lightweight touring.

[bigjim]

Surely you have read this!
http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.co.uk/
Makes you think about all that heavy Carradice luggage and those heavy touring bikes

[jags]

thanks lads great stuff, i did read that ultralight blog sleeping on bubble wrap yeah right i dont think so
but yeah that gut sure has it down to the bare minimum

[DougieB]

above all, don't torture yourself for the sake of lightweight (though it sounds as if you won't). having less things makes touring-life much easier in so many ways. but if you don't get a good nights sleep, then it's just not worth it.

if you can't get a bag support, then get some of those tension straps looped through the saddle rails to keep the bag off the rear wheel and more stable.

where are you going, by the way ?

[bigjim]

I've never heard people moaning that they have took too little on tour but I've read about a lot of people saying they took too much. The Crazyguy site is full of tourers recounting how they were posting stuff home.

[jags]

Dougie if ever this rain stops i'm heading west
that's not telling you much, i m in ireland near Dublin so i'll head west to a wee town called Virgina camp on the lake well on the grass beside the lake it's a nice days cycling from my place ,if all goes well i'll head to Mullingar camp there on yet another grassy are beside yet another lake .
although i might even head north but only might

[PH]

I've never heard people moaning that they have took too little on tour but I've read about a lot of people saying they took too much. The Crazyguy site is full of tourers recounting how they were posting stuff home.

Then let me be the first, though I've heard plenty of others who've regretted not taking enough. The only tour I've ever considered cutting short was a wet two weeks in Scotland. I didn't sleep well, eat well or have enough clean dry clothes to make the time off the bike comfortable. That's not to say I advocate carrying the kitchen sink, and of course jags will find what does and doesn't work for him. However I'm fully in agreement with DougieB, not being comfortable and getting a good nights sleep with have a worse affect on your tour than carrying a couple of extra kilos.

[jags]

PH I'll be taking it one day at a time

[bigjim]

Then let me be the first,

Congratulations for being my first.
We all have different levels of comfort though and I entirely agree on the good nights sleep. I have toured light and heavy but always had comfortable sleeping arangements. Although it takes me a few nights before my body adapts and I sleep soundly. A few less clothes or electronic gadgets, cooking pots etc will not affect your sleep. I'm often amazed at what people take on tour. A recent companion had fluffy pyjamas with him! He was dumping clothes along the way as the weight was killing him.
A lighter load will enable you to use a lighter bike or wheels, tyres etc. When I first toured heavily loaded I cursed every hill and cut the tour short. I have now cut my touring load dramatically, rode up every hill and never cut a tour short since.
But each to their own.

[bigjim]

if all goes well i'll head to Mullingar

My dads from Mullingar

[foxyrider]

Dear Lightweight,
I'm going on a 1000 mile trip shortly but i think i have a problem. Forsooth my bike weighs a terrible 9kg and my bags and luggage are 12kg. Am i taking too much? I've already dumped the camping kit and filled the bike with Ti and carbon fibre.
Your advice please
Concerned

[jags]

if all goes well i'll head to Mullingar

My dads from Mullingar

stayed over there last summer lough ennell lovely place, great town mullingar

[Si]

Dear Lightweight,
I'm going on a 1000 mile trip shortly but i think i have a problem. Forsooth my bike weighs a terrible 9kg and my bags and luggage are 12kg. Am i taking too much? I've already dumped the camping kit and filled the bike with Ti and carbon fibre.
Your advice please
Concerned

My advice would be that there is a fine line between harmless humorous comments and mikey-taking sarcasm, and that one should be sure to stay on the right side for fear of annoying others for no good reason but one's own gratification

[Edwards]

I've already dumped the camping kit and filled the bike with Ti and carbon fibre.

Dear foxyrider may I be the first to point out that bu filling the bike with Ti and Carbon Fibre you would make the bike heavier.
With all respect may I suggest you should be trying to make the bike lighter.

I am very interested in the lightweight side of things and how different people decide on what gear to take also the compromises between comfort when camping and weight.
In my youth I did what was called pocket camping (not cycling). This was really ultra light and OK if it did not rain or mind eating stuff cold.
Now that I am a little older* I do not like the idea of doing that again, plus I do like a cup of tea when I want one.


A lot really.

[phil parker]

There's a lot of merit to each type of touring and there's probably as many types as there are bicycles out there.

It is an interesting concept though and regardless of preference it can become an art form and like every sport and hobby - one man's meat is another man's poison - and it is very absorbing to learn how other people do it. I'm certainly not offended by the humour - indeed it makes me smile when I think of the lengths some people have gone to in events like mountain marathons where they replace the guy lines with fishing line to save weight; bubble wrap is a common mattress so that it can be discarded for the final day etc. Like many others, I enjoy some comfort, but I also enjoy speed as well, so if I can take or adapt some concepts of an ultra-lightweight tourer to my 'light' touring then with more diverse contributions this should be a valuable thread for most tourers.

My friend and cycle-touring buddy has been trying a couple of different concepts for a long distance ride next month, which had given me food for thought. We normally cycle-camp tour with a luggage weight of about 15 kgs (including the weight of the luggage), for a typical 1 - 3-week tour, but for non-camping tours he has recently adapted a Carradice College saddle bag-only for hostel/lodge type touring and hence longer distances (100+). This also allows him to use one of his faster bikes (which also happens to be lighter, but isn't the main reason!), including one of his Colnagos, which can be just as comfortable on a distance of 200 miles.

I have also experimented with this, but without the camping, which I could add at a mere additional 2. 5 kgs for tent, inflatable sleeping mattress and sleeping bag, from my collection, but I would need to think about the volume and storage. Incidentally, my mate's Akto will fit inside his Carradice saddlebag!

So I look forward to more contributions and perhaps one or two photos of your set-up!!

[foxyrider]

The numbers in my previous 'humorous' post are factual - not poking fun at all. It's easy to go super lightweight - don't take anything beyond what you are wearing, with a jacket, tools and camera i reckon 1kg. But that really is being silly and impractical for anything beyond two days.

As i'm B&B'ing this year, 18 days around Germany, I've gone 'lightweight' reducing the load to @12kg total.

Rear bags contain three days worth of cycling kit, off bike shoes/clothes, wash kit, wet weather and cold weather clothing - 6kg including the bags.

Elsewhere i've got a toolkit sufficient to keep the bike running unless there's a major failure in which instance i'll head to a bike shop. There's also a big bundle of maps and guides (a lot more than usual this year), camera, phone, wallet etc - altogether another 6kg.

This assumes i'll be riding naked (its the flying weight!), put some togs on and the rear bags lose @2kg so in reality my running weight is bike 9kg (yes it does have a few grams of carbon and Ti dripping from it but still manages to run a 2x9 set up, steel cassette, lights, bell, mudguards and double sided Spd's) with @ 10kg of 'luggage/spares'.

For camping i'd have an extra 5kg of kit - tent (a two man Taurus), sleeping bag, sleep mat and cook kit - i'd run a front rack and another pair of bags included in that weight.

It's taken a bit of time and some cash to get to this point - if it doesn't do the job it doesn't get on the bike or in the bags. A smaller tent or fewer clothes could take the weight lower but i prefer some comfort and to be reasonably presentable on and off the bike!