KH Climbing Machine! 11 pound 29er!

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I’ve recently gotten into road climbing both for training and for the fun and added variety. There are some awesome street climbs in my immediate area that are huge favorites of road bikers, so I wanted to see just how light I could make my KH 29er. I had been using my kh 24 in a lightweight setup, but it just wasn’t practical for longer, sustained climbs of any serious distance.

So today I swapped out the heavy wtb 29 x 2.3 stout tire and tube, and got a very light (630g) 2.1 “Vee Rubber” hybrid mtb tire, with a max of 65 psi, and a 700 x 35-43 lightweight tube. The ramped knobs on top make for a super fast roller. Schwalbe has one of the very lightest mtb 29er tires available. It’s the “Furious Fred” and weighs in at a scant 360g! But I would be concerned with the higher risk of punctures and blowouts due to the super thin sidewalls.

Also used ultra light nimbus isis cranks and very light wellgo MG1 pedals, at around 380g per pair. Then a thomson seatpost, CF base and lift handle. Total weight is exactly 11 pounds! Should make a killer climbing machine! I will be adding a shortened T-handle and maggie brake to the mix, which will add maybe another 1.5 lbs, but the good thing is that it won’t affect the rotational weight. :smiley:

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2

I used to be a weight weenie in my MTB times.
I used the Furious Fred with a Latex tube (130 grams) and had hardly any flats. On the roads you should be fine with the FF, I wouldn’t use it on rocky trails.

Don’t you think a T-bar would help your climbing performance?

3

I did mention that I would add the T-handle, but not so much to aid in climbing performance, but mainly to make the ride more comfortable, as it does for long 36er rides. And if I have have to do a steep climb on that, I definitely revert to the lift handle, which provides me with much better and direct pull when climbing. Having said that, I use a shortened T-handle for climbing when I’m doing MUni on my G26er, but for the really steep stuff I grab the lift handle.