RiddleOfSteel

Thanks, man. I just swapped the standard butyl inner tubes for some Vitorria latex ones in 700 x 30-38 size. Advertised at just 105g for these huge tubes, two of the three I ordered were 103g each, and the last one was just 95g. In all, it was a 134g savings, which is considerable for $14 (on sale) tubes. Even better, the weight lost was at the outermost rotational point of the wheel. The bike is sniffing around 22.25 lbs now (even with the 40g bump in handlebar weight).

The 620 without frame pump, a water bottle, and a saddle bag, in this post-powder coat configuration (with the 42mm tires), has always seemed a bit unsettled. I mean, it's dead stable, but it's like putting weight in a pickup bed to get the rear suspension to chill out a little. I figured any improvements with the latex tubes would be "quiet" ones. Indeed they are. It rolls a little better, sounds a touch different, climbs out of the saddle with a different sound, and feels more eager to spin up. The valve stems are gloss black, so, you know, just when you thought this bike couldn't get any more black, here we go. Looks great, IMO.

I'm basically at the point to where if I can find some good, light, carbon bars in 42cm for the same price or less than the 40cm ones I have now, that will make the bike perfect/complete. The aluminum ones are doing fine, though I will need to add some padding where the current tape is too thin/tired to offer padding.