To Remove Excess Weight

I love my full suspension Cannondale Jekyll. I know that Cannondale has since moved on to other designs, but It rides well and, thanks to a Manitou SPV rear shock, pedals pretty well--at least for a 4-year old 5" travel bike.

When I'm on my light-weight hard-tail, though, I keep thinking about how light it is. And when I get back on the Jekyll, it seems like such a beast. A smooth beast, but a beast nonetheless.

Now, I'm not a great mechanic, but I've decided to take matters into my own hands and take some steps towards making it lighter. I'm pleased to say that, after some tweaking and such, I think I've taken my Jekyll to what I consider to be a very nice weight. All told, I think I managed to shave somewhere between 5 and 8 lbs off the bike.

As all of my modifications are not specific to the bike, I'll post my methods here. Remember, if you don't feel comfortable making drastic changes to your bike, take it in to a good local bike shop and pony up for them to do it.

For this, you'll need a 4, 5, 6 mm allen keys. Also, you'll need a chain whip and cassette puller. Depending on your crank type, you'll need one or more of the following: External bearing bottom bracket tool, crank puller/extractor, traditional bottom bracket wrench. Unless you're running a chain (like a SRAM) with a quick-connect link/master link, you'll also need a chain tool.

1. Remove your front and rear shifters.
2. Remove your derailleur cables.
3. Remove your front and rear derailleurs.
4. Take off your rear wheel and remove your cassette.
5. Remove your chain. 
6. Pull your crank and remove your bottom bracket.

At this point, you might want to take the time to clean all those areas of the bike you normally can't really get to with all those extra parts installed.

And that's it! Stand back and admire your work (or the work of a fully qualified bike mechanic). Also, make sure to pick your bike up and feel the difference. The next time you're out on a ride (if you actually get your bike to move forward and somehow keep it that way), you'll really appreciate the difference several pounds can make.

In fact, I'm not sure I even have the heart to put the new parts on.