Help! DK Intervol needs to go on a diet. Options

[DHennet]

Please help me put my sons DK Intervol on a diet. We've been into racing for years and I'm down with building race bikes, but I need help with his 18" park bike. I look at J&R and Dan's and can't really tell if what I'm looking is what I need for this little bike.
Throw me some suggestions with vendor, part number, whatever I need. I'm looking for forks, bars, stems, seat, etc. Is there a stock wheelset in 18" that's light?
Thanks-
Dan

[D]

Please help me put my sons DK Intervol on a diet. We've been into racing for years and I'm down with building race bikes, but I need help with his 18" park bike. I look at J&R and Dan's and can't really tell if what I'm looking is what I need for this little bike.
Throw me some suggestions with vendor, part number, whatever I need. I'm looking for forks, bars, stems, seat, etc. Is there a stock wheelset in 18" that's light?
Thanks-
Dan

For an 18" bike? I'm not sure how different from a 20" most of the parts would be apart from the wheels, frame and fork. You would save some weight going with a Ti spindle, that would be pretty noticeable right away. Pivitol seat and post would save a bit of weight, I would bet the bars that came stock on the DK are hi ten so you could save some more weight by getting some butted 4130 bars to replace them. A lighter stem maybe? Also, you might want to look into getting some of the kevlar beaded tires, those make a BIG difference in how the bike feels. Some guys go crazy with the weight thing and use stump posts, ti everything, etc. but it's not all that necessary.

But honestly at 23 pounds stock the bike is pretty light already.

[DHennet]

For an 18" bike? I'm not sure how different from a 20" most of the parts would be apart from the wheels, frame and fork. You would save some weight going with a Ti spindle, that would be pretty noticeable right away. Pivitol seat and post would save a bit of weight, I would bet the bars that came stock on the DK are hi ten so you could save some more weight by getting some butted 4130 bars to replace them. A lighter stem maybe? Also, you might want to look into getting some of the kevlar beaded tires, those make a BIG difference in how the bike feels. Some guys go crazy with the weight thing and use stump posts, ti everything, etc. but it's not all that necessary.

But honestly at 23 pounds stock the bike is pretty light already.

Thanks for the info. I imagine it probably is a decent weight for a stock park bike, but it's almost twice the weight of his race bike! When you think about it, it's almost half of what he weighs. So yeah, I'll start with a new seat and bars and see where that gets us.

Thanks again.

[Cook Bros Seeker]

My son has the same bike and he races. His race bike is a custom Podium that weighs around 13.5 lbs; the street bike is a lot heavier. The Intervol is the only all chromo 18" street bike and is one of the lightest. Powers bike shop had a pair of 18" wheels with profile hubs that would lighten things up. The cranks, BB, and tires would make a big difference. Problem is there does not appear to be much of a choice in 18" tires. Let me know what you end up doing; maybe I can do the same.

[Jradical]

DK makes the Alpha fork in an 18" version....it is .75 pounds lighter than the stock fork. My kid noticed a huge difference when we put this on his 18" bike.

[DHennet]

DK makes the Alpha fork in an 18" version....it is .75 pounds lighter than the stock fork. My kid noticed a huge difference when we put this on his 18" bike.

Thanks. I didn't know DK made an upgrade 18" fork. They're a lot cheaper than the S&M too! I think to start I'm going to remove the heavy unused gyro, swap out the seat and post for a pivitol seat and post, and swap out the forks. That should help quite a bit. Does anybody know off hand who makes a lite 40mm ish 1 1/8 stem?

[irodetoday]

Dan,
I rebuilt a S&M Mini Cobra 16" for Lukas.
Stock complete it was 26.3#.
Now 17.7#
The 8 plus # is huge to a kid who weighs 55#
We replaced everything but the full chromoly S&M frame...even the fasteners are Ti.

Heres some of what you can save in grams by replacing stock spec:

Fork: Supercross Pro BMX Fork=340g.........they even make the SLT in 18"
Seat/post: Eastern Pivotal/Thermalite=527g
Pedals: JIS plastic=279g
Stem: Eastern Deseptikon=93g
Crank Arms: Profile Mini Mag 145's=220g
BB/bolts: FSA Ti/Ti boltls=156g
Sprocket: Kink Sound=156g
Bars: Morphine Industries Helium 6.5" rise=390g
Alloy nipples and axel nuts= 170g
Tires: Kenda Kontact=420g
Remove Gyro/tabs/cables=184g

Bars,tires, and seat/post will be your "Best Bang For Buck" changes.

I weighed out each component/savings so let me know if you need anymore details.

Mike

This post has been edited by irodetoday: Nov 10 2010, 07:26 PM

[DHennet]

Perfect Mike, Thanks. I was hoping you would see this thread when you got home.

[Cook Bros Seeker]

Thanks. I didn't know DK made an upgrade 18" fork. They're a lot cheaper than the S&M too! I think to start I'm going to remove the heavy unused gyro, swap out the seat and post for a pivitol seat and post, and swap out the forks. That should help quite a bit. Does anybody know off hand who makes a lite 40mm ish 1 1/8 stem?

I put a Colony flatland stem on my daughter's 18" bike. It's very light and comes in few colors.