|   The last grams... (Any lighter bolts for WCS stem?) | Jan Gerrit
Nov 5, 2001 9:00 AM | | I´ve looked into shaving weight off my cables and bolts. I now know about the Tune cables, and will try to optain some.
But bolts, I know little to nothing of.
I´m particularly trying to upgrade my already 8.2kg Cyclo-Crosser.
How much would I lose on a Ritchey WCS 6-bolt stem, and with what bolts?
Thanks! I´ll go weigh other parts that are subject to upgrading and then check the Weigh Weenies listings...
Jan Gerrit |
| If there was one set of bolts not to change... | PT
Nov 5, 2001 9:27 AM | | ...it would be the bolts attaching your bars to your stem. I can't imagine a worse catastrophic failure than breaking off the face plate on a stem... I think I would trust the judgement of Tom Ritchey on this one... |
| If there was one set of bolts not to change... | berni
Nov 5, 2001 9:42 AM | | I find it hard to imagine all 4 or 6 bolts breaking at the same time. Perhaps one or two might go under extreme conditions, but this would not be a 'catastrophic' failure. Manufacturers are understandably reluctant to sell their components with Ti or alloy bolts as they are expensive! They can also shear or strip more easily in the wrong hands, leading to warranty claims, etc.....
Good Ti or alloy bolts should not be a risk. Check out www.probolt.co.uk who do a great range of VERY light fasteners, although they're not the strongest.
P.S. Are the bolts in Thomson stems M4 or M5? Anyone? |
| Thomson stems M4. Changing to titanium bolts is expensive | clary.
Nov 5, 2001 10:20 AM | | just to save 5 grams and aluminium bolts are not strong enough. Most of the time, finding a stem with a different design and materials is a better way to go. So if a person is not happy with a Thomson stem in terms of weight, then that person should choose a different stem that is designed lighter than to try in lightening the Thomson. |
| steel bolts on WCS stem weigh 23g...Ti would save 8g /Al 15g... | nino
Nov 5, 2001 11:18 AM | | I weighed those bolts on my friends stem:23g.
if it would be mine i`d replace ALL bolts with Aluminum ones since the 2 main ones at the steerer tube are about M7 or M8 and the 4 on the frontplate are M6.4 bolts are for sure strong enough since the load is divided by 4!aluminum bolts would save about 15g.just make sure to put grease on the treads!
my FRM stem has 2+2 tiny little M5 bolts and is even sold as a Ti version with all ti bolts.i even rode it with al-bolts but finally thought that saving 5 grams isn`t worth risking my life.
if you want to play it 200% save go with Ti bolts. |
| Don't use any aluminum bolts on your stem faceplate... | AZ X-Racer
Nov 5, 2001 11:26 AM | | even if there are four of them. When I used to work in a shop, we used to see these fail all the time... |
| Thanks guys! | Jan Gerrit
Nov 5, 2001 10:32 PM | | I'll see how brave I am.
It's for my CX racer, so no drops higher than 4" will be negotiated. 15g lighter bolts could prove a pretty cost-effective way to shave soms last grams...
I will also look into the other bolts now with the very informing posts above. |
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