re reading the weight weenies section, i just cannot credit some of the weights, increbibly light but when for UK trails, so riding up, down across things like lakes/peaks natural stuff does a weight become too light or too heavy?
And what are folks bikes ‘real weights’?

Real?

Large 140mm HT with pedals, guards, light brackets and proper-sized tyres – 25lbs

Need pictures:

Oddly enough I weighed my bike on the bathroom scales for the first time since i’ve owned it as I was a bit curious. I adopted the (Me+Bike)-Me = Bike Weight approach.

So my Pace 405 with XC719 wheels, Rev Dual Airs, SLX gears and a bit of mud came in at 14.2kg (31.3lbs).

I’m fairly indifferent about the weight and can’t say i’ve got a burning desire to reduce it. I think a rider skill upgrade is the most useful thing I can do…

Heckler as it left the uk 15-16kg heading to 14 now

To tell the truth, I was a bit disappointed that a bike that cost this much, with so much carbon and titanium, still weighs 10.8kg.

Even if I lost the bottle cages and bar ends and got a carbon seat post, I don’t think I’d get it under 10kg, so, for me, that’s about as light as you can get.

My XL Turner Sultan with 3×10 XT, Revs, 2.35 Hans Dampfs, Hope M4s, Pacenti TL28 and Reverb comes in at 32lb dead. Would like to get it closer to 30lbs so am changing 203/180 rotors for 183/160, braided hose for nylon, maybe a Nobby Nic on the back, lock ons for foam grips, maybe a carbon bar, might try tubeless. Can’t think of anywhere else I’d be happy to compromise to save weight.

normal ‘real’ bike weights are in the 25 – 35lbs range depending on size, build, travel etc, obviously some will be outside that but as general rule.

I’ll quite happily pedal a 35lb full susser around all day if there are some bigger downs to be had but > 35lbs and it starts to wear you down after more than 3 or 4 hours.

I also have a ~ 19lbs Carbon XC bike, and if I’m being totally honest, it’s quite unpleasant on ‘normal’ rides, skittish and a bit of a handful, but its proper quick for when you’re in a head down and pedal mood.

Rider makes far more difference than a few lbs of bike difference, but its always nicer to have lighter if durability and performance not compromised.

Just a shade over 23lb (10.5kg) for my Soul with SID’s, 1×10 and no dropper.

Feels perfectly comfy and composed, but then im not that heavy and a bit of a mincer. More than enough bike for trail centers though imho.

Amedias: Rider makes far more difference than a few lbs of bike difference, but its always nicer to have lighter if durability and performance not compromised.

+1 quitting smoking made much more difference to my ride than upgrading from my rockhopper!

i with amedias…somewhere for me between 26lbs and 33lbs for UK all the light bikes I have owned either broke or inspired only skittish fear ……some of the heavy bikes have been great but 35lbs plus does drag.hence the medium ground of 26 to 33 still climb and descend

Yeti asr 7 32/33lbs

I weighed my XL 5 spot the other day & it’s nearly 36lbs, which did come as a bit of a disappointment but it’s a pretty heavy build with coil CCDB shock & coil pikes plus freeride inner tubes & a dropper post. Like amedias mentions above, it’s a bit of a drag on longer rides but its absolute butter on the downs.

A smidgeon over 35lbs but with a fair bit of deore. M4s aren’t light, and neither is an XT back wheel but its strong enough to hammer the downhills and compensate for my mistakes

It pedals ok uphill as long as I’m fit – I’m happy enough to lose a few pounds to make up for the bike being heavy. It does drag after 4hrs tho

My Giant Anthem X with XT groupset,Roval wheels,Racing Ralphs,carbon bars,etc comes in at 24.6lbs with pedals.

I would struggle to get it lighter without serious spending. Can`t imagine achieving a sub 24bs full suss bike that was still trail worthy unless you had very deep pockets.

My main bike which is 26.2 lbs with pedals (M Frame)…..

Lapierre Pro Race529

My play away bike is 30.7 lbs with pedals,the fork if changed would reduce it somewhat (L Frame)…..

Marin East Peak 5.5

I however weigh in at 93-95kg plus kit 😕

I think weight is given far too much focus when it comes to bikes. Unless you’re seriously competing and chasing seconds, I really think people overplay its importance – it certainly doesn’t define what is a good or bad bike on its own. I’ve gone from a low 20-odd lb XC hardtail to a circa 32lb full susser and pedalling, I can’t really notice a significant difference. It certainly isn’t preventing me from riding the terrain and distances I rode on my other bike. I have slowed down a bit on the steeper longer climbs, but i’m getting quicker as I’m getting fitter. The heavier bike rides much better too – which is probably largely related to its geometry rather than weight, but the extra weight has not significantly caused me any problems or detracted from the fun of riding. You’re better off losing weight from you than your bike.

