Originally Posted by
peripatetic
Curious--for anyone who's done this stuff. I mainly ride/maintain vintage steel bikes. Never upgraded to anything too new--what kind of weight difference is there between 80s 6- or 7-speed components and newer, STI 8/9-speed stuff? Are newer components lighter in sum than the older stuff or heavier? Or is the difference negligible?
Depends on the grades of components in my experience, and particularly the wheels. Realize that brifters will weigh more than DT levers, but the remaining parts will be lighter. I am always amazed how light high end vintage steel bikes can be, having grown up with the heavy, EF Schwinns. I didn't realize back then that there were some pretty sweet bikes out there. Of course, I couldn't have afforded them anyway.
454 grams = one pound. Wide variation on wheel weights.
My 1984 steel frame Lotus Classique weighed within a half pound of my 2005 Trek 1000 (aluminum frame, carbon fork, etc).
I usually upgrade for riding comfort (I just like STI), rather than any weight savings. I've got three bikes in the upgrade queue right now. Will be interesting to see what if any weight savings result. But all of them came with pretty good stuff originally, so I am not expecting a lot of savings.