Originally Posted by Treespeed

This is so ridiculous. The original question posed is, "Benefits of a lighter bike." The question was not, "Are lighter bikes faster?" Classic Newbie/Freshman mistake, answering the question you THINK was asked instead of the actual question.

Yes, maybe on a chalkboard you can isolate all of the variables, but this is the real world. You don't make a lighter bike without losing reliability, comfort, or stiffness. There are always tradeoffs, and all of these back of the envelope figuringsd doesn't cancel out the fact that a stronger rider on a heavier bike will beat out a weaker rider on a lighter bike.

And for crying out loud ke422azn22 stop with the whole newbie thing. By your own admission you haven't even started riding, let alone made it through a rainy Seattle winter. I look forward to seeing how often you get out and ride after it's been raining for 30 days straight in the middle of January. I'd love to see the look on your face as some of the bearded 50 year old commuters blow by you on their full-fendered 25 pound bridgestones. All this whining about lightness and physics and at the end of the day what pisses you off is that it's all about guts and the motor and you have neither.