This is a question that I get a lot
Weighing the Truth:
I'll be honest and tell you that most manufacturers lie through their teeth about how much their bikes weigh. They usually publish a weight that they think you want to hear. I know this from years of experience. We have a full repair shop and we service every make of bicycle. We keep a digital scale at the front desk, and we weigh bicycles that come in for repair. I am truly amazed at the level of deception that is perpetrated, and frankly, I'm surprised customers don't demand truth from these manufacturers.
I don't publish weights because I don't like to compete with....let's say..... accidental mis-statements. Here's an article that I wrote on the subject of honesty in bicycle weight claims.
In the Real World, our bikes are some of the lightest made
Different sizes weigh different weights, and the component weights vary greatly as well. Let us know which model you are interested in and your height. We will actually weigh a bicycle of that model in an approx. size to fit you at that moment and let you know exactly what it weighs. Also, let me know if you are looking at a competing brand/model and I may have weighed one in the repair shop already and can give you an exact comparison.
We are not a manufacturer that wants to impress customers by lying about a bicycle's weight. I will promise you that our bicycles will be as light, or lighter than other bicycles in that same price and feature category. Most of the time, our higher-end bicycles wind up a lot lighter than other hand-built bicycles of their same price category.
A quick example:
I was working with a customer last summer who wanted a full touring bicycle with S&S couplings to weigh less than his existing 21 pound touring bike. I asked him how he had determined the weight of the existing bike because that sounded awfully light for a full-on touring bike. He said "that's what the brochure said". I asked him to weigh his bicycle on a scale. He emailed back the the actual weight without pedals was 27 pounds. He seemed quite surprised, but was then exited to learn that the bicycle that I weighed on our shop floor for him was just 22.17 pounds. Now, 22.17 pounds sounds very impressive compared to 27 pounds, but the fairy tale weight of 21 pounds made our bike seem heavy.
What can the Weight Conscious Consumer do?
Get a Guarantee
If weight is important to you, don't trust anyone (including me) about how much your bike weighs until you've weighed it yourself on a digital scale. If weight is important, get a written guarantee about how much your bike will weigh, and let the manufacturer know that you expect to return the bike if the weight is heavier than that.
I can tell you that most of the other manufacturer's bikes real weights are significantly heavier than claimed on paper....especially the titanium and carbon fiber bikes. If you purchase any bicycle based on a weight claim that is not backed up by a written guarantee, then you are most likely in for a big let down, and a bicycle that is heavier than the one we could build for you at the same price.
