Eugene should be getting our new Bikeshare bicycles the end of this week.

I was at a presentation about bikepacking, and the presenter was discussing the weight of his rig. Bicycle, camping gear, rescue gear, food, and it came out to about 60 pounds.

Then it was mentioned that our new bikeshare bikes will also be about 60 pounds... EMPTY.

That means that these new bikes will be about the weight of a typical road bike plus 40 pounds.

I carry enough cargo, that it is pretty easy to hit 40 lbs of cargo, but one certainly starts noticing it, especially when one hits the hills (they seem to have cut most of the hills out of the rental zone).

I assume part of the idea is to make the bikes bombproof. But, I wonder if they've gone overboard.

I.E. Could one achieve similar robustness with a bike that was say 30 pounds? Does it really matter if a wheel can be thrown out of true in a wreck?