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IB13: Fair Wheel Bikes, Part One – Crumpton’s 8.88lb Race Road Bike & 10.98lb Carbon BMX Bike

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Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Fair Wheel Bikes is packing more showstoppers in their booth than any single company should be allowed at a single event. Fortunately, it’s sorta like several companies all sent a piece (or two, as is the case with Crumpton) for use by Fair Wheel to show what they can do.

Above is an 8.88lb (4.03kg) race ready road bike. FWB’s Jason says they wanted to build something that could be raced, with proven parts that didn’t sacrifice any durability for weight savings.

The result is a wispy 8.86lb bike that uses the Tune Skyline wheels, the same model Chris Froome raced in the Tour de France. It’s running 700×22 Vittoria Crono Evo CS tubulars (not taped or glued yet).

Other build highlights are a Recon alloy cassette, KCNC titanium brake cables, Aican housing, Powercordz shift cables, Fibula brakes, Mcfk saddle and Schmolke post, custom ENVE stem and Schmolke TLO handlebar bonded together by Calfee. It’s wrapped with Lizardskins DLC bar tape.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Fortunately for Jason, the ~700g frame just happens to be about his size.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Unlike some of the other builds, which we’ll showcase in separate posts, this one uses off the shelf parts. True, they’re expensive boutique off the shelf parts, but there’s nothing about this bike that couldn’t be replicated by anyone with the means.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Don’t ever let it be said that small gram savings here and there don’t add up in a big way.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

There’s no doubt using a seatmast could have taken the weight down a bit more, but practicality ruled out. (and yes, we realize using the word “practical” about any part of this bike borders on ridiculous)

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Making it move is the THM Clavicula cranks pulling a KMC SL11 DLC chain around Tune chainrings.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Standard SRAM Red 22 shifter/levers and derailleurs were used.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

Yes, these wheels are super light, but they’ve been around for a while and are Tour tested. Lest you think FWB just throws caution to the wind in the quest for ultimate lightness, even they say they’re a bit concerned about Tune’s new carbon clinchers’ minimal weights until they can get some time on them.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton sub 9 pound race road bike

SRAM’s cassettes are light. But Recon’s alloy 11-speed 11-23 cassette is quite a bit lighter:

fair-wheel-bikes-recon-alloy-11-speed-cassette1

fair-wheel-bikes-recon-alloy-11-speed-cassette2

Estimated retail for the complete bike is right at $20,000.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

Crumpton also put together this full carbon BMX frame, and FWB gave it the lightweight treatment.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

A Bombshell carbon BMX handlebar was bonded to an Enve stem by Calfee.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

The complete bike would come in around $11,000.

Fair Wheel Bikes Crumpton 11lb carbon fiber bmx bike

Weight is just 10.98lbs (4.98kg) with Bebop pedals.

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48 Comments
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joe
joe
10 years ago

ugliest 1-piece bar-stem combo ive ever seen. if youre building a bike for the hell of it, why not make it look good?

Ben
Ben
10 years ago

I really dig seeing what FWB has up their sleeves. Always pushing it. Nice job!

Mindless
Mindless
10 years ago

Would be nice for a latte run. I will take two.

Xris
Xris
10 years ago

This feeling. All the feels, they’re welling up inside me. Everything is so gorgeous.

ummmm
ummmm
10 years ago

These bike builders are going to hurt someone mark my words. But I guess that will be on the stupid person that buys one. Hate to be so negative, but IMO this weight thing is not going to be positive and definitely not a good move for the future bike industry.

fleche
fleche
10 years ago

what? all that carbon on the bmx bike and it still has alloy rims.
im still impressed, im sure there are not many carbon rim brake 20in hoops out there if at all.

Ed R
Ed R
10 years ago

@ joe, agreed, besides I can’t see how that combo of components with all that extra carbon wrap and resin could weigh less than the same combo with four faceplate screws.

TS
TS
10 years ago

Ik thst bikee is meant for racing, why is that stem pointing up?
It is a custom frame and a custom bar/stem combo, this could be done better.
Now it just looks like a dentists bike…

jon jon
jon jon
10 years ago

at the end of the day, that bike is fugly.

Ham-planet
Ham-planet
10 years ago

@ummmm
That’s why we have a UCI weight limit for road cycling. Roadies going to these lengths to go under 6.8 kg know they’re taking a risk of sorts. Riders from other disciplines seem to know better, for the most part.

