Seeking the impossible - cheap road bike sub 8.5kg that can climb

[FrothNinja]

Hello Hive of Wisdom
Suspect I'm seeking the impossible - a reliable cheap road bike sub 8.5kg that can climb well.
I'm 5'8" and the budget is c.£400 but will stretch for a bike with proper climbing gearing.
My CX's kerb weight is just over 9kg and it climbs well enough (105) but I would like to get up the local lumps a bit quicker.
I am pretty sure I will have to make do with cable operated bikes and something that is over 5 years old (closer to 10 I suspect).
Any suggestions of what to look for?
Thanks

 

[Ian H]

No bike climbs well. A comfortable bike that handles well at lower speeds will help you climb hills.

 

[Jameshow]

Scott addict sub 8kg and sub 1kg frame irrc.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/scott-addict-r2-review/

Caad 9 or boardman comp are pretty light for aluminium.

 

[I like Skol]

 

[I like Skol]

Got to say it, but.....

Just been for an MTB weekend with 'The lads'. No idea what my 27yr old bike weighs but it is not built for lightness. I also carried the group D lock and long cable, as well as relieving the others of items of luggage and carrying the team tool kit. Still beat everyone up the hills and had more energy at the end of the weekend. It's not about the bike. Riders weight has far more impact on GVW and hill climbing is a state of mind. If you start to believe that shaving 500g off the bike weight is going to make a noticeable difference then you have already lost the battle!

 

[ColinJ]

You could probably save that vital 500+ grams by just buying a set of lighter wheels and tyres for your current bike, and then concentrate on riding that up your local hills a few hundred times until your improved fitness gets you up them faster than you ever dreamed possible!

 

[DCLane]

My son's hillclimb bike is 5.1kg and built for £600 so I think I can comment ...

Firstly, start with a lightweight frame set (PlanetX Nanolight, Cannondale, etc). It'll be old but that's OK. We used a battered Nanolight frame bought for £50 and gave it a thorough internal clean.

Then you'll need lightweight wheels - there are very light aluminium wheels but most likely to be second-hand. Try FB forums or eBay (the 1kg carbon tub wheelset we have was £140 via eBay delivered with tyres and a cassette). He uses a scraped Dura-Ace 9000 RH shifter with no hood (£30) and a broken Di2 LH shifter with the internals removed (£20).

Component-wise look for auctions/sales of anything light - you can trim seatposts/bars to lose weight.

Also, for climbing - particularly hillclimb competitions - you don't need bar tape/hoods/etc. It's surprising how much weight can be lost.

 

[StuAff]

It's like Keith Bontrager's maxim: 'Strong. Light. Cheap. Pick two'. For £400 you could take a punt on an old carbon bike: eg this for £290 (which actually looks like a pretty good deal for a quality frame and decent components). Something like that (assuming decent wheels & finishing kit) will be under 8kg, quite possibly nearer seven. Discs and chunky tyres will add weight, rim brakes and skinny tyres have their own drawbacks. But I'm with m'learned riding buds here. I can get up local climbs faster on my Viner than my Tripster, but not that much faster, even though it's a couple of kilos lighter. But on the Tripster I can descend with more confidence, and I'm not dodging every single road imperfection.

 

[DCLane]

True @StuAff - son no. 2's hillclimb bike's abysmal downhill.

But that may be because I drilled holes in his brake pads to save 12g

 

[Jameshow]

I have a focus izapco race that is 8kg lighter with daura ace 24 wheels. I could shave off another 500gms going from tiagra to ultegra but as I've got a lighter FSA chainset I doubt I'd loose that much off it tbh.

 

[slowmotion]

I would concentrate on the motor.

 

[PaulSB]

Based on your OP you're looking to lose 500g.

Two low cost alternatives. Check through all the kit you carry on the bike and you'll probably shed 500g or lose that weight yourself. Easy and cheap.

For the average amateur the bike doesn't make a huge difference on hills. On the flat and rolling, yes but not, in my view, on climbs.

 

[wafter]

Assuming an all-up mass of your current setup (with you included) of 80kg, losing 0.5kg will reduce your total mass by around 0.6%.

Hence, to drag this slightly lower mass up any given hill will take 0.6% less power for a given speed.

For the same power output and not taking aero drag into account (let's assume you're talking steep hills so speeds are slow), this will translate into a mean climbing speed that's around 0.6% faster. So, a hill you'd currently climb at a mean speed of 10mph would improve to 10.06mph.

Not sure that's in improvement worth chasing for the costs mentioned or hassle of replacing the bike, or something you'd even notice in practice..

 

[Chief Broom]

You could probably save that vital 500+ grams by just buying a set of lighter wheels and tyres for your current bike, and then concentrate on riding that up your local hills a few hundred times until your improved fitness gets you up them faster than you ever dreamed possible!

Can certainly identify with that advice! A local hill which caused me to dismount i now stomp up in 4th [of 8] because ive been up it hundreds of times. My budget bike- Dawes 201 must weigh over 12 k especially with rack'mudguards etc though ive lost about a stone n half since i started riding. Ive found myself a new hill which makes my heart redline so will stomp that 'son of a bitch' too!

 

[wafter]

Can certainly identify with that advice! A local hill which caused me to dismount i now stomp up in 4th [of 8] because ive been up it hundreds of times. My budget bike- Dawes 201 must weigh over 12 k especially with rack'mudguards etc though ive lost about a stone n half since i started riding. Ive found myself a new hill which makes my heart redline so will stomp that 'son of a bitch' too!

It's a great feeling to see progress on the hills and great work with the weight loss

Granted they suck when you struggle to get up them at all, but once you're able to at least make it to the top I find there's a lot of reward in taking them as a challenge to get out of the saddle and attack that slopey fecker

I think low-cadence, high load pedalling up grads probably does a lot for muscle development and is a nice change from the usual mid-cadence, low load pedalling that's usually the norm on flat ground.

I use a range of cadences uphill depending on mood and energy level, but have recently really warmed to really low speed efforts in (relatively) high gears where I'm only just keeping the pedals tipping over top-dead-centre on every stroke.