London Cycle Hire

the weight is irrelevant when you're riding a dutch bike, just take it easy, and you'll get there.

My experience with trainees recently suggests otherwise. All of the ones who have started out on the TfL bike and then had a second session on a Raleigh shopper have preferred the shopper. The TfL bikes are just too bleeding cumbersome and on any kind of slope, let alone a hill, that weight really does matter.
I am generally a supporter of the scheme but I certainly think the bikes themselves are heavily compromised by their design.