When you set out to build the world’s lightest mountain bike hardtail, you know you’re taking on for an ambitious engineering, design and planning challenge. The whole process requires a meticulous approach to materials and component selection with every gram counting towards the end goal. However, just being lightweight is not enough, the bike also needs to be a 'real MTB' and retain strength in key areas and maintain the bikes overall performance and handling, a true balancing act. Dream Builds YouTube channel are know for their jaw dropping builds and together with Spanish brand Mondraker, set out to see what was possible and to create a bike that not only was the lightest on the scales in the world but also maintained performance on the trail.

At the bikes heart is an off-the-shelf Mondraker Stealth Carbon Podium RR SL frame in medium, which was given the ‘lightweight’ treatment by the brands inhouse, Alicante based ‘Blue Lab’ team in Spain. This is the team responsible for creating the Mondraker's 'Unlimited' series of custom painted bikes, including the Gulf Neat edition bikes and the 20th Anniversary Foxy. Stock, the frame has a weight of 840.4grams fully painted and although superlight already, Mondraker knew they could do better. Setting to work, the 142.7grams of factory paint was stripped off the frame leaving it in a raw carbon fibre state and with a weight of only 697.7grams. A frame like this would never survive in the wild, so 34.5grams of lightweight decals and paint/lacquer was applied and the resulting matte finished frame could then face real mud and still sit on the scales at a featherweight 732.2grams…yes, a fully World Cup proven MTB frame that weighs less than most riders full water bottles.