Cycling Magazine Bike Weights

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mellowJohnny
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by mellowJohnny

I take just about everything I read in the bike press with a grain of salt, but I'm having a hard time swallowing some of the weights I've seen recently.

Bicycling ran their Editor's Choice issue and listed a 58cm "Cannondale SuperSix 3 Ultegra" at 15.2 lbs. Did they weigh it on the moon? Pretty sure my 56cm rolled out of the bike shop (also sans pedals) at a hair over 17 lbs. That's not a trivial difference.

So next time you read some wildly inaccurate weights, email them.

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Sounds crazy, but have you emailed the mag to try and clarify where the difference might have arisen?

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mellowJohnny
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by mellowJohnny

Yep. Kinda hypocritical if I didn't.

Really all I'm asking for is an effort to publish actual weights based on a sample in their possession, with enough detail (space permitting) to explain any possible variations. But this is a mid range stock bike, so I'm curious to see how they explain away a kilo...

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

RIDE Mag, who I freelance for, strip and weigh every component of every bike that is reviewed. Regardless of if 3 bikes have the same groupset model or not, every bit is weighed and published.

Email Bicycling and ask them what their protocol is.

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Getter
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by Getter

Bicycling Magazine? Well...that's your answer.

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mellowJohnny
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by mellowJohnny

Tinea Pedis wrote:RIDE Mag, who I freelance for, strip and weigh every component of every bike that is reviewed. Regardless of if 3 bikes have the same groupset model or not, every bit is weighed and published.

Email Bicycling and ask them what their protocol is.


Right, the proper way to do it. Cycling Plus does the same thing. We'll see what they say...

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mellowJohnny
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by mellowJohnny

Getter wrote:Bicycling Magazine? Well...that's your answer.


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Wingnut
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by Wingnut

IMO RIDE magazine has the most credibility atm...they're very thorough...

mdeth1313
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by mdeth1313

Bicycling will publish whatever the manufacturer tells them to. It's all about the advertising dollars they get. Could be one of the most misleading publications ever (outside of politics).
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thisisatest
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by thisisatest

Bicycling is one of the worst magazines of any genre. You are actually better off staring at a blank tv screen for the same amount of time.

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eric
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by eric

Pretty sure their standard weight is without pedals.

They do sometimes have useful articles. But they are aimed at beginners to serious cycling, which leaves out most of the people here.

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mellowJohnny
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by mellowJohnny

Agreed - and mine without pedals weighed 17 lbs (give or take), not 15.

My point is simply that if you are going to publish the weight, weigh the bike. Alternatively don't publish the weights at all, I'd be fine with that too, and I'm sure so would most of their readership.

BTW, no response to my email yet...

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djconnel
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by djconnel

Bicycling magazine actually has some decent articles, but the bike reviews are meaningless.

Agree full bike weights are garbage. The wheels and tires, for example, play such a dominent role, and usually the differentiating feature of interest is the frame & fork. Even bar tape can be a bigger difference than the difference between frames.

by Weenie


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