Equipped for riding (which, in my book, includes the rider), my carbon road bike weighs 163 lbs and my steel CX bike (with road wheelset) weighs 166 lbs - a 1.8% difference :) Yet I must admit that when riding the difference "feels" much greater even though actual performance numbers show that it isn't. Some of that is undoubtedly due to differences in frame design, geometry, fit, components, etc. But I do think our brains are wired to notice small weight differences even when they don't have a meaningful contribution to performance.

In case it can save anyone some money, I will mention that the cheapest version of scale suitable for weighing a whole bike is a fish scale. After searching on ebay for scales particular to many different sports, hobbys, vocations, etc., I found that the electronic scales now used by fishermen are the cheapest. Under $10 delivered from China through ebay. Not only that but they generally have better precision and wider range than the two common brands sold specifically for bicycles. Mine works perfectly and the accuracy checks out very well against the Park scale my LBS has.

One issue is that the hook such scales are equipped with is generally too small to hold a bicycle. I purchased an auxiliary hook at the hardware store for a buck or so to overcome the problem.

Contrary to most folks opinion (surprised?) I always weigh the bike sans pedals, bottle cages, and computer fittings. That way when I report the weight in a post on BF, anyone can else can know how much the bike would weigh if they were riding it by simply adding to my posted weight the total of their pedals, cages, and computer. To me that makes the most sense. So in the case of my Giant TCR Advanced CF frame with Red shifting, etc. etc., the bike base weight is 13.64 lb and my add on kit is 0.75 lb for a total of 14.39 lb.

Excellent post. Somebody rep this guy.

What the bare bike weights is pretty much a useless weight. The only weight that is revelant is what the bike weighs as you would ride it out the driveway.

It's useful as a basis of comparison since that's how the manufacturers and dealers report their bike's weight. It's not a true measure of what YOUR bike is going to weigh.

He did provide the weight of his add-on stuff. And, provided a total weight. That sounds quite useful to me.

The G Major scale is one of my Favorites, E minor is its relative.

I have a preference for C/Am, F and G(7).

Acoustic blues right hand picking patterns fall in line.