manc

Dont know if this is a useful tip or not? But knowing that most people like to find out the weight of a bike they are interested in buying, and that information being generally hard to find out. It seems like a good way to find out the approximate weight is by searching online retailers in Germany, Holland and France. As a lot of the retailers state a weight in the specs.

veganbikes

Your best bet is to get a scale (Park Tool makes a fine one as does Feedback Sports) and you can get an accurate weight. Most manufacturers are very inaccurate sometimes due to them outright lying and sometimes due to manufacturing tolerances.

ColaJacket

A lot of time, the online retailers weight spec is the shipping weight and not actually the bike weight. I find that the site, Gearsuite.com is a pretty good source of information on bikes.

GH

Rowan

Like veganbike says, get a scale. Go to Walmart and buy one of the digital luggage scales. They are quite cheap, and you only have to hook it under the nose of the saddle and lift the bike off the ground. That way you get a real weight for comparison -- and this is important, in your size -- and not some low-ball weight published by the bike companies.

I have one of the Walmart scales and it's simple to use and accurate (it's used for luggage weight when we are travelling back from North America, and the read-out always corresponds with the one or two scales at the airports).

jfowler85

Buy a battery operated, hand held hanging scale.

sharpywarpy

I realize this thread is getting old but... what I do is use bathroom scales. I weigh myself holding the bike then just myself. The difference between the two is the weight of the bike.

vol

The problem is we often would like to know the weight before the purchase...

chaadster

Outright lying? What reasons do you have to believe that?

StanSeven

I don't think major companies really lie that much. The consequences of getting called out and government fines and penalities is too big to chance. But what they do in case of complete bikes is publish weights of very small frame sizes instead of something in the middle. Watch for the fine print.

veganbikes

They will post that a bike weighs a certain amount and you find out by actually weighing it that it is much more (beyond the tolerances). A company will say their 56 weighs X but it is actually a 50 or 52 they are weighing. Or it is missing components you would normally weigh a bike with.

Maybe I was a bit dramatic in there (not intentionally that is just the way it looks written) and it isn't quite so bad but it does happen.

Wildwood 

Most bike shops have a scale. Ask that it be weighed before you buy.
However, waaay too much significance is given to the weight.

79pmooney

A little off topic: A really good bike and a lot of other stuff scale is the CJ4000 but it won't do whole bikes. 4 kilos/8 pounds is the limit. It has a smooth pan so it is good for food, cleans up nicely and can be zeroed with whatever pan/support you need. Does grams, ounces and pounds. Accurate to half a gram. I use it to weigh coffee (moka stove pot) but used it and a spreadsheet to pack for Cycle Oregon. I was within a half pound when I weighed the entire 60 pound bag after packing it with no items weighing over 4 pounds. They cost about $30.

Ben

sharpywarpy

I totaly agree - on both counts.

bmthom.gis

Take a luggage scale to the bike shop with you, but as has been noted, most every single shop will have a scale.
Weight is the least important thing anyone should worry about when making a bike purchase...even color should be a higher priority.

I can't count the times I have been riding a steel bike and passed people on carbon bikes. It just doesn't matter. It doesn't even matter if you are a pro, since there is a minimum weight limit. Just figure that most all bikes will fall under a range based on their frame material and component set.

dpd3672

It's like horsepower on a sports car. Useful for bragging rights, or to compare (in general terms) to something else, but as a stand alone criterion, it's of limited value.

One factor among many, often not quantifiable, to evaluate a bike.

tramptrade 

You can also use a hand held fishing scale - wipe it down well first

ramzilla

I think how much your bike should weigh depends on where you're riding it. If you're in a flat coastal area with absolutely no hills then, bicycle weight isn't much of an issue. Or, if you're riding a loaded touring bike then, a few extra pounds in the frame is no big deal. The only time a super light bike is going to be a real advantage is climbing hills. That's when having to lug an extra ten or fifteen pounds makes a difference.

Gresp15C

In my experience, a lighter bike is more fun to ride, all other things being equal, which they rarely are. And this might just be a personal preference. There may be market categories where a heavier bike gives a feeling of ruggedness and stability, such as hybrids and cruisers. I never came up with a good reason why my daughter's new Trek 7.2 weighs a few pounds more than my 1982 Schwinn World Tourist. I suspect that the thicker metal is cheaper to weld.

But I'm guessing two things: 1) If you need to weigh bikes to decide which one you prefer, after test-riding them, then the weights don't matter. 2) If the salesman tells you that weight doesn't matter, it's because he's trying to sell you a heavy bike.

Jeff_Caul

If you need the specific weight of your bike, call around to the LBS's and see if they have a scale. Unless they're money hungry, they shouldn't charge you to weigh it.

manc

That's exactly what I was trying to say. My own bikes that I have weighed (21") have closely matched up (within a lb /1.5lb) to the weights stated in the specs of a few German, Dutch and French retailers.and also Japanese.
Of course some advertised weights can be based on a small or medium frame, but this can give some idea of the weight for all sizes.
Otherwise how can you have an idea if the bike is nearer to 20lb or closer to 30lb.
Its just not practical for most people to go around bike shops weighing bikes.

Elvo

If it really matters to you, you can just buy a park scale that takes aaa batteries and bring it everywhere:

https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-DS-1.../dp/B0012N381M

manc

I give up! Get some scales etc. etc.

Drew Eckhardt 

1-1.5 pounds is worth $454 - $681 according to the accepted $1/gram bicycle component weight savings value.

Lots of people would be pissed to over-pay by that much.

Bike shop road bikes are generally around 20 pounds, mountain bikes and hybrids 30.

Their especially heavy road bikes reach 22 pounds; light ones which cost less than used cars 17.

Of course, speed up steep enough hills is essentially proportional to total weight. As a 135 pound rider on an 18 pound bike you're 2% slower than you are on an 15 pound bike which is 72 seconds an hour. Those three pounds slow a 200 pound rider down 1.4%. Usually that's not enough to matter.

On level ground the difference is not enough to measure.

Acceleration is also impacted proportionally by weight (with rotating weight impact doubling as you reach the tire tread contacting the road), although the few percent matter less there because of the short times involved.