With so many bike available today, it's possible to pick a bike made with almost any material that will work well for long distance riding. However, if you are looking for speed and lighter weight in a comfortable long distance bike you need to limit you selection to heat treated steel, titanium or carbon-fiber.

A lighter rider needs a lighter bike for climbing. I’m 210 lbs and ride bikes that weight 19 to 24 lbs on long distance events. My ratio of rider to bike weight is about 10 to1. A 150 lbs rider would need a 15 lbs bike to have the same ratio. The power required to climb with a bike will increase substantially as a climb becomes steeper. Bike weight matters, and it matters more with lighter riders.

A lighter rider also needs a more compliant bike than a heavier rider. If the bike is being constructed of steel or titanium, the frame-builder would intentionally select thin walled tubing to improve compliance.

If the bike is carbon-fiber, the buyer needs to select a bike that is engineered for comfort and compliance. Carbon-fiber bikes are molded, and except for a few bikes, compliance is engineered in and cannot be changed during fabrication.

Fortunately, compliant and comfortable carbon fiber bikes exist, and several of prior posts have begun listing these models.

This bike should fit your needs: http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...thendura2.html

The frame not only has long-distance friendly geometry, the long reach brakes allow 700x25 tires with fenders. Also the Sram Apex drivetrain accepts an 11-32 ten speed cassette for those 15% or steeper climbs.

A lighter crankset and wheelset could bring the bike weight down to an acceptable 18 lbs or less.

If you are selecting steel, these two models should be considered: http://www.somafab.com/extrasmoothie.html or http://gunnarbikes.com/site/bikes/sport/ Add a light weight Carbon-fiber fork, crank and wheelset and the steel bike should get below 20 lbs.