Touring - is my touring bike obese?

just wondering what your naked touring bikes weight...i just stripped the xtracycle off my trek and though it seems lighter, it still feels a bit portly... here are the specs

2006 Trek 520
Front Wheel - Shimano Dynohub laced to Deep V
Rear Wheel - XT hub laced to Deep V
Jannd Extreme front and rear rack
B17 Saddle
XTR crankset
Nitto Rando bars corked and shellaced, bar end shifters

and the thing weighs about 40lbs sans panniers...is that heavy? average?

Touring bikes are tanks. You can cut the number down with more lightweight parts; but it can get silly quickly.

One option, and an expensive one... is to switch to lite touring and
get a sport bike. My bike loaded for a week long trip with a couple water bottles is about 50 pounds.

Another option is a custom Ti touring frame, XTR everywhere you can put it, and a Tubus rack. Sanity is not my strong suit :)

One thought... You are using Deep V rims. How big are the tires? For me, the whole point of a large tire is to lower the pressure and get that sweet ride.
With such a narrow rim you will have to keep the pressure up there.

I'm running 32s on the deep Vs....Continental Contact with a light tread and reflective sidewalls...max PSI is 90, so it's not super high pressure....

I was in a bit of a jam recently...when I removed the xtracycle I noticed that the rear rim was cracked in several places....i tried to get a hold of a dyad, but no one had it in store so i bought a Deep V, which was recommended by some tourers and built the wheel yesterday out of an XT hub I removed from a mtb wheel....

My LHT with an Axiom rack and a Light & Motion Commuter light and battery attached weighed in at 29 lbs. Here are my specs:

LHT Frame and Fork(uncut)
On one Midge drop bars
Shimano Aero levers
Mavic MA3s front(105 hub) and rear( Deore Disc hub) 32 holes.
Continental Twister Pros 38c F & R
Shimano LX Touring(triple) Cranks
Titec MTB Seatpost (cut down)
Bontrager FS MTB saddle
Nashbar Canti Deluxe brakes
XT front and rear derailleur
Ritchey MTB pedals
Generic stem


I'm sure I can drop the weight to around 25-26 lbs by removing the lights, racks and replace the cranks with a double Ultegra and bottom bracket. I weigh 210 lbs so I pick my parts wisely to make sure it won't break down on me mid commute and light enough so it won't be a tank. I'd say your bike is heavy at 40 lbs. Heck my Pugsley weighs less than your bike and I consider that a tank.

I like the Jandd Expedition racks, but they are HEAVY! I bet a set of those almost weigh as much as your frame.:)

Machak weighs 27 lbs without panniers or any bags.

and the thing weighs about 40lbs sans panniers...is that heavy? average?

Are you sure? That sounds awfully heavy. What method did you use to weigh it?

For an accurate measurement you need something like THIS (http://www.abikestore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=acc_ultscale&Category_Code=&Store_Code=abs).

Thanks xcapekey,

My bike weighs 31# with racks, but no panniers. It is talk like this that makes me feel OK. Everytime I find some way to "fix-up" my bike it adds another pound !!!!!!! I am still trying to do the add a pound to the bike loose a pound myself thing, but I am falling behind (no pun intended).

Tom

My bike is around 29lbs with the rear rack on. Lighter than I thought, but no featherweight.

just wondering what your naked touring bikes weight...i just stripped the xtracycle off my trek and though it seems lighter, it still feels a bit portly... here are the specs

2006 Trek 520
Front Wheel - Shimano Dynohub laced to Deep V
Rear Wheel - XT hub laced to Deep V
Jannd Extreme front and rear rack
B17 Saddle
XTR crankset
Nitto Rando bars corked and shellaced, bar end shifters

and the thing weighs about 40lbs sans panniers...is that heavy? average?

My T800 weighs in at a svelte 27 lbs with

Headset: Red Chris King
Front Derailer: Tiagra triple
Rear Derailer: XT
Front wheel: Phil Wood/Mavic
Rear wheel: Phil Wood/Mavic
Tires: Cont. Top Touring 37mm
Handle bar: Salsa Bell lap
Seatpost: Race Face Evolve
Saddle: Brooks B17N
Crank: Race Face Turbine
Bottom Bracket: Race Face
Pedals: Shimano 520
Cassette: Sram
Brakes: IRC canti
Stem: Race Face
Levers/shifter: Shimano 105
Rack, rear: Tubus Cargo
Rack, front: Tubus Tara
Pump: Topeak Road Morph

Everything on it was chosen with an eye to durability not light weight.

