Good Weight for a bike

Yes! That is so true and important to remember. Thank you

23 pounds sounds heavy.
"Vintage" sounds like code for old.

I would not worry about weight as much as how old it is, condition and the fit. You don't want too small or large of a frame.

Test ride it and see how it fits.

BUT, be careful with used. Carbon fiber frames while light, could have cracks not visible to the eye. You might have a better inspection with aluminum frames, but they will weigh more.

Ultimately how well she trains up for cycling determines how well she will do rather than the weight of the bike.

I always laugh when I load up my bike for a 70.3 or full IM. With all the water and nutrition and flat fix gear, sucker is HEAVY.

23 pounds is heavy for a road bike. By the time you add a flat kit, water bottles and all it’s going to be a few pounds heavier.

As others mentioned, fit is the most important thing with bikes. 56 miles is a long ride if you’re not comfortable. I’d pay attention to components as well. If you buy a 8 or 9 speed bike, you may have trouble finding good components when you need to replace things. You don’t need the latest and greatest tech, but you also don’t want stuff that’s 3-4 generations old.

There's really no reason why any modern bike should be even close to 23lbs... it does sound like this might be a low end Trek that was build with low end equipment. You can do significantly better.

BUT, as pointed out, FIT should be your #1 criteria when purchasing a bike.

Edited by audiojan 2019-07-04 1:02 PM

Dunno about a "vintage" bike....That's just code for "old". 23 pounds sounds heavy, especially for a smaller to medium sized women's model. My first racing bike was a Trek 1.2, and I think it was about 19 pounds before adding water bottles, bento box, etc. If fit can be adjusted properly, I can recommend both the Trek 1.2 and 1.5 as good entry-level road bikes. I raced plenty of tris on mine and in fact won several AG titles with them at distances ranging from sprint to HIM.

If she is serious about the sport she may want to invest in a tri bike in the future. Cervelo P2 is a pretty affordable entry-level model and you can usually get good used ones as people often upgrade from it. I still race on one--the fit and handling just seem to suit me better than the higher-end models.