you know, reading all these weights, and given that my bikes all pretty much weigh about 30 lbs or a bit less, I can only wonder what it must be like to ride a sub-20lb bike. You see often in the roadie section of guys with 16lb bikes....I imagine even a $1500 road bike is under 20 lbs nowadays.
I often wonder what it must be like, and how gearing is affected. I ride in hilly stuff often and I suspect that a 30 granny with a 27 cassette or even a 25 might be doable on a bike that weighs a good 10 lbs less or even 15....
I know what you mean. A few years ago, I was in the LBS for parts, and ended up taking a light weight road bike out for a test spin (Jamis Eclipse- "miracle steel" frame, Ultegra 2 x 10, price tag slightly north of 3K IIRC, and must have been a bit under 20#). I guess that falls under "mid-high level, fairly light" in the context of modern road bikes? Aside from the price, it wasn`t really "my thing", but it was fun for a few minutes, and it satisfied that curiosity. Definitely made me feel fast. I`m somewhat envious of the light weights too, but even if I ignored the money factor, I don`t like the compromises. All my favorite components and styling preferences seem to be intrinsically heavy. As you mentioned later, I know that even my own bike used to feel relatively speedy when I`d strip the touring stuff from it, but now that I use it as a daily commuter, it never goes into svelte mode any more.