i'm assuming this is one of the low end bikes direct bikes like the windsor wellington and I agree, not a lot of easy ways to lighten that up. its not as simple as just changing out the gears, if you get a new set of wheels that can take 8,9, or 10 speed hub, you will also then need to change shifters which means either going with some kind of modern downtube clamp on shifters that can support the extra gears or buying some brifters. A lot more money. If this truly is a bikesdirect.com bike, you may want to attempt to sell it now and cut your losses or just ride the crap out of this thing and save up for one of their better models. they do have bikes that are significantly better in the $500 range.

Lastly, chances are you don't ahve a carbon fork on the bike, that would be one area to save weight and improve ride quality but again, by itself, its not gonna save you a ton of weight. You really need to save 200 grams in the fork, 200 grams in the crank, 100 grams in each wheel, etc and etc to get an aggregate weight savings.


btw, just how much does this bike weigh now? do yo uhave any pics of it or can you give us a model name or a link to it so we can see the detailed specs?