just bought some cheap (£3) baggage scales from ebay as was curious what our bikes weigh. Checked them by weighing known volumes of water and they are surprisingly accurate, to within +/- 250grms for 8kg (as much water as I could store…).

15" Cube Access SL hardtail, standard (incl Rebas) but with Hope XC/717 wheels and XT cassette which dropped about 1.5lbs from stock, 27lbs

Medium Nomad with Lyrik Solo airs and DHX5, Pro II/ DT5.1 wheels, 34lbs

17" Coiler with Marz 55R, vanilla R coil rear, mixed bag of wheels and parts 38lbs 😯

Odd how marketing claims and overeager owners can distort your expectations; the Cube is a small, £1000 hardtail with light wheels and forks and I thought it would have weighed less and had harboured a hope the the Nomad was closer to 30ish lbs.

Always knew the Coiler was a tank, the guides on our Morocco trip made a real play out of hefting it onto the roof of their 4×4…

how do you know the volume of water? 😀

weighed it. Obviously. 🙂

Also bought similar baggage scales from ebay some time ago, but really do not trust them. My 100mm hardtail, now with Reba Team's on, weighs more (32lbs) than the bike should have weighed when bought new with heavy Suntour Raidon forks (30lbs). Similarly singlespeed is apparently 21lbs when it should be less considering wheels are 1300g for both (minus tyres) and lots of carbon bits (but it does have a steel frame).

it never fails to make me smile that 'every' bike on here weighs well under 30lb

M-c, some reality at last on a STW weight thread – surely a first. You are about to be hammered by about 50 people who will swear that their 6" FS is 28lbs or whatever, as weighed by atomic scales accurate to one nanogram.

FWIW my Blur LT2 started off at about 29lbs but is probably now around 30 or a bi over

thomthumb – 1 litre of water = 1kg. Simples

thomthumb – 1 litre of water = 1kg. Simples

Nope not that simple. That is only true at 298K. A change of temperature changes the volumique mass of the water.

My 100mm hardtail, now with Reba Team's on, weighs more (32lbs) than the bike should have weighed when bought new

Where are you getting the weight when new from? You do know that manufacturers are usually hopelessly optimistic?

Similarly singlespeed is apparently 21lbs when it should be less

Why? Your statements about wheel weight do little to convince me, when that's pretty much what my wheels weigh, and my frame, forks and most if not all of the finishing kit on mine probably weigh less than yours (not all carbon stuff is all that light!), yet mine's 21.5lbs.

had harboured a hope the the Nomad was closer to 30ish lbs.

If you're feeling inadequate, a simple cure is to go and ride a 22lb German show bike with 300g tyres down a bashy rocky trail. You'll stop worrying about the weight of your Nomad in no time.

personally when someone says their bike weighs less than 30lbs i think

you are lying

you have crap scales

you believe the bollox printed in the catalogue

or just maybe you have a very lightweight bike, more likely if hardtail

any lighter than 25lbs

you are insane, deluded or have a flimsy bike that cant take a real pounding and is fit only for bridleways

The weigh (see what I did) I see it is that scales can't be that hard to make humans have been making them for hundreds of years so when my £5 fishing scales say that my Pitch weighs ABOUT 32lbs I am inclined to believe it.

I do find it a stretch to understand (let alone believe) why somebody would want a 27lb am bike. Surely it would fold pretty easily.

😀

really cap'n and how do you knbow you have a litre?

Nope not that simple. That is only true at 298K. A change of temperature changes the volumique mass of the water.

but not by much, and certainly not enough, to make someones 34lb bike weigh in at 24lb as some people of here seem to think.

And so begins the age old thread of discussions about bike weight!

Agree that 21lbs for the SS seems likely (what are your 1300g wheels?), and as aracer said manufacturers claimed weights are usually fairly shocking!

Absolutely no idea what my bike weighs, don't care either

There are a lot of people on here who seem to care about the weight of the wrong sort of bike IMO. I like my bike to be very light, but it's for XC racing. 5" trail bikes need to be built in a more 'burly' fashion IMO, bit pointless otherwise! I suppose frames like the Mojo have gone some way to change that, but even so.

Surly a percentage of overall body weight in full cycling gear would be more appropriate?

For example: (100/220lb)x30lb=13.63%

Anything less than 10% would be good going.

BTW that weight is post poo before anyone asks 😆

My bikes weigh loads when I'm on them. Sadly I still think shaving 1.5Kg off the weight of the bike is a feasible idea no matter how pointless. I'd still be slow and overweight no matter the weight of the bike.

my single speed is heavier than my full sus, and hard tail -fact!

My £800 road bike is heavier than my FS disc-brake equipped MTB. FACT.

but not by much, and certainly not enough, to make someones 34lb bike weigh in at 24lb as some people of here seem to think.

True but I just wanted to be pedant 😉 as I can't use pedantic comment when it comes to spelling 🙁

Oh and my SS mtb is lighter than my SS road bike.

as people says why would you want a proper moutain bike to be THAT light.

