preventec47

I was asked by a lady friend who has to transport her bike to and from the trail by removing front wheel and putting in her SUV how or where
to buy a lighter bike so it is easier for her to load and unload her bike. I would expect to see some weights of bikes in the advertising
of expensive bikes .but I am not seeing it. I advised that the skinny wheels alone in road bikes would be a couple of pounds less
that fatter tired wheels and of course no suspension is needed.... So how do I get some reliable total weights of new bikes ?

For that matter, going back and looking at used bikes, as there is no need for latest bleeding edge components.... There have always been
light weight bikes.... What brands and models of used bikes should we be on the lookout for ?

shelbyfv

"Trail" could be MTB or MUP. Specify. Provide the weight of her current bike and desired weight range of the prospective bike. Her budget. This the minimum needed if you actually want helpful replies.

wolfchild

I thought that heavy bikes are better.

GlennR

light = $$$$

I have 2 bikes, a 14# road bike and a 20# cyclocross bike. The 20# bike was a 1/3 the cost of the 14#.

Yes, the type of trail matters. My CX bike can do all the trail on Long Island but since there are no mountains here i don't need any suspension (which is heavier).

philbob57

I'd want to know the actual weight of her current bike. Then I think you'd have to go with her to where bikes are so she can decide how much lighter she needs/wants. As for advertised weights, I think I'd take them with several grains of salt.. After all, it looks like she wants 'lighter', which may be a lot different from 'light.'

GlennR

Alsi bike weights listed by the manufacturer do not include pedals or anything you might add such as a saddle bag, tools,racks, lights or anything else.

shelbyfv

Wow, how did I miss that? Heavy Bikes are better !

CargoDane

A bike with smaller wheels would make things easier, all-else equal. A mini-velo or even a folding bike, with 20" wheels is great for those kinds of things (and usually lighter than a full-size equivalent).


Edit:
Oh, I missed you wanted "totally reliable weights" in marketing literature etc. Yeah, that might turn out to be difficult.

Gary in NJ

Here's an idea, bring her current bike (along with the SUV transport tool) to a few LBS, and compare the current bike to others that the LBS have in stock.

indyfabz

Not to mention that if a weight is listed on a web site, it’s usually for only one size. And specs can change, affecting weight.

The OP doesn’t present himself as someone who knows much about bikes. Sorry to state the obvious.

preventec47

One difference between you and me is that after seeing your useless statement which for some reason you are sorry for, I feel no need to state the obvious. No apologies offered. I suggest you continue to seek fulfillment the best way you see fit regardless of your PHD in bicycles..

liv211

If you want a light bike, why not go for carbon bikes if you have good budget

StanSeven

I cleaned up the thread to remove some harassing posts. The rule here is if you don’t like threads or posts, just pass them up. If you don’t like another member, place them on Ignore. But don’t ridicule.

rsbob 

Rather than buying a new lighter bike why not suggest getting a hitch mounted bike rack. Don’t have to heft the bike around as much. Some even have integrated ramps you can wheel the bike on.

icemilkcoffee 

To the OP: Please answer the numerous questions posed by people eager to help. Namely: What type of bike and what is your budget. And we'll go on from there.

drewtk

Bike companies don't list weights because there are way too many variables that affect weight, so they don't go to the trouble of weighing every single bike size in every single configuration. Bike models are available in numerous sizes, and then each size is available in numerous trims. That can be ~100 configurations just for one bike model.

I understand what you're asking, but the answer isn't a particular bike brand. All major bike brands offer every type of bike, from heavy to light. You need to provide more information to get meaningful responses: What type of bike? Road, mountain, hybrid, city, etc.? How heavy is the current bike, and how light are you trying to get? But be prepared - light weight costs money.

Ogsarg

+1 on a rack. Unless her current bike is massively heavy, I seriously doubt a lighter bike will be much easier to get in/out of her car. With a rack, a few pounds likely won't even be noticed and no wheel removal needed.

hsuBM

1) Most factory complete bikes (not to be confused with department store Bicycle Shaped Objects) are made to handle someone upwards of 250lbs riding at 25mph through potholed city streets for 250 miles per year. They will be 22-28lbs for pavement bikes and 26-35lbs for “trail” bikes.

2) If your friend is under 100lbs, she could reasonably spend ~$600 on a nice new custom ~3lbs wheelset to stick on nearly any pre-1986 Japanese roadbike (~$150-300 before selling off the heavy old wheels, less-than-ideal handlebars, and maybe the gears) along with some ~$60 alloy city/trail bike handlebars and fit some ~$80 pair of tires for a perfectly wonderful do-it-all bike which might weigh 17-21lbs with full gears or down to 15-18lbs if she is willing to experiment with single speed conversion, and it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to expect decades of use out of it on gentle trails.

