Best lightweight bikes 2023: a buyer's guide to climbers' bikes

A lightweight bike will help you sail up the climbs and accelerate out of the bends. The desire to save weight spans the generations, but things have moved on now from drilling holes in your steel frame. Carbon frames, the best road bike wheels, and much else besides have made bikes both light and strong - although certainly not cheap.

You might be wondering what’s the point in a lightweight bike these days—isn’t aero all we should care about? It’s only (steep) uphill efforts where a lightweight bike is faster, but that’s ignoring the time lost descending the other side.

>>>Watch: Why you should always choose an aero bike over lightweight

While it’s true that a lightweight bike may not be as fast as an aero bike in the majority of circumstances, that somewhat misses the point. Lightweight bikes, quite simply, are fun. The instant response to the slightest acceleration, the sprightliness as you twist up the hills, makes for an, arguably, more engaging and enjoyable ride.

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Who can really feel the difference between trundling along at an average of 32kph versus 31kph? Whereas how responsive a bike is to your slightest input is something that you do directly feel. Aero may be a lot of things, but when did you last hear a TT bike described as “exciting”?

If you’re just going out for a spin with a few friends, the chances are you won’t be travelling at the speeds which make unmitigated aero-optimisation worthwhile. Lightweight bikes still have their place, plus many of them have recently been tweaked to better cheat the wind, anyway.

>>>Read: At what point does aero become more significant than weight?

Best lightweight bikes

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As with many lightweight bikes these days, there is more than a passing nod to aerodynamics. The tube shapes have been redesigned to slip through the air and it came with 42mm deep rims. But in spite of this, it still manages to dip below the UCI weight limit.

We found the bike fun and agile to ride and it is a bike that just makes you want to push yourself on every road. The ride is admittedly somewhat harsh and the integrated seat post needs to be cut down to your size - so definitely get a good idea of your bike position before riding this bike.

Another lightweight bike that has received an aero makeover. It’s not just the frame that cheats the wind; the wheels are 51/60mm deep, which is impressive for so light a build. The cable routing is particularly tidy, remaining out of sight until the last possible moment, before popping out for the callipers and derailleurs.

The combination of aerodynamics and lightweight mean this is a bike which wants to go fast everywhere. It holds its speed on the flat and, when the road tilts up, it responds immediately to the slightest acceleration. However, the ride is noticeably harsher than its heavier little brother, the SL6.

Lightweight, responsive and handles well. The aerodynamic optimisation has even extended to the bottle cages in this bike, but the integrated handlebars make cockpit adjustments a bit more of a headache.

The ride quality was perfectly acceptable on good roads, but the chatter from bad ones felt as though it was being accentuated. There is room for tyres up to 30mm wide, so there is scope for improving this with wider rubber.

Full disclosure: the sub six kilo weight was with a carbon Selle Italia SLR C59 saddle fitted and without pedals and bottle cages. But even in a more realistic set-up, it still comes in well under the 6.8kg UCI weight limit.

Impressively, Canyon have managed to combine lightweight and stiffness with a relatively comfortable ride, with the one-piece bar absorbing a good amount of the road chatter. What stopped this bike from receiving a full 10/10 was the handling. The simple fact is, it just isn’t as sharp as other bikes around this level.

Stiffness has not been sacrificed in the pursuit of lightness. The downtube, seatpost, and chainstays have all been stiffened up at the oversized bottom bracket, making the response to your every pedal stroke instantaneous.

The distribution of the little weight it does have is not optimal, however, with the front end feeling rather light. It is also missing some of the aero optimisation displayed by its competitors.The high seatstays a point in case.

For an ultra-light bike, the Scott Addict managed to deliver an exceptionally smooth ride. A large element of this is probably due to the 28mm tyres it comes with. Given the wider rubber, and respectably deep 35mm rims, its 6.9kg weight in a size large is all the more impressive.

However, the Schwalbe Pro One tyres did prove themselves to be somewhat puncture prone. Although, if they were run in their tubeless guise this may not have been an issue.

Particularly aero and lightweight, this is a thoroughbred racing machine, as has been proven across multiple Grand Tours. This most definitely comes at a cost though, with certain builds reaching up to £12,000.

But this bike is not without compromises. The extreme stiffness translates into a somewhat harsh ride, while the P-Zero tyres our test bike was spec’d with proved themselves to be a little on the fragile side.

Retaining the classic look of a lightweight bike, the Specialissima comes with rims brakes and seatstays that meet the top tube. That isn’t to say there aren’t modern touches: the fork integrates cleanly with the frame and the bottom bracket is substantially oversized to provide stiffness.

It isn’t just the climbs this bike excels on, the aggressive geometry makes it a nimble descender, encouraging you to really chuck it into the turns.