So i went out for a ride with a friend last night who has just got a very nice lightweight bike from a relative (can't remember the details) I managed to keep up with him (ok his admittedly very slow pace) on my 3 speed Raleigh twenty, but we got to a hill that I just couldn't manage on my bike.

Decided to see what my bike weighs today, and it came to:

36.4 lbs

This thing is built like a tank! no wonder it is still going strong after 36 years!

What weight is your classic bike?

My heaviest old bike is the 87 Fisher HKEK with fenders and X-Mart springy cast fishing-sinker rack. It weighs 32 pounds.


Yeah, I'm bragging.

A little under 22 1/2 pounds.

I do my best not to ride anything over 25lbs, its just no fun, especially when climbing is your favorite part of riding.

When I really got into bicycles though it was cause of vintage single speed "cruisers", my heaviest had to be at 40lbs and I rode it a lot, I started doing such long rides it just sorta made sense to go out and get a geared road bike so thats what I did, and though they are much lighter Ive/I suffered/suffer way more than I ever could on one of those 40 pound beasts!

I weighed my "heavy" commuting bike (compared to my other bikes) recently - w/ rack, rack bag, spare tube, levers, pump. 26lbs.

*without water bottle

My main bike (the Ironman) weighs out pretty light—somewhere in the neighborhood of 22-23 pounds.

My cruiser (waiting to be worked on) is probably around 40 pounds though. Thing is a tank, plus I added some big ol' steel fenders too. It used to have a rack and milk crate and about eight bungees on it when it was still rideable, so it was definitely edging up there. no fun at all to ride up lawrence hills with.

Listed weight from the catalouge is around 30. Might shave a bit when I swap wheels but the rack and fenders will probably make up for it.

My heaviest bike is not vintage, but my ready to tour Surly LHT with Surly racks f/r and fenders=35lbs (62cm frame). Adding panniers and stuff in them it ads up quickly. I don't feel the weight on the road really only when I have to carry it down/up stairs or something like that. My lightest bike is one of my track bikes at 18-19 lbs depending on what parts are on it at the time.

my 1954 Raleigh sports with full chaincase and dyno hub with lights comes out at 48lbs. I rode it 50 miles one afternoon form Providence to Newport RI. It didn't kill me but I didn't set a speed record either.

My massive single-speed Shwinn Typhoon that my parents bought for me back in about 1966 is 40+ pounds. It's great on level ground, but even when I was a 14-year old kid in top physical condition, it was all I could do to get it up hills.

My schwinn weighs about 21lbs without cages/water/saddle bag

Just weighed a 78 Fuji S10-S I restored. 25" frame. It rides great but feels like a tank. With underseat bag it weighs 30 lbs. My 84 Club Fuji tips the scales at 26 lbs with same bag. My Gitane TdF prob weighs about 4 lbs less than the Club.

geek

My #1 folding bike (daily commuter) is close to 30 lbs. My #2 folder, which is more or less a spare, is over 40 lbs, which is a pain when I have to toss it up on the overhead luggage rack on the train. Other than that, there isn't that much difference; the two bikes are geared similarly and fit the same.

Your Raleigh Twenty is probably overgeared. As I recall, they come with a 15 cog and a 46T chain ring, so your low gear is still really high. Change the cog to an 18 and you'll be much happier.

So what is a "lightweight"? I'd say in the Classic & Vintage context, anything under 30 lbs would qualify. A touring bike, fully outfitted with fenders and racks, would probably weigh a bit more. My first lightweight, a 1953 Claud Butler New Allrounder, was 27 lbs, if I recall. It was plain gauge 531 with steel rims and crank, rear derailleur and Bluemels fenders. Fast forward, my '77 Nishiki Landau weighs 24.5 lbs with a db CrMo frame, alloy crank and rims. My '81 Nishiki Ultimate is 20.5 lbs. I'd say 20 lbs or less would be a pretty light vintage bike and between 22 and 28 about average. Of course, these weights seem quite hefty compared to today's plastic wonders which can be as little as 12 lbs (15 lbs being the minimum allowed for the Tour de France). However, there were many vintage track bikes down in that range and vintage fixed wheel bikes could easily be between 15 and 20 lbs.

I'm guessing my Locomotief Populaire weighs more than 60 pounds. Most of Holland is flat, so weight is not a big concern there.

Drum brakes, Sturmey 3-speed, an ignition-style key lock (key must be in bike for it to roll), and I alumin(i)um hadn't been invented when it was made, because the rims, hubs, seatpost and handlebars are all steel.

My Raleigh DL-1 complete with fuul chain case, and leather bag is 40 lbs.

My 1966 Raleigh Sports with rear derailleur, shift lever and two rear cogs weighs 38 pounds.

My T700 bare is around 25-26lb (63cm). Racks and fenders it is around 33lb. As it rolls out the door most mornings in the fall and winter with thermos of coffee, water bottle, locks, multi tool, spare tube, spare batteires for the lights, lights, MTX trunk bag, shoes (I ride with SPD's) and lunch it is around 45-50lb.

There is a reason I drop roadies on hills when I do a charity ride on the same bike and it is empty.

I think the heaviest is my Raleigh Superbe at ~40# my Twenty weighed close to that before I started modding it. I would guess it is a good 10-15#'s lighter now with alloy wheels, alloy seat post and a leather Brooks.

Heavy bikes are durable and will handle some pretty rough roads a lot better than the lightweights, the trade off is speed and acceleration, but once you hit the downhills heavy bikes rule

Aaron

Schwinn Henderson-- probably in the 65-70 lb range
Columbia Three Star (with all the extras on it)-- probably in the 70-75 lb range

If I had to make them comparable, the Henderson would be heavier than the Columbia. But the Columbia has a tank, headlight, electrical switch, battery and wiring in the tank, so I'll bet it weighs a bit more than the Henderson with the extras. These things were built like the cars of their times-- they're all steel and they're extraordinarily heavy. But this is part of why they last.

My Raleigh Sports and DL-1 are heavy too, but not as heavy as the balloon tire machines I have.

1936 Schwinn Henderson below:

My heaviest 26lbs Motobecane Grand Record. My lightest is a 22lbs Look 753r. It really doesn't matter much to me, since 90% of my riding time I tow my 34lbs son in a 20lbs trailer with bad wheel bearings and a 5 lbs diaper bag. Oh yeah on a bad day he takes his 3lbs Thomas backpack with him. With minimum wind condition I can ave. 14 mph on 20 miles flat. Weight makes me stronger.

Although I've only weighed three of them, here are the definite weights, and approximate weights of mine:

Raleigh Pro - 22 lbs
Univega Activa Trail - 32 lbs unloaded (fenders/racks)
Western Flyer "3 speed" - 38 lbs

guessing:
UO8 - 28-32 lbs (depending on alloy or steel rims)
Raleigh Sports - ~40

Most of my 700C outfitted vintage bikes weigh in at 22-25lbs. I have a 86 Fuji Team that weighs in at around 20-21lbs. I'm not sure what the 86 Ironman weighs.
OK, go to newer bikes. 91 Cannondale R400 with 3.0 frame, 22lbs, 96 Cannondale SR 500 with 2.8 frame (and headshock) 23.5 lbs, 06 Giant OCR-C 19.9 lbs., 97 LeMond Maillot Juane 18.5lbs. With the exception of the LeMond, the newer bikes weigh in very close to the vintage steel.
Owner 199lbs (was 220lbs at start of season in March).
Guess where my weight loss focus is!