housings in Carbon at 1 point. Fairwheel bikes were pioneers back in the day on the weight weenies site. I once built a 4.6 kg Scott CR1 LTD using a lot of the same components. Light as a feather but not the best to ride for any sort of distance. But, I would use the Clavicula cranks & Tune hubs on any bike. Top quality stuff.
Plenty of us at GCN used to waste/invest many hours on the weight-weenies forum back in those days!
Super interesting video. Would love to know how long it would last on a British road with pot holes
Am I the only one thinking it's really weird how rim brakes in 2024 have such limited options, like for tire/wheel widths etc? It's like the industry is really pushing to phase them out completely for no reason but to push heavier, more expensive disc brakes that are harder to repair
I would have liked if they made the cockpit finish as impressive as the weight. The shifters just look unfinished and rough, the molded plastic right hood has a jagged cut out and the downtube shifter looks like a junk part. You can also see the bar tape unraveling and blowing in the wind at the end of the video. I know that this is essentially a "concept" bike but I would have spent more time to polish the cosmetics since you know they're going in close on camera.
i imagine walking this bike down some stairs with my chest out, put it down on the road and confidently mount the bike, with one pedal stroke i accelerate to 30k get two punctures and then can’t brake
single chainring, so no front derailleur, regular brake (non-shifting) levers; single downtube shifter for the rear derailleur, no bottle cage, no bar tape, no plugs; that might be 100 grams
That's the standard issue carbon fiber cage on the Record derailleur. They've been carbon on Record since around 2005. Looks funky, is very light, but unfortunately also a lot less durable than the aluminium cage on Chorus...
Other than that, I liked how Ollie goes on and on about the acceleration of the rear wheel. However, what REALLY is unusual here is how insanely many engagement points there are on that prototype Tune hub.
I want that hub!!
The Campag Record FD cage is steel with an outer carbon overlay.
@@space.youtube I recently broke one from about 2016, and I can guarantee that it's just carbon fiber. Maybe some model years were carbon-wrapped steel.
@@Antti5 The FD on this bike is badged "Titanium" which dates it to circa '04-'06, so the 2016 iteration is almost irrelevant. It's from the late square taper carbon crank, black brake caliper era. I do not have this Record 10v groupset, but I do have earlier and later Record 10v groupsets. So I checked what I have.
The '07-'08 Record "UT Ultra Torque/QS Quick Shift" era FD has a heat treated alloy cage with the outer plate reinforced by a carbon layer. The FD chain interface is still metal on metal, both shifting up onto the big ring, and down.
Campagnolo may have utilised a full carbon outer plates in '04-'06 Record, but for whatever reason (durability, stiffness perhaps) it didn't in the UT/QS 10v Record era. It seems odd to me that they'd take an apparent 'step back' though? Maybe they had issues that were later resolved in time for the 11v era? Or maybe the '04-'06 Record 'Titanium' FDs were in fact also alloy with carbon reinforcement?
If the Tune hub is anything to go by, we need to get a look at some more prototype components!
Bring on Feather
Super interesting build, but as you pointed out it's just suitable for hill climbing.
Sadly the chainrings from Fibre-Lyte will be the first thing to be gone, carbon fibre tooth against titanium-steel chain... not going very far before abrasion took over
... before abrasion takes* over.
I LOVE my Berk Saddle. It was very expensive, but it's super comfortable on my lightweight aluminum bike.
I'm curious how long it took to tune/source all of the parts for the build. It takes a lot of time to grind away stuff and have it look good in the end. Also, cost of course, not to critique, just curious how much it took to get it to that weight. Awesome build!
A build like this will take a while to really dial in 👌
This bike is very very oldschool and represents the pinnacle of light bike builds. 15 year ago I was in the weightwennie rabbit hole myself and on this bike all tricks are uses to make it very light. In my opinion a lot of these part are not very durable and not practical. I already can hear the creaking from the Aligator I Links and the old Ax parts are flexible like butter.
Good luck riding this bike on bad roads or jumping over something , or putting over 1000W into the Fibre Lite chainrings.Not to mention the tires.
