Modern OZ build

[AHanulec]

That is a beautiful ride.  It looks great even muddied up!

[Spokes]

Thank you 

Chris

[Shaitaan]

Nice job Chris....you and Colin built up a nice pair of Oz frames

[Spokes]

Thanks again  It's funny, the difference between the large and medium frames is not much but it's enough that I never felt right on the medium. This large is a perfect fit.
 It was good to finally meet up with Col and great that we could swop frames (and stories) to enable us both to get what we wanted. Happy outcome for all.

Chris

[Spokes]

I weighed the OZ, 4000 and 857 today with a digital luggage scales. First lifting each bike by hand I put them in order of lightness. By hand i guessed 857 heaviest, then 4000 and lightest OZx. I was surprised to find out that the scales said heaviest was the 4000, then OZx and lightest was the 857. I checked several times so the scales must have been right.

But thinking it through, the OZx had a lot of stuff of it ie disc brakes with adapters, tele forks and it hasn't been built for lightness more best quality at a budget. I'm more than happy with it at 27.4lb

The 4000 has lighter wheels but a very heavy set of winter 2.1 Velocerapter tyres which are massively heavier than the Highrollers on the OZx. But I've always considered this to be a light bike. 28.8lb

The 857 is standard except for a Risse Astro 5, carbon seat post, charge spoon saddle and carbon riser bars. It even still has it's original tyres - 1.9 Velocerapters. 27.3lb

So they weighed:
857 - 27.3lb
OZx - 27.4 lb
4000 - 28.8lb

To ride them I would still put them in order of lightness OZX,4000,857 but may be it's down to wheel/tyre weight and age of parts?
They're all cool bikes to ride though!

Chris

[Colin]

Yes, the tyres can make a bit of difference, here's a comparism of some of the tyres I've used over the years:

Make                   Name (Front)   Width   Weight(F) Name (Rear)   Weight ( R )
Panaracer   Fire XC Pro Kevlar   1.8   720g   Fire XC Pro Kevlar   720g   
Panaracer   Mach SK   1.95 (actual 1.80)   714g   Mach SK Comp Kevlar 1.95 (actual 1.80)   570g
Panaracer   Mach SS                      528g   Mach SS   528g
Panaracer   Fire Mud Pro XC   1.8   440g   Fire Mud Pro XC   440g   
Specialized   --------------------   1.95   --   Ground Control (Kevlar)   576g   
Specialized   Fast Trax                   2.0   596g   Fast Trax   596g   
TIOGA                   Psycho Edge   1.95 (actual 2.2)   795g   Psycho TT       775g   
WTB                   Primal Raptor      621g         
WTB                   Velociraptor Race      700g   Velociraptor    675g   
WTB                   Velociraptor Comp   2.1   795g    Velociraptor    770g    


The missus' OzX came in at 12.7Kg/28lb with the spclzd Fast Trax on , so quite light tyres.

My Brand New. as original OzM with Fire XC's weighs just 11.5Kg/25.3lb which is actually lighter than the 26.25lb quoted by K2 in 1999!

My pretty original 4000se weighs 13.0Kg/28.6lb with Fire XC's on it

and my XP-X weighs just 12.2Kg/26.8lb in road set up with skinny Continental Ultra Gatorskin 1.125 at just 350g. but that is weighed with a rear carrier and Dumbo "comfort" handlebars!

Col.

[beeeerock]

Wow, those weights are really close!  I don't think you'd even feel the difference if all ran the same tires and drivetrain... by the time you add your weight to the mix, a pound just isn't that big of a deal.  It's all about how smoothly the tires run, friction in the drivetrain... and I bet whether the chain *sounds* smooth probably impacts your perception of how heavy it is!

Nice build though! 

[Spokes]

I agree and before I weighed them all I would have sworn the OZx was the lightest but it's not. It does however have a brand new XT groupset and the lowest rolling resistance tires. New tires for all me thinks!

Chris

[w2zero]

Back in the early 80's when I was a roadie, the biggest difference in a bike that I could make was in lightweight wheels and tires.  A set of Fiamme Red Labels and Clement sew-ups would absolutely feel like a living thing under me.

[beeeerock]

That makes sense to me.  The wheels and tires carry angular momentum and it takes energy to get them up and spinning.  The further the mass is from the center, the more you'll know about it.  So shaving a fixed mass from the hub would have much less perceived advantage than removing the same amount from the rim itself.  You'd feel quick off the start and think you could drag race anyone...   

The location of the weight reduction should also have a similar effect in the gyroscopic sense.  That is, you might feel that you can change direction more easily, but given the low speeds at which sharper turns would be made (less gyroscopic effect), I'm not sure how noticeable that would be... if at all.  Probably more of a factor in mountain bikes doing quick deeks and dodges around obstacles where it isn't a turn so much as a quick lean one way or the other.

Thinking further, our bikes with full suspension would see two benefits from reducing weight from the wheel assemblies... the same rotational values as you saw on the road bikes, but also a more responsive suspension.  The unsprung mass will impact how efficiently the suspension can keep the tire on the ground.  That is important, IF your riding style has your tires on the ground most of the time... 

[w2zero]

Another proof is when you see the cars with the 22 inch alloy wheels running around with original brakes.  The owners, if they have any sense, feel like they have much worse braking and acceleration.   The heavier wheels with more mass farther from center make a huge difference.  A completed change will include power adders and bigger brakes on the automotive side. 

When I was commuting, early on I had panniers but eventually switched to a back pack because I did not like the handling of the bike with all the weight there.  It makes a big difference where the weight is placed and how the bike handles.  You can hop the bike wearing a back pack a lot better than with panniers and the same load.  Yet another reason I like a fixed gear bike with no accessories.  It fairly leaps with every input.