fatigoworld

ive recently weighed my bike and compared to the postings on here and other sites, the numbers (comparatively) dont seem to add up. heres my build...

56cm khs reynolds 853 frame
battaglin steel fork (supposedly about 1 pound)
dura ace BB, crankset, hubs
dt swiss rr rims
campy mirage brake calipers
ringle moby seatpost
selle italia c2 saddle
nitto bullhorn bars
sakae aluminum stem
stronglight a 9 headset
mks sylvan pedals
tektro cross levers

18.1 pounds

now heres the question. on various sites ive seen bikes with the same or similar claimed weight with obviously heavier frames and parts (ie phil wood hubs and bb, deep v, chromoly frames, vintage and steel components, etc). so are people using bathroom scales to measure their bikes or am i just mistaken about how much lighter these components are?

Dicko

what's wrong with an 18 pound bike? it has to weigh at least something!!

LóFarkas

People always seem to claim ridiculously light bike weights, some of them are fishy.

BoozyMcliverRot

Ive had sex with all of the supermodels(bikes),and its always true(complete lie).


Come to youre own reality.

marqueemoon

Sounds about right to me. What were you expecting and why does it matter?

shogun17

There is very little chance a full steel fork is gonna be 1 pound. that's less than a lot of carbon forks. DT RR1.1 rims are erratic in their claimed weights, especially since the newer double eyeletted rims weigh ~450. Most of your components aren't that light, so it doesn't look too off to me.

scheissmacht

my bike weighs 24lbs,

mattface 

Mine's got heavier stuff. 631 frame, Open Pros, Brooks saddle, 1/8" drivetrain, Athena cranks, and surprise it weighs somewhere around 21 pounds. My geared bike weighs less than my fixie. ALthough I don't have an exact weight for either, I'm prety sure they weigh more than 18 pounds. Your bike sounds nice and light. to get much lighter than that you need to really $TRY$. 15 pound bikes cost twice as much as 18 pound ones, and are less durable.

vobopl

my all steel/alu columbus frameset track bike weighs in at 17.9 using GL330 rims, tubulars and very light gipiemme saddle. I do not think yours is heavy, btw. I do not know a steel fork weighing in less than 1 pound. 1.5 is more like it.

Aeroplane

It's the Mirage calipers. If you'd have gone Record, this thread wouldn't exist.

If you take off the rear brake, that's a decent chunk of weight though. And you never mentioned tires, either. I guarantee somebody will always think of some way to spend money to make it lighter.

mattface 

OR you could just drill holes in everything! Drillium!!!

TRaffic Jammer

Less than two bags of potatoes? Don't sweat it. It's not how heavy it is that matters, it's how much fun you have on it.

Natron

I think people believe having a bike without shifters, a rear cassette and derailleurs will drop their bike to a fly-weight vehicle. Thing is, if you took a couple modern shifters, derailleurs, and cassette and weighed it all, I think you'd be surprised how light it all is. No one is going to go from a 25lb road bike to a 15lb single speed by dropping those parts even if they're made of lead. 18lbs is darn light for a road bike. I think you'd be surprised how fast 100g here and there adds up to a few pounds though.

I do think some people use dubious methods to weigh their bikes, yes. When I had mine weighed, it was by a special scale at a bike shop. My fixed is:

-Specialized Langster Pro frame ("Medium" size)
-Specialized carbon fork (aluminum steerer though)
-Mavic Open Pro rims
-Dura-Ace hubs (newer low-flange)
-Sugino 75 crankset
-Specialized Pave seatpost
-Specialized Alias saddle
-Easton EC90 carbon stem
-Deda 215 bars

That came in at 15.64. With my unknown-brand bullhorns, it was 15.62. There are ~450 grams in a pound. When I see 2lb steel forks and then 300 gram carbon forks, etc.... Well, with this scene seeming to be obsessed over bike looks (deep Vs, Brooks saddles, old steel frames, etc), it's not surprising that I see 20lb+ fixed gears often but there's nothing wrong with that, really. I never had my Cross-Check weighed but picking it up compared to my fixed gear and 30lb BMX, I'm estimating it around 26lbs as it's equipped right now but if I were to race someone else riding that bike through the city while on my much lighter fixed gear, I'd get absolutely smoked by that Surly. It sounds like you have a good bike there.. I'd be happy with that.

