What happens when you set out to build a wildly light road bike that can still handle real-world riding? That’s the question Dangerholm asked with his latest creation. The SCOTT Addict RC SUB5 is comically light, but it’s not some fragile, scale-chasing garage ornament; it’s a proper race-ready machine. So, if you thought featherweight road bikes were only about 23mm tubular tires, exposed shift cables, and chopped off drop bars – you’re wrong. Dangerholm has a response, and it weighs 4,991.4 grams.
Meet The SCOTT Addict RC SUB5
The new SCOTT Addict RC SUB5 built by Dangerholm is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a deep dive into cycling’s oldest obsession, creating the lightest bicycle possible. The custom build starts around SCOTT’s already-svelte Addict RC. He pushed below the 5kg mark without resorting to the usual party tricks. No drilling holes, no “without pedals” or “without cages” or non-ridable prototype crap, it’s a real bike that you’d use for fun.
The Checklist
This one was built with a clear checklist: 2×12 electronic shifting, at least 28mm tires, modern wide rims, powerful brakes, a one-piece aero cockpit, real bar tape, and a final weight that still includes pedals, bottle cages, and a computer mount. Challenge accepted.
Lightweight Bikes Are Always Cool
We’ve spent the last several years watching aero bikes eat the room. “Lightweight” became something brands mostly whispered about between CFD slides and tire-clearance claims. Dangerholm’s take flips that script a bit. The point here isn’t nostalgia for superlight bikes of old. It’s proving that a modern disc-brake road bike can still sneak under 5kg (with wild tweaks – yes) while keeping the things that actually make a bike function.
Starting Scott Stock
Dangerholm used a stock-size L/56cm SCOTT Addict RC HMX-SL frame. This frameset reportedly weighs 630.9g with hardware, paired with a 282.4g fork. That’s a damn solid number on its own for a stock bike. However, the real hook is that the Addict RC wasn’t chosen just because it’s light. It was chosen because it behaves like a proper performance road bike.
Grinding For Grams
From there, the gram hunt gets predictably unhinged, in the best possible Dangerholm way. The stock thru-axles were swapped for RideNow titanium units at 24.7g. The cockpit (usually a Syntace one-piece bar) moved to a Darimo Nexum Drag bar/stem combo, and the seatpost became a matching Darimo D-shape piece.
The bar is wrapped in actual Ciclovation KOM bar tape. Even the bar-end plugs got the memo, with Extralite HyperPlug HD ends, which are apparently the “heavy” version despite each weighing just 1g.
39.2g Saddle
Then there’s the saddle: a Gelu K3 that comes in at a ridiculous 39.2g. Yes, that is a real number, and it has rider-weight limitations. Dangerhorn notes that the reinforced version adds only 10g. If you need a higher rider weight limit, save that for your beater bike; this is all about weight savings.
What keeps the whole thing from becoming just another boutique scale-flex is the brake setup. Dangerholm’s premise was simple: a bike this light still has to be fun on descents, not just smug on climbs. To that end, the build leans on SRAM RED E1 levers and a heavily tuned braking package. The extras include titanium clamps and hardware, as well as Carbon-Ti rotors. The Carbon-Ti rotors are light, but they manage heat pretty well, too. In other words, this wasn’t a rotor chosen solely because it looks fast leaning against a café wall (because it does).
Brakes That Actually Work
The brake story gets even more interesting. Dangerholm went with 612 Parts 2-piston calipers to keep the build tidy and aero-minded. It’s a very Dangerholm solution: slightly obscure, beautifully engineered, and somehow still logical once you do some research.
All The Gears
Drivetrain duty goes to a 2x SRAM RED setup. The crankset is a GrigioCarbonio Road T1000, 170mm, weighing in at a scant 256.3g. The GrigioCarbonio crankset is paired to Carbon-Ti X-CarboRing X-AXS chainrings in a very usable 37/50t combo. The remainder of the drivetrain is standard (though also high-end).
Bits include a SRAM RED 10-30t cassette, standard RED chain, a standard RED front derailleur, and a tuned RED rear derailleur with Extralite UltraPulleys and titanium hardware. It’s a mix of proven drivetrain pieces and boutique tuning, which feels like the sweet spot for a build like this. A superlight model that still shifts well when you’re cross-eyed halfway up a climb is simply better.
The pedals are Wahoo Speedplay Nano, tuned down to 150.6g; they’re also one of the few spots where rider-weight limits come into play. Dangerholm notes that swapping to Time XPRO 12 SL pedals would add 25g but raise the recommended weight limit. Dual-sided Speedplay power meter pedals would add 95.9g, and that is simply too much here.
Wait Till You See The Wheels
The wheels are where things get especially spicy. The custom set weighs just 866.7g. The climbing wheels were built by R2BIKE using NonPlus Components Primaro Fusion hubs and Light Bicycle Airia 32 Disc rims with carbon spokes. The rims are 32mm deep, 31.5mm wide at the widest point, and 23.5mm internal, all while still carrying a 100kg rider weight limit. Tubulars are usually lighter than clinchers and are one of the mainstays of the hill-climbing scene. A 866g wheelset is just bonkers.
Tire choice may be the most “wait, what?” part of the whole package. Dangerholm used pre-production Schwalbe Aerothan road tires, labeled 28mm in one place and 29mm in another, but reportedly measured just over 29mm on these rims. They’re paired with Tubolito S-Tubo-Road TPU tubes (apparently – not every lightweight answer is tubeless or tubular). In fact, for a build chasing grams this aggressively, tube-type starts looking less like a step backward and more like a very calculated move.
The Details Matter
Rounding things out are CarbonWorks bottle cages at 19.4g for the pair, including bolts, plus an Alpitude computer mount at 16.5g. Those pieces matter because Dangerholm’s stated goal was that the final weight had to be honest. The final tally is 4,991.4g, or nearly 11.00 pounds, with the bike equipped the way you’d actually ride it.
What about the limitations? Yes – this isn’t a bike for everyone. The frameset carries a 120kg system weight limit, the wheels are rated for a 100kg rider, the bar and seatpost for 90kg, the saddle for 80kg, and the pedals for 82kg. So no, this isn’t a universal solution for every rider. But that was never the point. The point was to show just how far a modern disc road bike can be pushed without completely losing the plot.
Long Live Dream Builds
And really, that’s what makes the SCOTT Addict RC SUB5 cool. It’s not just light. Plenty of bikes are light if you’re willing to do dumb things. This one is compelling because it still sounds like a bike you’d actually want to ride. It’s modern, 2x, with decently wide tires, and built with enough braking and handling ambition. In a market that loves to tell us every road problem can be solved with more aero shaping, Dangerholm’s latest build is a fun reminder that sometimes the oldest obsession in cycling is still a good one.
And yes, 11 pounds is still hilariously, gloriously stupid in the best possible way.
