Touring - what's a managable weight to pull

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.
what do you pull in weight on your trips
on flatland i can pull alot (see my vid) with little to some effort
I can do small amounts of uphill when fully loaded loaded 200+ pounds
im running singlespeed now
and can run gears
even so
geared or not what do you pull uphill for sustained periods of time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWZ-r3O_dA
John Nelson
10-26-09, 12:55 PM
People compute weight differently, so it's difficult to compare any two numbers unless you know exactly what they include.
The word "uphill" is also highly variable--not all hills are equal in lengh and slope. And what you can pull for 10 miles on one day might be different from what you can pull for 100 miles day after day after day after day after day.
I've noticed that people take anywhere from 10 pounds of gear to 120 or more pounds of gear.
Personally, I "pull" 80 to 90 pounds, counting the weight of the bike and everything on it (including water, food, racks, panniers, cages and accessories). I think that information is virtually useless, however, as there are still numerous other important variables.
Dan The Man
10-26-09, 12:56 PM
I aim for less than 30 lbs of gear in addition to the weight of my bicycle and water bottles.
I aim for less than 30 lbs of gear in addition to the weight of my bicycle and water bottles.
Me too... 30 lbs of gear more or less (more for colder weather, less in the summer, camping and cooking gear included)... uh plus 13 lbs for guitar and probably another 10 lbs for water, fuel and food on average...
I seem to shave ounces of my basic gear... then lug bags of muesli and rice, and bottles of denatured alcohol and olive oil... :/
Some friends of mine are riding a dual recumbent thing. It has four wheels. Including the maximum water load of 140kg, they're up at between 400kg and 500kg total weight, themselves included (and they're not big people). I don't think that in the mountains (real mountains, e.g. Kyrgystan) they have the full water load, but even so, with central-Asian winter gear (for extended periods outdoors in conditions of down to ~-30*C!), they're pushing a cr*pload of weight around. They do have absurdly low gearing though.
If you wanted an outlier example...
Cheers, A.
TheBrick
10-26-09, 04:46 PM
Goran Kropp rode from Sweden to Kathmandu with 120 kg (264 lb) but he was carrying mountaineering gear and food for a solo ascent of Everest. I think most other people could knock off a kg from his load though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9x1Jkl_680&feature=related
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.12 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.