NASH
NASH
10 years ago

Why is there a lack of pegs on that BMX, swear I would love to see carbon pegs and somebody taking this down a concrete ledge at full throttle. Or even just dropping off a curb would be fun with that stem-bar combo.

I could make a bike out of marshmallows, but I don’t because it would be stupid.

satisFACTORYrider
satisFACTORYrider
10 years ago

What happens in Vegas should sometimes stay in Vegas, right?

captain derp
captain derp
10 years ago

@ham planet:

UCI weight limit isn’t to keep bikes from being unsafe due to extreme light-weighting as much as it is to keep the playing field level and prevent light-weighting from becoming a technological (financial) arms race like in formula one racing.

@nash:

it’s a bmx race bike. no pegs. and axles may not protrude more than 5mm from the axle nut. UCI rule; ABA has a similar rule although I can’t remember what the distance is.

SmooveP
SmooveP
10 years ago

I think it’s pretty cool. If it wasn’t for people pushing the boundary of light/stupid light, we’d all be riding 30lb road bikes.

Wakatel
Wakatel
10 years ago

Haters will be haters…

BMANX
BMANX
10 years ago

If you are questioning the weight of these bikes, then I assume you have never ridden a light weight bike. Nothing unsafe about them. Only issue is how much they also lighten your wallet. Don’t knock it until you have tried it and if you do not want to try it then don’t knock it.

DTran
DTran
10 years ago

No serious cyclist is going to buy a weight weenie bike to race. The upper light bike is built for ppl with cash itching to spend, and most of them are old farts and out of shape hence the stem angle and spacers. Agree with joe on that. The parts are awesome, the bike looks ugly.

carl
carl
10 years ago

I wonder about the handling and ride quality. Is it a wet noodle?

NotAMachinist
NotAMachinist
10 years ago

@NASH

A marshmallow bike would be stupid…unless it had graham cracker tires and Hershey bar rims! Who’s up for a S’Mores bike?

wheelz
wheelz
10 years ago

One of the few things I support about the UCI is the road-bike weight limit. I wish USA Cycling would demand the same weight limit for all their road events too. This will allow road bikes to become stronger and stronger for the same weight over time and allow new safety/handling inovations such as hydraulic discs (great for weight/dirty conditions) without a weight penalty. You could not pay me to race on that thing above! Scary…

wheelz
wheelz
10 years ago

@BMANX: I think there’s a reason Shimano / Campy / SRAM doesn’t offer drivetrain and brakes as light-weight as the above. I trust the safety engineering and testing from these larger companies far more than these speciality makers concerned mainly about weight.

Paniagua
Paniagua
10 years ago

How about crash-worthiness? Never mentioned but I gotta wonder what happens after a little crash, broken carbon bits? or still ridin home?

SLCBrandon
SLCBrandon
10 years ago

Love the bike, sans the stem/bar combo. Its obviously a show bike so at worst mold the bar/stem flat and remove the spacers. Very much takes away from the overall look of the bike, IMO.

ummmm
ummmm
10 years ago

@BMNAX, I ride a 15 lb, $8000 road bike w/ full Campy Record, so yes I do ride a light bike. All I’m saying is that IMO, (In my opinion) in case you didn’t understand, is that I think it’s going a bit to far. They are finding that extreme lite bikes like these have a hard time keeping the tires on the ground when sprinting so where is the power transfer going, not to the ground. Most people that have ridden these types of bikes usually go back to there old reliable, comfy steeds that will be safe to ride for more than a year. Oh, and I’m all for pushing the limits of technology to a point that is still safe. When you buy a bike like this you should be required to have medical and life insurance before completion of the transaction. You know less of a hit to us taxpayers. Just sayin.

ummmm
ummmm
10 years ago

Oh ya I almost forgot, name one real racer, pro’ish level, not the local club racer that is racing this bike, or better yet any bike like it. I’m not trying to place pros above clubbies, just saying there is a reason.

Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
10 years ago

Pro’ish (wtf?) level riders ride on teams that have sponsors, so the ride what they are given or at least given at a discount.

Like the article said, Froome rode those Tune wheels in the TdF.

