>>1309417Those all sound like great places to start if your bike isn’t carbon. Take a look at classic “drillium” components and think about basic strength and architecture when you’re deciding on the arrangement. You can go pretty hardcore with steel chainrings before they fold.
- use mountain bike inner cables
- Consider shaving down the nut on your skewers, gives mild aero gains too
- drill your handlebar drops
- cut off the drops right after your lowest hand position
- cut away excess seatpost (be safe)
- buy some Velo plugs instead of rim tape
- strip the grip tape from your bars, use gel padded gloves instead, add silicone dots to the raw bar for grip
- check the minimum spoke count you can get away with
- latex tubes instead of butyl
- heat shrink tubing instead of hood covers
- alu, carbon and nylon bolts where strength permits
- lightweight steering tube expander (google “weight weenie expander”
- mountain bike brake inner cable as brake cable (or just bare cable if it’s not gonna corrode quickly and you’re careful)
- electrical tape instead of bottle cage bolts
- mountain bike style “ass savers” mud guards (diy from a coke bottle if you want) instead of fenders
- consider vintage downtube shifters instead of brifters
- worn out tires instead of new lol
- same for disc brakes
- alu chainring bolts ($1 for 5 on aliexpress)
- minimal pins you need on flat pedals
- Dremel out bar plugs
Just remember that drillium suits climbers best, since it actually adds quite a bit of drag on components like bars and stems. Personally I don’t give a fuck about that drag - I’m already in an aero position, I love climbing and I like lifting a bike with one finger