For me – for a good rugged all-rounder HT bike (rather than a lightweight XC racer), i’d be expecing 28 ish lb’s, and for a good rugged full susser (Trail/All-Mountain 120 – 140mm travel) 28 – 33lb’s. (My mate’s Yeti 575 comes in at 28lb – weighed, my Covert 32lb on paper – not weighed). I wouldn’t expect much weight saving with a carbon framed bike – carbon is not that much lighter than Al Alloy and a comparison with like for like bikes, the weight savings are miniscule, sometimes no weight saving at all.

29er SS rigid 20lbs
29er HT 27lbs
29er FS 30lbs

All with droppers and pedals and a bit of gunk.

I used to think weight was about climbing, then I got the SS, put a dropper on and rode it down some singletrack, it’s like riding a cloud.

Weight’s about handling not efficiency I now think. Light is good.

Tho I’m with Wobliscott re carbon, I don’t think the relatively small saving, relative to the rest of the bike, is worth the extra cash.

I’ve had hardtails from 26 1/2 to 32 lbs and FS from 30 to 33lb.
Notice the weight more when lifting bike over stiles, onto rack etc than when riding. Now at 27lb HT 32lb FS.
The FS is harder to pedal for any length of time uphill because of suspension bob and draggier rubber rather than the weight difference, but is much faster on rocky downs because of those things too.
I could get the HT lighter by losing the dropper and putting silly light rubber on it but that would spoil the enjoyment of riding it.
Chasing low weight seems pointless unless you are racing (and strava doesn’t count as racing) 😆

Some carbon frames weigh ~1lb less than their alloy equivalent, which other than wheels and forks, you can’t achieve by swapping one single component (dropper post aside maybe).

All the little weight savings soon add up.

Its one of those easy to measure stats, but in real life riding it matters little.

Geometry and tyre pressure matter more.

Racing round Bristol Bike Fest as fast as I could I shaved 10% off my lap times by going from my freeride style Covert (30+lbs) to a light weight HT Cotic (25ish lbs I think).

But that was me trying to race, I wouldnt normally ride around like that and try to keep up that pace.

+1 amedias its rider weight thats more significant and cheaper to remove 🙂 What CX bike for Bike Fest?

Also having sensible components that allow you to hammer down makes you faster and rider weight and fitness is the major issue going up hill.

Imagine being 2 – 3 kg lighter and the speed that would provide – kinda puts removing the bottle cage in perspective

Real life 25.5lb for a hardtail with 150mm fork, a 2.5 Minion DHF up front and a 2.25 Ardent at the back. Goes like stink up climbs of which there are lots, doesn’t feel remotely fragile, but it’s not a cheap bike. I find anything much over 28lb or so tends to feel a bit slow when you’re booting it up short, steep climbs in particular. But it depends on how you ride.

You can do a lot with fast tyres, particularly on less steep stuff – I was looking at a review of the Cotic Rocket which got a lot of plaudits for ‘not riding like a 30lb bike’ and noticed in the pics at least, it looked like it had a Maxxis Ikon out back, which is a very fast rolling bit of rubber. I’m not saying it’s the only reason it felt quick to those journos, but it sure as hell wouldn’t have hurt.

Stick a pair of Super Tacky High Rollers on the same bike and I bet it wouldn’t have felt quite so ‘light’…

But anyway, I’d rather have grip and some durability rather than outright speed and fragility – my 22.5lb full sus race bike is an awful Peaks trail bike, feels breakable – but up to a point, usually an expensive one, you can have both.

oh p.s and check your hydration pack do you really need that tool, pliers, saw, shovel spare everything? Some of the junk I have seen people put in their camelbak ….. Then chat about bike weight 😯 Wilderness maybe, events no take the risk.

I think weight does matter when you compare a 32lb bike with one 10 lbs lighter.

a pound or 2 makes little real difference.
What makes a bike too light or too heavy is dependent on budget and what you want to do with it. Too heavy for a race XC machine is 25lbs, too light for a DH moster is 25lbs.

