ossie wrote:Are your straps for the tents ? Use a bunjee each mate. So much easier than straps. I agree about their limited longevity but you arent going around the world. Plus you can hang your wet washing from them, extra things slip under them. I took both on my recent Spain / UK tour and binned the straps in France, they are a pain. It was a 10 second job to bunjee the tent on but a a right pain to put straps on - plus straps dont stretch to stick stuff under...you can also bunjee your bike to the tent at night if you are worried...they stretch so hang washing on them or wet kit.
I took a compass but what a waste of time..even in remote mountain areas I didnt use it. Brake cable / Gear cable? - honestly what are the chances of them going? More chance of your chain snapping on a hill but you arent taking a chain tool. Longs? I took some but put the insect repellent on my legs and didnt need them.
Tape :duct tape dont take the electrical tape- where are your zip ties? - essential
Do you know what the reality will be? You will be super cautious about weight then hit a supermarket on the second day and load yourself down with cakes, biscuits, chocolate, etc etc. By day 3 your panniers will be a mess by day 5 you wont give a monkees about weight- all you will want is food, food and more food
Straps: we used bungees last year and bungees and straps this year and straps are far easier and more secure and we're not bothered about hanging wet washing
Compass: we didn't take one on our first tour and have found it indispensable ever sinve
Brake and gear cables, chain tool: They are only 42g so it's worth it - we have old bikes so it's possible - and we have a chain tool on the multi-tool
Duct tape: Any reason not to take electrical tape?
Zip ties: We're taking velcro ties as they can be re-used
I take your point, but since cutting down weight, we've enjoyed the cycling significantly more and we feel every gram when going uphill.
bealer wrote:Your kit list looks about right. An extra kilo or two won't be noticed after the first day.
Having said that I like a lighter bike, purely for the enjoyment of it not feeling like a loaded truck, stuff is less likely to break, you use less energy etc... etc... You could cut some of the individual smaller items, or switch to things like soap. Or drop the cables, but you'd save like 40g. To be honest, the best way to save weight would be to change some of the heavier items you already have. But that means additional expenditure.
If it were me...
- Lighter tent, close to 1.5kg all in for a two or three man
- Lighter down sleeping bags, 500g per bag
- Drop the D-Lock or whatever the heavier lock is. Go with a cable lock, the thicker type with metal casing. They usually weigh nearer 800g.
The above would save you nearly 4kg. Most of that is done via a different tent. That's quite a bit though, I'm carrying 5.5kg in each pannier for my london to oz trip, so 4kg would make a difference.
Tent: This is the tent we have and I'm afraid we don't have the money for another :S
Sleeping bags: Same as above
D-lock: I have to take this one for insurance
bealer wrote:Also forgot to mention. Think about the bike itself. I switched from Schwalbe Marathon 32C to Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 28C. So far they're working well for me, and I'm quite liking 28C. The bonus is the Supreme's saved me 600g for an additional £14. Instead of a rear rack bag which can be heavy-ish I opted for a more simple AlpKit xtra dry bag. The 35L one is around 250g or so, the 20L is probably around 200g. That's typically a saving of around 250-400g on some rack bags I've seen. Both of those changes saved me near a kilo I reckon.
The only thing I haven't been able to get down is the 1700g weight of my Ortlieb back roller plus's. I still find that quite heavy for what they are. Something nearer 1-1.2kg would be more acceptable for me.
I'm buying my panniers now, but I think I'll go for some Altura Drylines so that I can carry a lot if needed - any better suggestions? I'm afraid I have 27" tyres so I have no choice with tyre.
And tonythompson, we are daring and do wild-pees while cycling. I am considering a rear-view mirror, but haven't looked into it (no pun intended); apparently the view with some is obscured by panniers.