Originally Posted by
svtmike
I have hands.
I prefer sarcasm to pedantry and condescension any day. Your brakes are a horrible compromise -- single pivot mechanism with very little travel and precious little tire clearance. They may work for you but they are a great example of how you've sacrificed the much superior but heavier mechanism of a good dual pivot brake for something that doesn't matter -- weight. I'll take a Shimano Ultegra brake set over those Zero Gravity's 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Your lousy shifting FSA cranks with their proprietary and poorly sealed bottom brackets are another example of a bad tradeoff. I'd also expect your wheels are underbuilt and noodly for many riders and American Classic hubs aren't exactly a paragon of reliability either. I do like their freehub clip kits though. I add them to all of my alloy freehubs even though it's extra grams.
When it comes right down to it, the weight of a road bike within a reasonable range (say 14-20 pounds) doesn't matter a hill of beans. You only think you've made incredibly optimal tradeoffs but I wouldn't touch one of your bikes with a ten foot pole.
unless you've found a way to negate the laws of physics, weight clearly matters. It certainly matters more depending on how you're using your bike. Mountains favor lighter bikes. It matters less if you ride to the coffee shop. It may or may not matter as much depending on what kind of criterium racer one may be.
Whether it's worth worrying about, spending money on, or what trade offs are justifiable, are all certainly choices for the individual. But to categorically deny that weight matters is silly.