Weigh bike with bathroom scale?
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,606
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 581 Post(s)
Liked 921 Times
in
518 Posts
Also, most bike manufactures don't publish weights for their bikes, and they haven't for at least as long as I have been peripheral to the bike industry (ca. 1990).
And what weights are published were weighed on a scale owned by the company selling the bike, and that bike was a certain size (probably 'Small'), probably had no pedals or water bottle bolts or reflectors installed, and may have had aftermarket tires that were installed when the demo model was assembled some time before production began. The tires alone, if you compare aftermarket tires with the OEM models that otherwise look similar, are likely to change the weight by a pound or more. Also, since the vast majority of bikes are made by contract manufacturers, there might be unseen changes that happen during production runs that the company whose name is on the frame is not aware of.
And what weights are published were weighed on a scale owned by the company selling the bike, and that bike was a certain size (probably 'Small'), probably had no pedals or water bottle bolts or reflectors installed, and may have had aftermarket tires that were installed when the demo model was assembled some time before production began. The tires alone, if you compare aftermarket tires with the OEM models that otherwise look similar, are likely to change the weight by a pound or more. Also, since the vast majority of bikes are made by contract manufacturers, there might be unseen changes that happen during production runs that the company whose name is on the frame is not aware of.
#27
It's MY mountain
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mt.Diablo
Posts: 10,002
Bikes: Klein, Merckx, Trek
Mentioned: 70 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4338 Post(s)
Liked 2,981 Times
in
1,617 Posts
I suggest buying a bike scale for your brother's birthday gift, but first weighing all your bike stuff yourself before wrapping it up.
Posting for a friend.
Posting for a friend.
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Saratoga calif.
Posts: 1,049
Bikes: Miyata 610(66cm), GT Vantara Hybrid (64cm), Nishiki International (64cm), Peugeot rat rod (62 cm), Trek 800 Burning Man helicopter bike, Bob Jackson frame (to be restored?) plus a never ending stream of neglected waifs from the Bike exchange.
Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 339 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 632 Times
in
229 Posts
I always weigh the bikes I work on(rehab) as received and complete, ready to ride , with all components and any extras I feel like installing. The lightest bike I have ever weighed was a Vitus 979? with aluminum frame that came in at just about 20 lb ready to ride. Next was a lugged steel Bianchi at about 22.5 lbs. I just weighed a Lemond Tourmalet at about the same. Most light bikes have a frame that weighs about 4.5 -5.0 lbs. The total weight depends on the gear you install on it. If I get an older bike with average(heavy) gear I can often reduce the ready to ride weight by 3-5 lbs. Substituting a Suntour Gt derailleur at 450 grams for a cyclone at 183 grams and an old set of steel wheels for newer aluminum ones , an aluminum bar and stem for old steel, and an aluminum crank for an old cottered steel one and there you go. From there on out you get into weight weenie territory.
#29
It's MY mountain
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mt.Diablo
Posts: 10,002
Bikes: Klein, Merckx, Trek
Mentioned: 70 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4338 Post(s)
Liked 2,981 Times
in
1,617 Posts
Real estate agents do this too - "1600 square feet*"...
*disclaimer, not responsible for (6 lines of small print).
I've seen lots of bike stores with scales you can hang your bike from, or compare models on the floor that are available for purchase.
#30
The dropped
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 2,144
Bikes: Pake C'Mute Touring/Commuter Build, 1989 Kona Cinder Cone, 1995 Trek 5200, 1973 Raleigh Super Course FG, 1960/61 Montgomery Ward Hawthorne "thrift" 3 speed, by Hercules (sold) : 1966 Schwinn Deluxe Racer (sold)
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1739 Post(s)
Liked 1,014 Times
in
696 Posts
#31
Senior Member
You can get luggage scales for under 10 bucks great for weighing panniers and backpacks too.
This one is 6.99 at amazon.
This one is 6.99 at amazon.
Likes For Thruhiker:
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,752
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4393 Post(s)
Liked 3,016 Times
in
1,865 Posts
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,752
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4393 Post(s)
Liked 3,016 Times
in
1,865 Posts
I have that exact scale. it's good enough so I can weigh wheels with confidence to ±100 grams. Not good enough for a weight weenie, but good enough for me.
#34
Banned
Didn't any one get their GED?
