roadcrankr

My Cannondale Supersix (non-EVO) carbon fiber all DA with Campagnolo Bora Ultra tubulars tips the scales under 15lbs.
I achieved this with major parts swapping from stock. With SRAM, Cannondale advertised as 16.5 without pedals.
That "without pedals" thing always bugged me. As if anybody rides without pedals.

PeteHski

All manufacturers list high-end bike weights without pedals for the simple reason that pedals are not included with the bike. They don’t include the weight of bottle cages either, for the same reason.

staehpj1

And as if anyone knows what pedals one would need on the bike.
Higher end bikes come without them for a good reason. They are enough of a personal preference item that there is no way of knowing what pedals will be added. It can be assumed that on a high end bike that the rider will most likely use clipless, but which system? Even if the rider prefers platforms thay are likely to have enough of a preference to change them from what would be provided.

Other items like saddles or bar tape may be somewhat personal preference, but a lot of riders will use what comes with the bike. On high end bikes that isn't the case for pedals.

PeteHski

I would actually prefer it if expensive bikes came without a saddle too as I often change it anyway. I was lucky with my last new bike that it happened to come fitted with my preferred saddle, but that was just sheer luck.

An idea would be for high-end bikes to ship with a really cheap demo saddle like they do with those plastic demo pedals.

staehpj1

Not unreasonable. I am lucky enough to not be real fussy about saddles and have often used saddles that came with bikes even long term. I once rode a coast to coast tour on the saddle that came with a $599 Bikes Direct touring bike and didn't complain. I am probably in the minority though and since then have become just a little more choosy as my 73 year old butt and become a little more boney.

Even I wouldn't mind buying my favorite saddle along with a new bike.

rosefarts

A few years ago I was on the Surly website reading about mountain bikes.

On the Krampus under the FAQ it asked “what does this bike weigh”. The answer was “I don’t know but we’re thinking about filling it with lead”.

I did end up going a different direction for my bike choice but it wasn’t because of weight.

Sierra_rider

The Canyon weights are fairly accurate IMO. I just purchased an Ultimate SLX that's listed as 16lbs/7.25kg on their site. I don't know what size frame their weight is based on, but my size medium comes out at 16.2lbs/7.35kg according to my cheap scale, so pretty close.

PeteHski

Yeah, I don’t believe they have very much incentive to grossly lie about their weights. I found them quite useful when comparing different tier build specs.

Kapusta

Do you have any data as to how accurate published weights for cars are?

Nobody is going to care if their cars is off the published weight by 5%. But they will raise hell is their expensive bike is.

And that is a problem, because if you have ever weighed components, you’ll see those claimed weights are often not quite accurate. And it may not be the same batch to batch. Most of the weight of a bike consists of parts that bike manufacturer does not control production of. In most cases the only part the bike company has direct control over is the frame.

So is it better to give an unreliable number, or not make any specific claims?

hsea17

Well, in reference to the new "Giant TCR" in the OP the base model of Giant TCR advanced mechanical gear weight in at 8.3Kg so if IMO should come out as the weight is actually 8.5 Kg, I don't see that as unreliable. However, if the top model "Giant TCR SL which is promoted with a weight of 6.4Kg should weigh in at 8.5 Kg then yes unreliable.  Btw, car weight affects fuel consumption so do bike weight affect energy consumption to a bike rider.
hsea17

Kapusta

You are basing “reliable” on a sample size of 1?

PeteHski

In reality component weight variation is very minor and is statistically unlikely to result in an extreme error eg all components on a specific sample bike weighing in at the very top or bottom of their typical variation.

I think it is pretty easy for manufacturers to provide reliable bike weights and mostly they do, which is why I would question the validity of the thread title, which appears to relate specifically to Giant in certain markets.

terrymorse 

I have found the opposite, that manufacturers rarely publish their bike weights.

I just went to the Specialized site to check the weight of their Aethos configurations, for which light weight is their main selling feature. No weight shown:

S-Works Aethos - SRAM Red eTap AXS

PeteHski

It’s listed right there on your linked page under technical spec

6.36 kg size 56

terrymorse 

<slaps forehead>

I did a page search for “weight” and “kg”, which came up with nada.

Either the page was updated, or operator error. Hanson’s razor says operator error.

alcjphil

When a bike manufacturer's spec sheet includes the disclaimer " specifications may change" You can be sure that any weight listed is a fiction

Maelochs

Ummm ... there are a lot of people who would choose one bike over another based on a few hundred grams .... and also, it is a matter of percentage. After all, 300 grams is over half a pound .... a fair chunk of weight on a 16-pound machine.

hsea17

Well my example was not really 300grams, but 8.3kg to 8.5Kg Anyway I'm not so fussy about weight but when the price tag increase to 3K I don't want to sit back with "spoken up disk brakes" and a 10Kg bike. All of course IMO.
hsea17

hsea17

No

Trakhak

That's a bit confusing. Your previous two comparisons, in the same paragraph, were 8.4 versus 8.5 kg (acceptable) and 6.4 versus 8.5 kg (unacceptable). Your post above referenced the first of the two comparisons, I guess.

PeteHski

I was confused by that too. None of the reputable manufacturers are attempting to pass off 8.5 kg bikes as 6.4 kg so it’s not really a problem.

DangerousDanR

Okay... one more time. Every component that goes into a bicycle has a manufacturing weight tolerance range. I use my wheel set as an example: 1518g (±50g) is the weight currently listed on the Winspace web site for the Hyper 67 wheel set.

Add up all the components and you get a range. Weight of X+- Y. It is probably a marketing decision to not list this number, and if you look at very many threads on this fine website you can see why. There are too many people who would loose their<expletive> over that, so better to leave it out.

​​​​

PeteHski

Canyon are good at listing realistic bike weights and they also list all the main component weights in detail. I don’t see anyone complaining about those listings.

Kapusta

For those not buying the reasons given for why a company might reasonably choose to not list weights, I am curious what they think the REAL reasons are?

Is there some nefarious plot? Just lazy?

PeteHski

Well Giant state that you should pop into your local Giant dealer and ask them to weigh the bike you are specifically interested in. Other major manufacturers do actually list bike weights. Do any of the others not list them? Specialized, Trek and Canyon all list weights on their websites.