Following your example, cdennyb, I weighed the bows.  All I have that measures grams is a food scale, so it's not really accurate for the absolute weight, I don't think.  But even a crude measuring instrument can show difference.  The "old" bow that came with the violin weighs in at just under 70 grams, and the new one weighs in at a little over 55. So yeah, quite a difference in weight.

  In the pictures, the new bow is the darker one on top, the free bow is the lighter one on the bottom.  Near the head, the A. Breton is thinner, and the frog end is heavier, though it is slightly smaller.  It moves the balance point closer to the frog by almost 2 inches, and I think that is part of what makes the new one feel more.. "nimble", for lack of a better word.  Part of the weight difference on the frog is that the slide and eye are abalone on the new bow, while the bow that came free with the violin is some sort of pearloid plastic.  That is easy to test for.  Take a pin and hold it in a pair of pliers or tweezers and heat the point up to red hot and then touch it quickly to the material in question at some spot where it won't interfere with how the piece works.  Abalone or mother of pearl won't melt.  Plastic does.

The workmanship on the old "free" bow is also not quite as good.  Especially near the head you can some spots that weren't smoothed as well, and down near the frog where the thumb goes there's some square edges that are less comfortable to the thumb. But hey, for a bow that came free with the violin, it is certainly still usable and it'll do nicely as a back-up bow for now. 

Playing-wise, the A. Breton is easier to control when bowing near the head, and I can actually get at least a rough spicatto.  Haven't been able to do that with the bow that came with the violin.

The Breton was not expensive, it was listing at the store at $24.95, and he sold it to me for $17.  I don't assume it is a great bow, and I'm sure there are many out there that are much better, but it is definitely an improvement over what I had.  I can say that my right hand likes it better, especially the muscles in the ball of the thumb, since I can play longer before they start to burn.  (Hey, I am still a kak-handed noob.  LOL)

NoirVelours: I wish I could say that all shops are staffed by good people.  But some are and some are not.  I have known the owner of the shop I go to for almost 30 years now.  Even when I had a junk electric guitar back when I was first starting out, he would take time to have me try different instruments and amplifiers and would explain things I could do to make my instrument better.   When I finally bought a decent electric guitar, it was because he had called and told me he had a used Gibson in that he thought I'd want to see.  Sometimes it was an effect, sometimes a part, sometimes an adjustment, and I have learned a lot from him over the years, and got a lot of encouragement. 

A good music shop (or luthier, I would think) is mostly interested in you playing and enjoying playing.  Sure, they'll sell you stuff, they have rent to pay.  But it will be things that make your playing easier or better sounding.  It is worth the bother to find such shops.   If you try a shop and all they want to do is run down your current instrument as part of  sales pitch to sell you a new one, and they aren't people who encourage you as a musician.. Then they aren't good people, and you try another one.

Cedar and/or rosemary repel some bugs.  I wonder if that might help.