1, Stand on scale, holding bike, 2. stand on scale without bike .. subtract your weight , & weight of bike remains ..
1, Stand on scale, holding bike, 2. stand on scale without bike .. subtract your weight , & weight of bike remains ..
#35
The dropped
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 2,144
Bikes: Pake C'Mute Touring/Commuter Build, 1989 Kona Cinder Cone, 1995 Trek 5200, 1973 Raleigh Super Course FG, 1960/61 Montgomery Ward Hawthorne "thrift" 3 speed, by Hercules (sold) : 1966 Schwinn Deluxe Racer (sold)
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1739 Post(s)
Liked 1,014 Times
in
696 Posts
A bathroom scale isn't sensitive enough to tell me if the alloy bolts in my carbon bottle cage and chainring saved enough grams for my sub 7kg bike build!
#36
Banned
need treatment for the OCD ..
postal scale weigh each individual bolt & nut. I see a lot of photos posted, of their latest Ti / Carbon Bit , displayed on a digital postal scale..
postal scale weigh each individual bolt & nut. I see a lot of photos posted, of their latest Ti / Carbon Bit , displayed on a digital postal scale..
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,752
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4393 Post(s)
Liked 3,016 Times
in
1,865 Posts
Bathroom scale is two flights up from the bike room. A cheap luggage scale saves me a whole lot of schlepping the scale back and forth.
My bathroom scale is an old analog thing. ±1 lb on a good day, and only if I squint carefully from the same central position each time.
Never mind snark about carbon bolts, bathroom scale isn't precise enough to give approximate weights of wheels and other significant components.
Luggage scales are cheap and more sensitive.
#38
Senior Member
If you care about weight enough to weigh your bike then I'm sure you would care if its accurate. The bathroom scale will get with in a few pounds. I used that method for a long time to weigh my backpacks for hiking. Depending on how you hold the backpack/bike you will get different readings. And this was done on a garmin smart scale. For me I'm only a weight weenie when I'm on a multi day hiking trip. One day if I lose 100 pounds I'm going to buy an awesome super light road bike.
#39
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Wherever I am
Posts: 8,640
Bikes: Merlin Cyrene, Nashbar steel CX
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4737 Post(s)
Liked 1,533 Times
in
1,004 Posts
https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Dr-m...b_title_sports
#40
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,752
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4393 Post(s)
Liked 3,016 Times
in
1,865 Posts
Spend a wee bit more for +/- 5 gram increments... at least up to 10kg items, then it's supposedly +/- 10 gram accuracy
https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Dr-m...b_title_sports
https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Dr-m...b_title_sports
#41
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,752
Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4393 Post(s)
Liked 3,016 Times
in
1,865 Posts
Actually, reading more - that fish scale and my luggage scale both claim ±10 g, but I don't find the luggage scale reproducible at that precision.
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,606
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 581 Post(s)
Liked 921 Times
in
518 Posts
You need to change the water bottle bolts on about a hundred bikes then weigh them all at once. You can then divide by the number of bikes to get the average weight savings per bike.
#43
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Wherever I am
Posts: 8,640
Bikes: Merlin Cyrene, Nashbar steel CX
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4737 Post(s)
Liked 1,533 Times
in
1,004 Posts
Maybe it can weigh with that precision, but is limited because they only have one space available available after the decimal point on their display? My fish scale goes to .000 on the Kg setting.
#44
Newbie
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 2
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
It makes me laugh. I thought I was the only one who weighed myself and my bike on a bathroom scale. I used a smart scale I bought on https://www.vont.com/product/smart-s...-weight-scale/. I made several attempts to get an average result. But the bike came with all the accessories. Naturally, if the manufacturer indicates the weight, it is the net weight with all standard bike accessories. But we need to add some of our equipment, such as a computer. And I can weigh all kinds of small parts on a kitchen scale.
Last edited by QuwonSoo; 05-16-22 at 09:21 AM.
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 5,795
Bikes: 1989 Cinelli Supercorsa
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3514 Post(s)
Liked 2,927 Times
in
1,776 Posts
I used to do it all the time until I got a luggage scale like shown above.