Buying scales = prepare for disappointment. lol

That said, my Five – being the versatile do it all bike it is – ranges from 28lb in marathon spec, 29lb in normal trail spec, 30lb in burlier trail spec and 32lb in DH uplift mode. Nearly all of those weight variations is down to a tyre and tube combinations (with minor spec changes) LOL. The lightest being 2.1 HRs with 1.5 tubes to 2.35 Kendas with DH tubes (500g a piece!)

I stopped agonising over grams here and there when I can drop or gain a whole pound or two based on what rubber is going on.

I too laugh at people going crazy light on supposedly burlier bikes. I got my Five down towards the 26lb mark at one point and it was rubbish! I ended up just getting fitter and dealing with the 30lb weight which seems the best weight for it and is the most fun.

Kimbers- personally when someone says their bike weighs less than 30lbs i think, you are lying, you have crap scales

Kimbers that is 100% blolax

yes true for a FS which costs from £700-2000 but spend 4k on a bike and you can easily build a long travel 5/6" under 30lbs and still have it very hard hitting, same with a ss under 21lbs. I have a mate with a custom TI SS, made to measure, I think he blew 4k on it, yes 4k on a Ti ss.. to me mental but it is stupidly light and his cash, he has never had any problems with it, its light and strong and he paid to get that match…..

I have a carbon scott ransom 6.5” travel, with a few other carbon bits on it, some Ti bolts nice DT swiss wheels, its hard hitting but sitting at 31 lbs. I have seen I can take another 1kg off (2.2 lbs) without sacrificing performance or strength.. 30 and under is achievable if you can spend the cash. Take X-0….. light but daft amount of cash for little weight saving over x-7/9, they may be small differences but they all add up if you get your whole bike with top end stuff. You need to be splashing big cash like £600 on a set of wheels. I think my mates Nomad with dt swiss, X-0, carbon etc is around 29/30 and it is a beast but a lot of money! I have owned other 5/6” bikes that weight 40-45 before as I did not get top end kit… its just a matter of cash tbh.

I do think a lighter bike makes it easier to manover esp in the air and obv lighter wheels tyres etc means less rolling resistance but yes it is possible to go too light for a LT bike.

fit only for bridleways

eh?!

According to sofatesters formula, my Orange Five = 27%

My road bike is lighter than Lance Armstrong's. FACT.

As are plenty of peoples, or pretty much any decent off the shelf road bike!

In fact there's an increasing number of MTBs heading for 6.8kg now! That is scary!

I'm in at 19% according to that my formula (using my 32lbs NS Surge – my scales were calibrated in 2002 but I really don't care that they aren't accurate :p)

Sofatester… So if I'm a fat person my % will be lower? I don't follow, sureley that would be not as good as being light with a light bike?

20% Because I'm a lightweight with a semi-light bike.

(100/120)*24 = 20%

My brain is fried today, so I might be missing the point somewhere..

I think it should be bike + rider = 68 Kilo's 😀

Calibrated scales every month here at work.

I'm 14%, pretty light with a light bike. I know of a member who's around 8%, that's pretty impressive!

A bunch of us went round to the vets to weigh in our bikes. Small Trance – 27lbs; large Heckler – 29lbs; medium Handjob – 25.5lbs; large Norco Faze – 25.5lbs; small Charge Duster – 28lbs.

ok so i am 61.5 kg. Bike is 15kg. Gear is about 7kg (3L of water + tools pump helmet and knee pad, spares jacket etc etc).
So according to your formula it's:
35% or 21% if I consider the non bike weight to be with the rider.

I know of a member who's around 8%, that's pretty impressive!

Impressive because he's fat?

My % has improved somewhat recently 🙁 Currently just under 13%.

Kit – Member

A bunch of us went round to the vets to weigh in our bikes.

Jeezus wept.

Millkie – that was kind of what I was getting at. My bike's around the 30lb mark (probably 28/29 now) but I'm about 110lbs with riding gear. Even my ti hardtail ss comes out at 24%.

The formula is good for complaining to my husband that my bike is sooooo much heavier than his though! (Yep, he's got an orange 5 too, but then weighs about double what i do)

Anywho, I don't care too much – it's light enough I can get up the hills and planted enough that I have fun coming down (well on the Orange anyway!)

Lionheart – Member
my single speed is heavier than my full sus, and hard tail -fact!

WHAT I know the EBB INbred frame is heavy at 5.5lbs ( 1.25 more than the cotic)on the wifes kitchen scales but what did you build it up with??

Or are your other bikes silly light

Another simple test to see if your bike to too heavy for you is the stile test:

Can you lift your mountain bike over a stile while riding some "cheeky"?

Yes? Your strong and fit enough to ride it so go forth and conquer!

No? Your "over biked" so go home and think about your pointless existence!

I don't think I've ever ridden with anybody who couldn't lift their bike over a stile!

Jeezus wept.

Why? Friend owns a vetinary practice. He has big scales that will take a bike without having to stand on and hold. They are probably more accurate than regular bathroom scales. Good enough for me!