Alright - my surly frame & fork on the pacer weighs about 6-7 lbs, and that's in a really small size, 44 cm. The entire build weighs about 25 lbs with burly wheels, etc.

My carbon fiber road bike which is a 105 level triple weighs about 18-20 lbs.

My titanium litespeed road bike which is an ultegra level compact double weighs 16-18 lbs.

(I have 2 scales, I don't know which one is right, but they're 2 lbs apart).


I originally got the carbon fiber bike to get rid of all vibrations to make things easier on my wrist - and it is, but I can also ride the titanium litespeed without any wrist issues. There are more vibrations on the latter, but they're not jarring and they don't inflame my wrists.

If you want this to be a bike that's going to last you forever - carbon fiber frames supposedly have a lifespan of 5-10 years. I haven't cracked mine, but I don't really count on it as a bike that I will have forever. The litespeed - I'll have forever barring any really bad accidents. It's currently my favorite bike.

What is your inseam? Do you have relatively long legs for your height? The only reason you should get a WSD bike is if you have a tall inseam and a short torso. I don't have either, so I don't ride WSD bikes. But you do need to get out and test ride a lot of bikes to figure out what material you want and what sort of geometry you need.

You could look at the steel tourer bikes - jamis aurora, surly long haul trucker, etc. But those are going to be a bit more "solid" than a lightweight road bike. My surly feels like a tank when I'm riding it. It's a smooth tank.

It looks like you're in northern VA - off the top of my head, I can mention revolution cycles in clarendon. I don't know which part of northern va you are living in. If you're near Leesburg, there's 3 bike shops out in frederick md which'll be about 30 mins from you.

if you just want to ride bikes and don't expect much in the way of fitting, there's always rei & hudson trail. But I'd just recommend that so that you can get out on a bunch of bikes test riding. You probably want a fitting if you're going to spend as much as you are.