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Chapel Hill NC
Posts: 1,683
Bikes: 2000 Litespeed Vortex Chorus 10, 1995 DeBernardi Cromor S/S
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 645 Post(s)
Liked 797 Times
in
446 Posts
I've tried to weigh my bike with a bathrooms scale by getting on it by myself to get my weight and then getting off to zero it and then getting back on with my bike held as close to my body as possible and centered and doing the subtraction. Sounds goofy but not everyone likes to visit the bike shop. One of my bikes weighed close enough to specs, but the other two came in 4 to 5 pounds heavy, Does this method give an accurate weight or are the OEM specifics off. The two heavier bikes "feel" heavier than the OEM listed weight.
Likes For Litespud:
#47
Zip tie Karen
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Posts: 7,004
Bikes: '13 Motobecane Fantom29 HT, '16 Motobecane Turino Pro Disc, '18 Velobuild VB-R-022, '21 Tsunami SNM-100
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1465 Post(s)
Liked 1,542 Times
in
806 Posts
Accuracy and Precision
These are the two concepts barely understood in this thread and misunderstood by most who attempted to explain their measurements.
^ the immediately-above response has to do with precision, not accuracy. Precision is how small a variation the scale will measure, and (if digital) will round to. For a bathroom scale, precision will vary. Mine is +/- 0.5 lbs, which is too coarse for bike measurements.
Accuracy is how close a measurement comes to the true weight. It's a measure of error, and it will vary depending on the scale mechanism and with absolute weight. Someone posted about 3% accuracy for body weight measurements. That seems high to me.
Either way, bathroom scales aren't meant for bicycles. Buy a decent luggage scale. Both accurate and precise enough (+/- 0.1 lb) for this type of work.
^ the immediately-above response has to do with precision, not accuracy. Precision is how small a variation the scale will measure, and (if digital) will round to. For a bathroom scale, precision will vary. Mine is +/- 0.5 lbs, which is too coarse for bike measurements.
Accuracy is how close a measurement comes to the true weight. It's a measure of error, and it will vary depending on the scale mechanism and with absolute weight. Someone posted about 3% accuracy for body weight measurements. That seems high to me.
Either way, bathroom scales aren't meant for bicycles. Buy a decent luggage scale. Both accurate and precise enough (+/- 0.1 lb) for this type of work.
Last edited by Phil_gretz; 05-14-22 at 07:44 AM. Reason: "Course" to "coarse", of course
#48
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Wherever I am
Posts: 8,640
Bikes: Merlin Cyrene, Nashbar steel CX
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4737 Post(s)
Liked 1,533 Times
in
1,004 Posts
These are the two concepts barely understood in this thread and misunderstood by most who attempted to explain their measurements.
^ the immediately-above response has to do with precision, not accuracy. Precision is how small a variation the scale will measure, and (if digital) will round to. For a bathroom scale, precision will vary. Mine is +/- 0.5 lbs, which is too course for bike measurements.
.
^ the immediately-above response has to do with precision, not accuracy. Precision is how small a variation the scale will measure, and (if digital) will round to. For a bathroom scale, precision will vary. Mine is +/- 0.5 lbs, which is too course for bike measurements.
.
#49
ignominious poltroon
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 4,047
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2241 Post(s)
Liked 3,443 Times
in
1,802 Posts
If your bathroom scale systematically estimates your weight to be 5 lbs too heavy, the subtraction method
[(human + bike) - (human)] = bike
gets rid of the systematic error. Since bathroom scales tend to work best between 150 and 200 lbs, this is a perfectly reasonable way to obtain the approximate weight.
So, if the OP of this necro-post still happens to be around, save your money on the fish scale. Those things notoriously exaggerate. ;-)
[(human + bike) - (human)] = bike
gets rid of the systematic error. Since bathroom scales tend to work best between 150 and 200 lbs, this is a perfectly reasonable way to obtain the approximate weight.
So, if the OP of this necro-post still happens to be around, save your money on the fish scale. Those things notoriously exaggerate. ;-)
Likes For Polaris OBark:
#50
ignominious poltroon
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 4,047
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2241 Post(s)
Liked 3,443 Times
in
1,802 Posts
Also, just because your digital scale reports a number to the .01 decimal place does not mean that the scale is really anywhere near that precise (let alone accurate). I had an analytical chemistry professor who called that kind of pseudo-precision "science fiction." He was right.
Likes For Polaris OBark: