What is the lightest dirt jump bike frame on market?

PB Forum :: Dirt Jumping & Street
What is the lightest dirt jump bike frame on market?
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flag spongebomb
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 8:24 Quote
cheapbike wrote:
So... so far, the lightest posted frames are these:

Charge Iron Ti- 3.6 lbs
Cannondale Chase: 4.4lbs (06 large, newer ones have shorter stays and don't come in large, so 1" off the stays and 1" off the TT, I'm sure it'd be lighter than the old ones)
STP: 4.7lbs
P3: 4.75lbs

Planet-X Zebdi weighs 1950g, which is lighter than all those frames. It's a great frame for street but I don't recommend it for dirt
flag scotteh
O+
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 9:48 Quote
spongebomb wrote:
The p3 has the shitties geo ever made, I really hate those frames. BB is waaaaaay too low and the chainstays are pretty long, sorry Kenny

the lightest frame would be some Titanium frame, those weigh around 1.5kg
It all depends on what you use the frame for. I believe you predominantly ride street so yeah, a low slung slacker/longer alu frame will suck, but for riding trails and dj's, I find it's awesome. All comes down to personal preference though.
flag spongebomb
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 9:55 Quote
That's true. That's why I hate the P3, I'm a street rider and the BB is way too low for street
flag mikeyridesbikes
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 9:56 Quote
spongebomb wrote:
That's true. That's why I hate the P3, I'm a street rider and the BB is way too low for street

Yehh, high BBs rule for street.
flag spongebomb
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:00 Quote
mikeyridesbikes wrote:
spongebomb wrote:
That's true. That's why I hate the P3, I'm a street rider and the BB is way too low for street

Yehh, high BBs rule for street.

OO YEAH Big Grin
flag hampsteadbandit
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:12 Quote
the lightest frame would be some Titanium frame, those weigh around 1.5kg


I would not want to ride a titanium frame for street or dirt jumping - unless it weighed substantially more than 3.5lb - I would not trust it - its the same issue with super light cromoly steel frames (check out the fiasco of UK Bike Co. with their sub 4lb frames)


if you look at the strength and density characteristics of both 7075 T-6 aluminium alloy, and then 6/4 Titanium Alloy, you would understand why I say this!


at 3.5lb a titanium frame is going to have pretty thin tube walls (easy to dent) and smaller diameter tubing, so its also going to be less rigid that an aluminium alloy frame

3.5lb would be ok for cross country riding, but not extreme riding where you are landing with massive forces, and having big slams


titanium is a great material, but its not the magic metal some think - weaker than heat treated cromoly steels and heavier than aluminium, and there is alot of cheaply made Ti flooding the market


I know of a guy with a fixed-wheel Charge Ti Blender that just snapped the head tube clean off just doing fixie tricks - hardly street or dirt jump!


the other problem with Titanium is the insane cost of such a frame - the Commencal Ti 4X frame in the UK is £1899.99 - you could get a complete Banshee AMP with Argyles, Elixir brakes and full DMR finishing kit for that money!!
flag spongebomb
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:16 Quote
I agree it's not worth the money, and those facts, if you say so, I'll believe it Razz

The guy asked for the lightest DJ frame and that will be one of the Ti frames
flag hampsteadbandit
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:20 Quote
Ti is a great material Smile

its advantage is the "strength to weight ratio" that other materials like aluminium and steel don't have


BUT its crazy hard to cut, to mitre, shape (swage / butt) and also to weld (needs to be done in oxygen free environment)

unless its done to really high quality using quality tubing (look at respected Ti brands like the old "Merlin", Seven, etc.) it can be really shady...and you are still paying big dollars for even a cheap Ti frame


the guy with the Charge fixie *may* have been the victim of an impurity introduced into the head tube area whilst being welded, or poor grade Titanium alloy tubing (non certified)
flag DavidDee
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:21 Quote
$1500-
$1250-
$1000-
$875-
$750-
$625-
$500- Banchee Amp | $550 | 4.4Lb.
$400-
$300- STP | $330 | Frame 4.7lb.
$250-
$200-

I can't find the price of a Chase Frameset. It has it on their website but not a price. Does anyone have the price?

Also can't find the price of a Charge Iron Ti.
flag norcofreerider8
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:23 Quote
I beleive the van halen red one sold for like $500, when it was produced.
flag mikeyridesbikes
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:23 Quote
I have a mate who rides the Charge Blender Ti(claimed at 3.4lbs) who rides the crap out of his and has held up fine.

If you wanna speak to him he's commencalcruzer on here Wink
flag DavidDee
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:27 Quote
norcofreerider8 wrote:
I beleive the van halen red one sold for like $500, when it was produced.

God I love Van Halen. That frame looked sick. But the Banchee amp beats in weight wise.
flag hampsteadbandit
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 10:29 Quote
I have a mate who rides the Charge Blender Ti(claimed at 3.4lbs) who rides the crap out of his and has held up fine.

If you wanna speak to him he's commencalcruzer on here

like i said, its probably a quality control issue with weld impurity or tubing quality..good to hear your friend's Blender is going fine
flag cheapbike
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 12:16 Quote
norcofreerider8 wrote:
I beleive the van halen red one sold for like $500, when it was produced.

After some googling, I've seen $650 as the msrp for the frameset.

Weight-wise: http://www.dirtrag.com/print/article-print.php?ID=659

That source says 4.4lbs/2.0kg for a large frame. That was before the revisions of the 2007 chase 1/2008 chases with the 1" shorter stays.
flag VTwintips
Posted: Feb 21, 2010 at 17:31 Quote
spongebomb wrote:
The p3 has the shitties geo ever made, I really hate those frames. BB is waaaaaay too low and the chainstays are pretty long, sorry Kenny

the lightest frame would be some Titanium frame, those weigh around 1.5kg
I agree with the lightness, but the other part is just personal preference.

 


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