[CR]How light was 'lightweight'?

(Example: Racing:Beryl Burton)

Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:12:57 +0100
From: "Simon PJ" <simonpj@mac.com>
To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR]How light was 'lightweight'?

Having just passed some idle hours wondering about the weight of my bikes and finally figuring out that I could weigh them by holding them whilst I stood on the scales, I would be interested to know what really was 'lightweight' for a racing bicycle in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.

I was surprised - but probably shouldn't have been - that my most recent bike, an OT Pinarello Vuelta from '98 wearing a mix of Campagnolo C-Record and Chorus from the 80's and 90's was the heaviest at a little over 23 pounds - whereas a 1948 Holdsworth Cyclone Deluxe and a 1954 Bates, admittedly both with fixed gear, came in at just under 20 pounds, even with their full complement of period steel cranks, etc.

So, what weights were racing cyclists trying, and managing, to get their bikes down to - in the on-topic decades of the last century?

Wyndham,
Girton, UK