But it is also a great example how far the bike industie has come today. Today it is possible to build a 5,5- 5,0kg bike with normal parts, power meter, electronic shifting, normal tires and disc brakes.
+1 for creaking link outer cables. I need to ocassionally WD40 my Jagwire Link cable outers!
Would love a road fixie superlight weight build. ( 50/18 165mm cranks, front brake etc).
Something to think about.
That's what I was thinking about, or at least a single speed. Can it break the 3 kg wall taking off shifters, a brake (in case of the fixie) and so on?
@@claudiofiero8523 Thinking about this, I can find pos 500g. I'm sure it could be done
I built a fixed gear with a custom frame currently 3.8kg but could be made lighter if i had infinite money
Fixies and front brakes are a bad mix. If you do an emergency braking with the front brake, the momentum from the back wheel will make the bike buck and send you flying head-first into what you are braking from. That's simple physics.
I rode a fixi for apr. 20,000 miles as a messenger three winters a couple of decades ago (single-speed freewheel in the summer half of the year) and I never used a front brake. In stead, I learned to brake and manoeuvre properly with the rear wheel.
This is by far the best sounding hub I've ever heard.
Lightest bikes are usually 1x, but this one is 2x. I bet it will be much lighter if he ditch those fd
And remove front brake. Who needs a front brake for climbing?
@@williamko4751 Remove the rear brake instead. Shorter cable to the front. Better to have brake up front for stopping as well.
The next time I'm getting a tuneup at Fairwheel, I am going to ask about this bike. Can't believe it is in my backyard but haven't see this before.
Outstanding video. Yes, I would be totally excited to follow a video of yours where Feather climbs a challenging hill with a lightweight bike like this, perhaps comparing the performance (and his impressions) with using a current, modern bike like the one the Pros use for TdF climbs. Btw, I think the climbing times will be in favor of the lighter bike, even though every race (except for time trials like the one on the last stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023) also features as much downhill and especially flat...
I dont know a thing about road bikes but in downhill bikes i learned that when you go too far in weight savings parts starts to break or bent.
It would be interesting to see a durability test in these ultra light weight builts, in a real world without a super light rider in a ultra smooth road.
Weird combination. A 2x which you dont need for hill climbs, but brake levers which will snap the first time you have any serious braking on road.
Where are you meant to ride this?
Ride it? Nah, it's just to look amazing hanging on a scale. Screwball stuff like this was all the rage before the UCI minimum weight rule came into force.....just like Spinaci bars... remember those..coolest things ever...until they were banned?
only Ollie makes quality video nowadays
Yikes! I've eaten biryanis that were heavier than this bike.
Get Mr Feather on the case, please!! 🔥
Dude, please send some F16 here to Ukraine, we need it so much(
We are with you if we can ever get the US congress off their butts long enough to send you money! Probably training your pilots here right now. Praying for you guys! 😢
i believe will be there very soon
That's a quarter of the RAF!
Oh no!
I like that it's also very good looking bike. And that's the most important thing ;)
"We could use your support" was a worrisome comment. ☹️
That said, I'll always be a fan of Red 10. It was way ahead of its time and is still an impressive mechanical gruppo. I loved the bike i had it on.
This is perfect for some DH ride or even RB Rampage show.
Small cables are stupid. Doesn’t save anything lmao and they’ll break, rather than brake
Well, every component has been compromised in some way to save the last bit of weight. It's stupid, shaving off those final 3 kg off a bike is not worth it at all.
@@glossymouse7712 lol the same can be said for shaving a bike down to 7kg. If you have trouble riding a 10kg bike fast up inclines it's a "you" problem
@@kennethg9277 I agree, when I started cycling I couldn't go up inclines at all cause "my bike was too heavy" or something. 2 months later I was going up steep inclines in the top gear.
4.6kg should be the new UCI limit
"probably not the fastest tyres!" I beg to differ!
I built a budget hillclimber with mostly used parts that I thought was pretty light at 5.9 kilos LOL HOW CAN THIS WEIGH HALF AS MUCH