I’ve been searching for a chainring bolt for my townie and the other day I popped into a local shop to see if it had one that fit. Dude comes out of the back room with a sealed baggie. “All we have it a set of four for $15,” he said, and then, when I winced at the price, “…but they’re alloy.” I guess that makes it all right, then.

Roadies are the gram shavers of the cycling world, but even mountain bikers get sucked into the chase for lighter and tighter. Alloy bolts, anyone? Ti nipples? Back in 2008, Mountain Bike Action tore down a Gary Fisher Procaliber and weighed each part separately, calculated the percentage of the bike’s overall weight that each comprised, and ranked the parts in order. (It just got around to posting it online now…go figure). It’s a pretty interesting take on the issue of weight — wheels, not surprisingly, make up 30 percent of the bike.

Here’s an overview. MBA went even deeper into geekery and broke each of the components down by its parts, too. If you want to know what makes up 45 percent of the front brake, go here.

Percentage of total weight…Component…Weight
18.49%…Wheel (rear)…4 pounds, 7.5 ounces
15.11%…Wheel (front)…3 pounds, 10.4 ounces
14.85%…Fork…3 pounds, 9.4 ounces
11.38%…Frame triangle…2 pounds, 12 ounces
4.6%…Swingarm…1 pound, 1.8 ounces
4.45%…Crankarm (right) …1 pound, 1.2 ounces
2.97%…Pedals (pair)…11.5 ounces
2.48%…Chain…9.6 ounces
2.38%…Brake (rear) …9.2 ounces
2.17%…Seatpost…8.4 ounces
2.17%…Shock…8.4 ounces
1.99%…Brake (front) …7.7 ounces
1.94%…Saddle…7.5 ounces
1.86%…Crankarm (left)…7.2 ounces
1.78%…Derailleur (rear)…6.9 ounces
1.60%…Handlebar (with plugs)…6.2 ounces
1.35%…Derailleur (front) …5.2 ounces
1.11%…Swinglink…4.3 ounces
1.06%…Stem…4.1 ounces
1.06%…Shifter (front…4.1 ounces
.98%…Shifter (rear)…3.8 ounces
.83%…Bottom bracket…3.2 ounces
.80%…Seatstay (right)…3.1 ounces
.80%…SeatStay (left)…3.1 ounces
.59%…Headset…2.3 ounces
.39%…Derailleur Cable/House (rear)…1.5 ounces
.21%…Derailleur Cable/House (front)…0.8 ounces
.18%…Seatpost clamp…0.7 ounces
.18%…Grips (pair)…0.7 ounces
.16%…Derailleur hanger…0.6 ounces
.05%…Derailleur cable guide…0.2 ounces

Total bike weight: 24 pounds, 3 ounces.