My Yeti is a smidge over 25lbs

My XC race bike is annoyingly 10.05kg (with pedals, so i’m claiming a moral “under 10kg” rating 😉

my 150mm FS was 11.7kg from the factory but the addition of a dropper post, a different shock, larger front brake, and some flat pedals has seen this creep up to just under 13kg. Quite a diffence

The difference between the two is more to do with geometery and rider position than the weight, however, you can clearly feel the lower mass and CofG of the race bike when in transitional turns etc, much, much quicker to respond (to the point where i generally nearly fall off the first time i ride it after having been on the FS for a while 😉

+1 BWD I like my 2.25 maxxis ardents they seem almost perfect for any situation and roll well. I find I just adjust tyre psi depending on conditions. Been meaning to try out DHF Minion

My Evil Sov is about 31lbs with a KS Lev, Minion/HR, Burly wheels and SLX groupset.

It doesn’t feel heavy when I ride it, and I always think a heavier bike will make me fitter. I do notice the difference as I also have a much upgraded Cube Acid with XT, Rebas, light wheels etc. But unless i’m doing an epic XC ride, it’s the Sov I choose every time.

Around 30 lbs for the trail bike and 40lbs for the downhill bike. Much heavier and it is not as fun, much lighter and it costs lots of money/I start breaking things.

Genesis Alfine io id steel HT; weighed it at about 28lbs. A little portly, but you don’t feel it. I could get it to sub 25 with rigid forks, singlespeed, some carbon bits and lighter wheels. That’s light enough.

my large 2013 Stumpy Evo is just under 14kg, i added superstar pedals and 780mm bars. I think thats alright for a large with 150mm travel and a dropper post. Prefer climbin on it that my same weight hard tail.

My SB66C is 27lbs on the nose, with a Reverb & Fox 36 float on the front. I can’t really save any more weight apart from silly stuff like inappropriate tyres & powercordz.

I do everything on it; xc, race enduro & DH with a tyre swap. Feels like a good weight to me.

My Fatbike comes in a shade over 31lbs and that’s with 4″ tyres, 80mm rims and a double and bash driving a 9 speed cassette. It never feels too light.

Just been out with the kitchen scales, Dh bike is 45lbs, ouch. Though it has big dual plys and dh tubes on at the min

Anthem is 26lbs which I’m pleasantly surprised by given that its on its way back towards being an Xc bike having been my dh/am/trail/Xc/pub bike for the last year.

I’ve never looked at the weight of a component when shopping

I add a further 190lbs to the equation ……

28.2 Ilbs on my cheapo digital scales. Happy with that considering the reverb, tech m4s and the mostly xt build..
Edit- had taken the rear mudguard off though!

I started the honc at the weekend with a Rocky Mountain vertex weighing in at under 22lbs, when I finished it was 28lbs with all the mud, brilliant really! 🙂

Heaviest- well. Obviously there’s no weight where it’s suddenly too heavy, 32lbs is fine but 32.1 isn’t? Nah. Also different bikes carry their weight differently. I reckon once they hit mid-30s they start to be a bit too much of a lump, it takes quite a lot to balance that.

Lightest- I got my Soda down to sub-20lbs, largely by taking bits away entirely. And to be honest, it’s a handful. Great fun but there’s many times when a heavier bike is easier to ride, it just takes so little to move it- a little rock can kick it aside, and a messy pedalstroke causes it more bother. Was riding it at the weekend and went to pedal up a rock step, accidentally wheelied without expecting it. Stuff like that. When it was a few lbs heavier it needed less thought to ride.

(this isn’t a criticism, it’s all as intended, but it’s definitely past the point where lighter = better.)

Nice Yeti althepal. Was tempted by the SB66 but it was just too much. Building a G Spot instead. Will weight more than the current stiffee lord have mercy on my soul…

What’s the score with people weighing your bikes in Kg…… are you wannabe Germans or something??

What’s wrong with lbs ??

SIR.9 comes up at 22lb. Could go lighter, Niner steel forks probably +0.5lb over the carbons, wheels are Surly SS hubs on TN719 with 2.35 (tubed) Ralphs so a set of Pro2’s on Stans & tubeless might save 1lb. M647’s probably +0.25lb on something lighter. Before the Niner I had the same kit on a 29er Inbred, & it felt lots heavier. Not badly so, but the Niner has a livlier feel to it.

FS Ventana El-Ciclon is exactly 30lb. Not exactly built light so could shave 2lb easy enough. Don’t ride it enough to warrant it though.

Frankers, I choose whichever unit makes it sound lighter. Sub-10kg, or 22lbs?

I’m in Kg as I live in a metric country (Oz) and tbh it’s a much better scale. Especially as everything else is listed in Kg, 100g makes a Kg and I was born in the 70’s. I can still multiply and divide by 2.2 if required but CBA