So I have been reading all those old Bicycle Guide reviews SpeedofLite has been posting. And, as has been my observation over the years of weighing the occasional bare frame - they vary enormously in weight for similar lugged traditional diameter road bikes.

Clearly, frame size is usually a bigger influence than anything else, but it seems easy to find frames of the same size that vary in weight by more than a pound. Sometimes the lighter tubesets are in heavier frames than the heavier tubeset. So I would love to hear what people that actually braze tubes together think is going on.

Factors I can think of:
1. Obviously, we don't know who's scale is right.
2. Lug thinning, or not. Pricier bikes are often lighter than production bikes with off the shelf lugs.
3. Other fittings. Brake bridges can be hollow tubes or solid castings. Etc.
4. Which end of the tube was trimmed?
5. Amount of brazing material flow.
6. Worn tubing mandrel/dies? (Seems less likely)


So do you buy that an Aelle frame can be obviously lighter than Tange #1, and why? I realize that sometimes there are some tube substitutions, but that really shouldn't be more than 20-30 grams a tube.

Thanks, framebuilders!