captsven

How do you know your bike weighs 18.1 lbs. ?
How did you weigh it?
Was the scale/balance certified?
Did you go to one of those websites were you enter in all of your components and they give you a weight? If you ever wieghed identical compents against each other, you will understand that these websites are just estimates. Components vary significantly from each other in weight.

Some bathroom scales may be more accurate than some 20 year old shop scales. The only way to REALLY know the correct weight is to use a certified scale. Everything else is just an estimate.

Adagio Corse

Let me help you estimate: (based on published reports)

56cm khs reynolds 853 frame: 3.7 lbs. (estimated for most modern light steel tubing)
battaglin steel fork: 1.4 lbs. (estimated for quality steel forks, as a comparison the cro-mo Surly Steamroller is 1.9lbs.)
dura ace BB: 220g
crankset:450g chainring: 85g
Hubs: front 190g rear 230g
2 dt swiss rr rims: 850g
set of spokes: 300g
campy mirage brake calipers: 300g
ringle moby seatpost: 250g
selle italia c2 saddle: 240g
nitto bullhorn bars: 250g
sakae aluminum stem: 350g
stronglight a 9 headset: 170g
mks sylvan pedals: 360g
tektro cross levers: 190g
freewheel: 180g
tires: 500g
tube & tape: 230g
chain: 300g
brake cables: 80g
Total components: 5505g = 12.1 lbs.

TOTAL: 5.1 lbs. frame/fork + 12.1 lbs. components = 17.2 lbs.

Caveat: all those estimates are optimistic approximations based on "published" manufacturer claims. If the average 9% error holds true (go to weight weenies site https://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php and you'll see how "off" manufacturer estimates are compared to reality), then my estimate on average should be cumulatively short by 1.0 lb. Soooo... add that 1.0 lb. for adjustment and BAM: your 18.1 lbs. is spot on.

Man I'm good!

forgot to mention: stainless steel screws/bolts/skewers/spindles add another 1/2 lb. to the weight.

Adagio Corse

The 2 things that contribute most to weight are: frame and wheels including tube/tires. All the other components add up, but individually would cost way more for a weight upgrade that's relatively minor compared to upgrading from clinchers to tubulars. ie/ RR.1 pair is 850g, but an equivalent Velocity Escape tubular rim is 800g, and clincher/tube tire weight is 750g but a pairt of tubulars is 500g.

So going from clinchers to tubulars would save you 300g or 0.66 lbs. Going from steel to aluminum/carbon fork would save another 1.2 lb. Ooooh, where does all that money go!

the pope

I know for a FACT that 46 percent of the people here do not own bikes. And roughly 80 percent of the posts are farmed in from the Indian Sub-Continent. (As evident by grammar and spelling.) In India, the weigh bikes counter-balanced with pearls and goats! So what do those people know?

fatigoworld

thanks for all the responses. id like to say that i dont take weight so seriously, i was just curious. i love my bike and still would even if it was 10 pounds heavier because it rides like butter. to reply to a few....

i believe there are some steel forks that are slightly over a pound

the campy mirage brake calipers are claimed 21 grams more than the campy records

i weighed it at a bike shop. i dont know if the scale was certified but the shop and mechanic area seemed very up to date and modern.

thanks for the breakdown by component weight. its nice to see it from that perspective.

fatbat

You can identify the farmed posts by their good grammar and correct spelling.

Adagio Corse

That may be true, but they are definitely drawn pretty thin and probably not the standard high quality forks you see from Sachs, Waterford, Kirk, et al. I've spoken to a few custom builders during my bike build up, and they tend to avoid the stiffer lighter steels to improve ride quality