Leisesturm

I have a truly lightweight bicycle for the first time in a long time and ... wow. And the wow has zero to do with rolling resistance. As a matter of fact it has some pretty poorly rated tires for rolling resistance but these tires will never flat. Period. But when a bike weighs in the ~20lb arena, everytime you pick the bike up, even partially, and you never think about the dozens of times you are positioning and orienting and just plain lifting your bike. When all that handling is done with a bike that weighs 20lbs vs one that weighs 35lbs or 40lbs or more! The difference is mind blowing. For an arthritic rider the heavier craft may well be unrideable. Children can bomb around all day on cruiser type bikes with awful rolling resistance wheels and tires and even carry their friends around on the handlebars or rear rack and think nothing of how poorly the thing rolls but they would never in a million years be able to lift even one end of the loaded bike off the ground if that should prove necessary. Light is right without any qualifications. But light costs. It's the only reason we all aren't riding super light bikes for whatever reason we ride bikes. The sheer jaw dropping cost of everything made to be lightweight.

To the o.p. respectfully and with your background in mind ... is a bike frame for your DW really the project for breaking into this new discipline? I don't know, I'm just asking. I've approached gifted fabricators whose work I've seen around town with an idea I've been kicking around for a recumbent bicycle and they run the other way. Literally. From a safe distance they tell me about the responsibility of making something that will transport a human being. They don't want any part of it. There is a framebuilders forum on Bike Forums you might (illegally) cross-post your questions there? That was a little tongue in cheek and not really helpful. But what I came here to say was that Mad Honk may be onto something. Even though I don't think rolling resistance matters as much as pure mass does his ideas at least are geared (swidt?) to working with the bike you have already. One way to reduce the mass of the Electra Amsterdam would be to replace everything except the important drivetrain bits with higher quality (lighter) alternatives. It would be a lot of work but a lot less than fabricating a new frame. It could get real expensive, but a local bike co-op could cut the cost by a factor of ... 5? I don't know, with the lightest rims, handlebars, seatpost, etc. Pounds could be cut from the all up weight of an Amsterdam. I don't think you can craft a frame that is pounds lighter than the existing one. No slight on your abilities, just saying. If you wanted to bling it out your could get a Copenhagen Wheel for it. The new electric assist hubs have regenerative braking that is so good you can use it as the only brake on the bike. Go and stop at the flick of a wrist and shifting gears becomes optional. FWIW.