in full ‘dry race getup’, meaning, frame with wheels and all components, but without water, gels, patch kit.
Is that heavy for a 49cm road bike? I have no idea.
I weigh 124lbs.
Would I be faster on a lighter bike?
Yes, and Yes
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So what’s a normal weight?
Damn, and I thought my 10-year old Kestrel was heavy at just under 20 lbs…
Ditto Record’s answer—yes, yes.
Depends…these days about 20lbs is “light”…less is easy, 18 about average for most peoples money…my light bike is 14.2lbs (Litespeed w/Record 10 and Neucleons). Tri bike with aero bars, behind the seat cages, gel flask (empty) and what not is about 23lbs…
How much faster? Seconds or minutes?
I rode 1.16 at my first olympic yesterday, weighed the bike after the race.
Not much at all…it is more about the motor…and more really on a hilly or road race type race. In Tri, once you have your bike at speed, it is easy to keep it at speed…getting there, or getting up hills are the only time lighter is better.
Ziva, don’t get caught up in weight… it’s like Record said, it’s about the motor. Also, spending time trying to get in as aero a position as possible that you can still pedal well and stay in for the full oly dist is important. Weight is WAY down on the list of importance.
Trev
I know this. That’s why I’ve been riding said 10.6kg bike since '98. 
I just want to know what is ‘normal’. I had never weighed my bike before yesterday, and seeing that it weighed 20% of my weight made me wonder if that made any difference…
I think that you need one of those all black carbon bike that you said you liked so much.
Unless you’re riding on hilly courses your weight is not that important especially since triathletes don’t attack or sprint during the bike. Having good aerodynamics is far more important.
My road bike is about 18 lbs. My tri bike is heavier by about 3 lbs, but on any fairly flat course its faster.
NEVER!!! I’d rather tape extra weights to my bike. I still passed a whole lot of those ugly $5000 suckers yesterday, slow as I am.
Here’s a good assessment of aero vs weight. At the end of the paper he shows how a 22 lb bike with good aero is faster than a 17 lb bike with poor aero. And this is on a theoretical out and back 3% grade.
Aero bars and a set of aero wheels would do far more for performance than taking 5 lbs of the combined bike/rider weight.
Here’s a good assessment of aero vs weight. At the end of the paper he shows how a 22 lb bike with good aero is faster than a 17 lb bike with poor aero. And this is on a theoretical out and back 3% grade.
Aero bars and a set of aero wheels would do far more for performance than taking 5 lbs of the combined bike/rider weight.
http://home.hia.no/~stephens/aero.htm
Yeah but what about a 17lb bike with good aero?
“yeah, but what about a 17lb bike with good aero”
That depends, how fast does it look?
I know we are trying to make Mr. Ziva feel good about his bike but c’mon a 23lb bike for somebody that weights 120lb! First of all why is the bike so heavy? A $1200 Cervelo will weight 20lb or less. Of course he would bbe faster on a lighter bike, however nobody will be able to tell him exactly how much.
I think a better question is “why does your bike weigh 23 pounds?” Especially for an Olympic distance. If it’s that heavy cuz you’re carrying a bunch of unnecessary stuff (which you say you’re not, but perhaps you do have some unneccesarily heavy components), then that’s not the best strategy. Sure the engine is the important thing, and on a flat course weight doesn’t matter a bit, but it does on a hilly or twisty course where you have to accelerate or climb.
I just switched from a 22 pounder to a 17.5 pounder, and on Saturday I was able to ride some of the longer hills in an aero position at speeds over 16mph whereas last year I would get under 14 and feel like I would have to stand to keep pace. I’ll take the 17.5 over the 22 pound considering that this engine ain’t getting any faster…
It’s Miss Ziva 
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My bike is a 49cm Bianchi Eros I bought in '98 when I was in highschool. My bike weighs 23lbs because it’s a cheap entry-level heavy thing, and I am too slow for now to deserve an upgrade
You are twenty-something, single tri-babe, you deserve to ride whatever you want.