BT
BT
10 years ago

The bmx bike is what really scares me…give it to Jared Graves and see how many runs it takes before it explodes

Zeej
Zeej
10 years ago

How many BMX bikes have exploded from BMX Supercross from not crashing? I think this bike will work fine for BMX racing, and I want one for the trails

1Pro
1Pro
10 years ago

some of you guys are smart fellas whiles others are just pinheads. this is interbike and these are bikes built to bring attention to the nice bits the vendor imports and distributes to make a living.

this is not the pits at the tour de twaddle or whatever pro-ish race you think you know so much about.

rbaz
10 years ago

@ummmm et all…..It is a SHOW bike. Did you read the article….it is all off the shelf parts(minus calfee bits) and was constructed to get attention. Job done. Fair Wheels is doing it right.
I would not worry about anyone racing this rig……most pros have a hard time affording this sort of thing. If they can I would doubt they give a shite when they have to buy a new one after a crash.
carry on…..

GARYV
GARYV
10 years ago

Will I have to replace it after every race?!!!!!!!

Aaron
Aaron
10 years ago

Oh, so much carbon fearmongering. Carbon is strong. Stronger than steel. Now go ride your bike.

jason
jason
10 years ago

no pedals, or cages. 10 lbs!

fraser
fraser
10 years ago

I really like the crumpton bikes but this one looks a bit… ahm…. Plus: If you realy want to build up a super light bike, why 3cm of spacers under the stem? And the angle of the stem is horrible, please! The v-brakes, integrated into the clavicula-fork are realy(!), realy(!!), realy(!!!) hard to set up corectly. Damn, thats so much pain in the ass. Better to have 250g more for fork and frontbrake than this stupid peace of… carbon.

Ritchey
Ritchey
10 years ago

I don’t understand why are you guys don’t trust companies like Schmolke,THM… AX Lightness manufacture carbon parts for Formula 1 cars….and the bike parts are well tested,the Crumpton bike is awesome,and no doubt that is super stiff.

EthanM
10 years ago

im gonna take a stab in the dark and say that Crumpton did not build that on a whim- its probably for somebody. which means the stem/spacer/headtube setup is to get the guy where he needs to be. What would you jack-wagon critics propose? a heatube that is 10cm taller just so the stem points down? a slammed stem with twice the rise? given that the person this is for clearly doesnt have a super aggressive position, he did a great job managing all aspects of bar height.

and did ummmm seriously point out that pros dont ride crumptons? this isnt the age of 7-11 “huffys”. pros ride their sponsors bikes with virtually no exception.

ummmm
ummmm
10 years ago

Ya I pointed it out. I have never seen one on the road. You need to research the 7-11 so called Huffys, not Huffy they are Mr. Have fun with your broken collar bones guys. You can’t have an opinion or interject a little thought on this site I see. SHEESH!

ummmm
ummmm
10 years ago

@ rbaz, your right its just a show bike.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

Does everyone understand this is a show bike? As a show bike, it’s not required to be UCI compliant.

rico
rico
10 years ago

I’ll take either one, hell yeah. Love the fairwheel projects.

Jeff
Jeff
10 years ago

I’m not understanding the purpose of having a bike the weighs less than 10lbs. If you are not a racer, or a BMX competition rider, what’s the point in having a bike that costs over 20K?

CXisfun
CXisfun
10 years ago

I’m actually into reading about (but not really into riding) super-weight-weenie bikes, but when did it become acceptable to not glue the tires? I’m going to put my bike out there with no front wheel, check out how light it’ll be then!

Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
10 years ago

@Jeff

Probably the same point as owning a Ferrari and never taking it to a track. Some people like the nicer things and have the money to acquire them.

Why judge?

Seraph
Seraph
10 years ago

I wouldn’t trust that Enve stem/Bombshell bar combo for one second. Calfee does awesome work but that looks sketch as hell.

professorVelo
professorVelo
10 years ago

I think McFK is a german abbreviation for ‘my prostate is crushed’

gabbia
gabbia
10 years ago

This road bike is a joke.
I would never risk my life on something unproven for durability.
Ride a bike that will hold up to daily training/races and that doesn’t even count the stupid price tag.

edwin segura
edwin segura
9 years ago

cual sera el coeficiente de deformación elástica?, y el limite de rotura?, superara el 4130? pues ya sabemos que es superior al 6061 según pruebas hechas en MTB, ese es el futuro de a bicicletas el que se niegue a esto es por que no puede comprarlas. excelente trabajo hay que probarla si salen nuevos trucos…jjjj

JV
JV
7 years ago
Reply to  edwin segura

Que trucos, es una bicicleta de race

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