What's a good weight for a bike?

[The History Man]

Not wanting to start the weight weenie thing but my regular watch weighs 141g. The lightest one I have weighs 33 so guess which will be my riding watch from now on?

 

[mattr]

When I started racing (mid 80s) the benchmark used to be sub 20lbs. I was the envy of all my friends with my super light campag equipped vitus....... That was so bendy you could get the rear tyre to buzz the chainstay. Soon went back to steel! (Still riding a slightly sub 20lbs steel bike today!)

Worrying thing is that my current mtb comes in at about 20lbs as well.....

 

[Agency_Scum]

Me, recently.

 

[The History Man]

Sorry lurch lost on me?

 

[matthew71]

are they carbon stay,s on the telfer?

 

[rusty bodie]

That's the way I look at it. I could spend hundreds of pounds to get lose 5kg from the bike weight, or I could spend less money on food and reduce the overall weight of the outfit by more than that. Option 2 isn't working out so well at the moment.

Does it make any difference whether you lose the weight from the rider or bike?

ah hear ya!!

 

[rusty bodie]

My lovely Rob Telfer is 22lbs fully built with pedals. Quite good for a 27" steel frame.

27 inch :shock:

are those 20" wheels???!!

:shock:

 

[sunn]

I would reckon that with retro bikes below 10 kg would be considered cool as these are steel beasts. It would be quite easy to shave some weight with modern components like carbon seatposts etc. but I don't see much point in that. The original components really makes these bikes look and feel real and enjoyable. But that is just my opinion. But I do like this topic a lot as I always enjoy comparing tech sheets and bike weights. Not many bike manufacturers publish official weights these days as there is too much trouble and the weight varies between bikes and sizes.

My Peugeot Aspin uses R501 tubing. I do not have a good scale but it would be interesting to know what the bike actually weights without all the accessories and pedals ie. in the out-of-the-box condition.

Btw. my current Jamis Dragon MTB with R853 is about 24.50 lbs. And my retro MTB, Sunn Revolt Gp is about 9,5 kg.

 

[The History Man]

But you don't ride it like that. I'm interested in weights as ridden just for curiosity rather than in an attempt to find ways to save some off.

 

[sunn]

Yeah, we share a common interest. But it would be even nicer to know out of the box weight and then the ready to ride weight .

A friend of mine carries a lot! of stuff in his thigh pockets when riding. He is always carrying his laptop and all kind of tools for the bike etc. As his legs are arguably part of the motor when biking should this weight be added to the bike weight or should we add the full biker weight to get the whole picture? These are some of the questions I sometimes ponder . Anyhow, the bike weight is just one small part of the total weight we are moving with our bikes. I usually leave my U-lock to my work place. So that is an easy 2 kg off .