Your average $1200 aluminum road bike will weigh about 20 pounds.
Another thing to consider besides a road bike, if you will do some gravel roads and light trail, but nothing technical, is a cyclocross bike. It varies by model, but a lot of them can fit bigger than 35mm tires. Of course they can use a 23mm slick also, if all you want is on-road speed.
Last edited by ColinL; 03-14-12 at 08:19 AM.