3) The truly lightweight complete used racing bikes typically have collector value or budget racer value, so you do kinda have to have a PhD in bikes to know what to be looking for. Even when you do know what to be looking for, you’ll still wind up looking at end-prices beginning near my above-mentioned semi-custom build and ending up in the used motorcycle range.

3a) I picked up a 1985 Trek 770 complete in rather beat up condition for $100. In okay condition they tend to auction for $700-1,500. It was being sold at a shop whose clientele is interested only in new carbon race bikes or new kids bikes which is why they priced it so low. With a modern titanium railed saddle, new bars, and my custom wheels it weighs a bit under 16lbs and I think it rides better than my newer $2.5K bike. Despite it being a hardcore road racing bike, I do ride it in moderate-difficulty trails- but I have dedicated an embarrassingly large amount of my life to attaining excessive bike skillz without which I certainly would be constantly flatting tires and bending rims on any of my roadbikes which I take in my nearby rocky rooty trails.

———

as mentioned by other posters, there are multiple types of bikes she could be looking at to achieve her goal of an easy transport trail capable bike.

She could be trying to score a steeeal of a deal on a 90s racing mountain bike.

She could just get a 20” folding bike.

Seldom mentioned on here, but somewhat viable- late 90s-early 00s bmx race bikes could achieve exactly what she needs.

Or, her bike might be perfectly perfect for her and she just needs to accept that that’s what bikes weigh. A lot of people drive cars which they need a ladder to get in and out of and are okay with that inconvenience when they’re either driving or standing around looking at their investment. Lightweight bikes typically are not as durable as heavier bikes.

———

questions ambiguously asked and unanswered:

-make and model of your friend’s current bike

-the thing within which the person for whom you are shopping is adhered... its weight? Its height?

-definition of “trails”... what country, state/province,

-budget ceiling?

Ironfish653

t's very hard to tell the weight of a bike from just a picture.

Which one is lighter?

ptempel

^^ I would guess the Cannondale headshock MTB. I have a mid 1990's one (team Sobe hardtail with V brakes). Its fairly light but I've never weighed it. These two could be alternatives for the OP's friend. Older MTBs can be fairly cheap and you could put a drop bar on them if she preferred it. A little more expensive are older Cyclocross bikes (like the Lemond Poprad) with cantilever brakes. Next up the ladder is used gravel bikes that could have a carbon frameset. With enough money, the world is your oyster!

This may sound blasphemous, but weight should not be the top priority. I think its at least third behind function and fit.

70sSanO

Since the weight is for lifting only and not riding, just weigh it.

Some shops even have scales; but get a digital luggage scale, weight her current bike, go to a shop and weigh perspective bikes. How tough can it be?

Regardless of the only one size on websites, it does give an idea for comparison purposes.

I’ve had hitch racks and also been able to put the bike inside a van. Inside away from elements and thieves is always better.

John

hsuBM

love this game! Despite the rack and light, gonna vote Stihl powerless CDale.

Trakhak

Just quoting to register appreciation for the wonderful and criminally underrated SoftRide suspension stem.

shelbyfv

Given OP's position on bike weight "Unless you are a professional or amateur racer..... Ride as heavy a bike as you can ! You will get a better workout, You will save money as they are cheaper and more rugged requiring less repair, and your crashes will occur at slower speeds...." he might tell the "friend" to HTFU

preventec47

Certainly reasonable requests..... under ordinary circumstances.... i hope no women are reading this but I am dealing with a woman here complaining that
her steel tube hybred (has brand name but i forgot) with twist grip shifters and seemingly pretty good set of components ( because everything works well ) is noticeably heavier than my Bianchi Avenue with trigger shifters on flat handle bars which I think would be termed a mountain bike 30 years ago. I am 190 pounds and she 120 pounds and at a minimum she would be happier with my bike.
I dont know the exact weight of my bike or hers and I have never weighed a bike on scales and of course it would be impossible to extract budget info. ( Suffice it to say that I know the woman and while she is a pretty regular and competent rider, there is no way she is thinking of big bucks. Nor would she consider dropped bars and skinny tires which automatically means "lighter bike" It is just one of those " I'll keep a lookout and let you know if I find anything interesting." A few months ago I remember being in an Antique store and there were about five or six bikes in the shop. All were road bikes mostly 12 speed along with a 14 and 16 maybe. I reached out and picked them all up one by one by the top tube and one of them was noticeably significantly lighter than the others and I thought wow, that bike should have a higher price tag on it. They all had the shifters way down on the
tube from the cranks to the stem. The thing I dont know is how feasible it is to take an old frame and try to add more recent components. I think I understand correctly that steel tube frames are easy to weld items to where needed and aluminum frames nearly impossible... as any welding kills any local heat treatment strengthening
of the alloy. I sure wish I could remember the brand name of that very light bike to share with you. i believe all the bikes had a price tag of $150.