Titanium bolt weight

Putting all that on a spreadsheet would be interesting, could make it add or subtract the weight difference for the bike, but I think I might have removed two or three pounds total from the bike so probably not worth the effort, at least it is documented here. The carbon fiber looks better than the plastic but is not really lighter except for large items like the front fender.
I am still thinking about the wheels, the Marchesini Magnesium wheels are the lightest I have seen, and might be five pounds total lighter than stock, which would be significant being that it is unsprung and rotating weight, but I am seeing different numbers on the manufacturer website vs some of the distributor websites. Some of the distributors have the names for the aluminum and magnesium, Kompe Vs Corse, different from the manufacturer, reversed, so not sure if the numbers can be trusted if they don't know the product.
The stock wheels might be 20 pounds for both subtracting the tire weight given by the tire manufacturer but can't be sure until I wear out this set of tires and have them dismounted.
Decisions, Decisions. Would be an easy choice if they didn't cost so damn much.

I finally pulled the trigger on new wheel set for my ’17 SP. I figured if I was going to spend the money I wanted enough weight savings to make it worth while.
I looked at BST, OZ, Marchesini, Carrozzeria, and Titax.
The BST is fairly light and the only carbon fiber wheel of the bunch. The 7 spoke is what I considered. It is also fairly expensive.
The OZ Cattiva is forged magnesium and light, and the GASS RSA is forged aluminum and only slightly heavier. They are 6 curved spokes and look good. The Mag is priced like the BST.
The Marchesini is a 10 spoke design which looks kind of like stock. They come in a light forged magnesium, Corse, and aluminum, Kompe. The mag is the most expensive wheel set of the bunch.
The Carrozzeria is a 12 spoke forged aluminum which doesn't look to be any lighter than the stock wheels.
The Titax is a 10 spoke Forged aluminum wheel that looks like stock but is as light as the forged Mags, and you can use the stock size sprockets. They are also the least expensive of the bunch.
Some of the overall weight saving isn’t just in the wheels but also from the sprocket hub designs so you have to good at wheel weight and overall weight savings.
I choose the Titax wheels and was able to get them through a member here, Kannich Motorsports.
Have to ride through my current tires then I can get a new set of tires for the new wheels.
I can hardly wait to take that first ride on them. Then I will post pics of the bike.

If you can believe the numbers on the websites the Titax wheels and about the same weight as the BST and half the price. Carbon fiber is good looking if made well, I have lots of it on my bike but, for me, the powder coat of light gold on the Titax wheels will keep the bike looking stock while performing better. Just my preference at this point.

I have manufactured parts with carbon fiber for my Corvette, for parts of equal thickness the carbon fiber is heavier than aluminum but because of the strength of the carbon fiber you can make it thinner. I have handed people a plate of 1/8" thick Carbon fiber, one foot square, and they are amazed at how heavy it is, extremely dense and strong, can't even flex it, would hold up a car without breaking a sweat. It is the material of choice for racing, strength vs weight, but for the street I am going with the forged aluminum.
Have a good one.

jdgun said:

Anyone have a link to some tasty titanium axles?

Click to expand...

So since JDGUNs question about finding Titanium axles I have looked and found nothing for the '17-19 bike. So I started looking into having a set made.

If the front axle is 383g (13.5oz) and the rear axle is 465g (16.4oz) then the titanium is 43% of that, so front axle would be 165g (5.8oz) and the rear axle 200g (7.07oz), for a weight loss of 483g (17oz), just over a pound.

Just the material is expensive. To do one set with Grade 5 (6AL-4V) it would be $584, with Grade 23 (6AL-4V Eli) it would be $674, but for 5 sets each would be $484 in grade 5 and $580 in grade 23.

Then there is the machining and heat treating cost. So I will take dimensions of the original axles and talk to a few machine shops to see if I can find one experienced turning titanium and how much it will cost.

So I need to do more investigation but is anyone interested in a set of titanium axles if the cost is $800 to $1000.

So San Diego used to be a hot bed for the Aerospace industry so there are lots of machine shops that work with Titanium but most of the machine shops I talked to can turn the outside diameter of the axle but can't drill through the length of the axle. I found other machine shops that specialize in gun drilling so they can do that. So it looks like I will have the axles turned to shape at one shop then, after inspecting for accurate diameters and lengths, take them to a gun drill shop to have them finished. Depending on how smooth the drilling is one shop that does the drilling can also hone smooth the internal diameter to remove anything that could end in a stress fracture. I have spare stock axles coming from Ebay so I can make a good drawing for each and provide a sample to the machine shops. Once I receive the axles and do the drawings I will get quotes, purchase some stock of Grade 5 Titanium, and have one set of axles made, then I can post pictures and costs.