My 17" 520 weighs about 33, tubus cargo/tara, fenders, 3 bottle cages, handlebar bag bracket. why is it sooo heavy????

mooo. yeah, your bike is fat.

+1

My 61cm '85 620 weighs 32 lbs with racks, fenders and no bags.

Front Wheel - Shimano Dynohub laced to Deep V
I have one of those Shimano dynamo hubs - they're heavy mother truckers...

my bike with racks and fenders weighs about 30lb.
add about 40 to 50 lb gear = 70 to 80 pounds + 185-200 pounds tourer (me) equals 255 to 280 lbs moving in a forward direction!

my bike (chro-moly db) weighs about 30 lb!

My 520 weighs a bit less than 40 lb when I ride it. But it has:

– 25" frame
– Full lighting setup (SON dynohub and two wired headlights, plus 4 battery taillights)
– Front Bruce Gordon rack and rear Burley Moose Rack (the one that came with the Piccolo)
– A 2-legged kickstand (500 g or 1 kg, heavy, but worthed)
– One pannier with rain gear, lunch, and basic repair tools
– U-lock + cable
– Anywhere between 1 to 4 bottles, depending on weather.

LHT ~35# according to bathroom scale (rack, fenders, bottle cages, pump, 36 spoke wheels, 26x2" tires, kickstand, brooks). Empty panniers are 5# together, tared them out at farmer's market yesterday. Now *that* seems heavy. Not as heavy as w/30# of apples in them though.

My Burley with a rear rack, aero bars, Brooks Pro saddle and 700X28 tires is just under 30#.

My LHT weighs just about 25#, which includes two bottle cages and bottles, a CatEye Astrale 8 cyclocomputer, a seat bag with two spare tubes, a patch kit, tire tools, combo tool, and a cheap Nashbar frame pump. I run 700c x 28 tires on a 60cm frame. So far no racks, panniers, fenders, or lights.

26 pounds stripped down to the bike and racks, 1986 Schwinn Passage.

My 62cm Surly LHT with racks and fenders, but no bags, bottles, lights, etc. weighs around 33-34 pounds (via the 'bathroom scale delta' method)

Configuration:
Surly LHT complete build, 62cm
Brooks B-17 saddle (champion special)
Schwalbe Marathon 700x40c tires
JandD Extreme rear rack
Old Man Mountain AC front rack
SKS P50 fenders
3 cheapo bottle cages (hey, they weigh something)

Real errand/commuting weight with 3 water bottles (16-17mi one-way and it's HOT), lights, 1-2 panniers, lock, toolbag, pump, etc is closer to 45 pounds.

With lighter tires and no racks or fenders, it'd only be about a 28 pound bike, but it wouldn't be nearly as useful.

Right now, my cheapest/easiest way to reduce weight is to concentrate on the rider (who is 25lb lighter than when he started cycling, but could still stand to drop another 25-35lb) before worrying about the bike.

mmmhhh, my bike weighs 18 kilo's (I think that would be about 40 pounds).
that would be the complete bike,dynamo, lights, lock, bottles, fenders, pump etc., but without any panniers.
I wonder why all (most of them anyway) your bikes are so mucht lighter.
btw: here's a picture of my bike (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=3034446&postcount=514) .

My 1985 Trek 620 weighs 27 lbs w/o panniers (this is the 21-inch frame).

Woof, I think my Volpe may need to go on a diet...36lbs with mostly stock components, Origin stem, B17, Continental Contacts, TopPeak rack, TransIT panniers and lights all around.

Bloody ell, though I can still keep up on the group rides at 18+mph with all my work stuff packed into the bags...always a good way to work up an appetite for dinner, eh? :D

All of my tour bikes have been in the 30#+ range with none topping 40#. I ride tall (65cm range) frames and choose components for durability over all else. I haven't weighed the current two that I have but I know the Giant Excursion is at least 35# fully dressed, but no bags. I vaguely recall an article from Bicycling years ago where they took at "gaspipe" Huffy and stripped it down, the frame was only a few ounces more than that of the current average race bike of the era. The biggest difference was in the various components.


Aaron:)