Touring - Help Bike weighs too much

I am planning a tour of 6 weeks in length. From Montana to west coast then south to around LA. I purchased a bike on Craigslist and have been training on it for the last 3 months. I weighed it a while back and it weighs 38 #. That is with fenders and racks but no bags or water in the bottles. It is a 1991 Giant Excursion chomolly frame. I need a lighter bike and have been looking for something for a while. Thinking of a Cannondale touring model t1000 or maybe just buy a Nashbar touring frame and switch everything over.
Any idea how much the Cannondale would weigh ?
How much weight would I lose if I got the Nashbar frame ? They tell me it weighs 3.6 #.
I need some ideas and thoughts. One of the main problems is finding something local so I am frequently looking at Craigslist adds and when contacted told no they will not deal with shipping.
Help

JOHN

That weight seems comparable to many touring bikes. My Surly LHT with front and rear racks, plus waterbottles, weighs about 35 lbs. It might be expensive to shave 3 to 5 lbs off the weight of a touring bike. To help you get an idea of bike weight, see this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/768717-how-much-does-your-bike-weigh

If the bike you have fits well, I recommend you ride it and not worry about the weight.

Bryan

The frame is actually only a small portion of a bike`s weight. If you put a new frame in the middle of the same bike, it won`t be much differentfrom the current weight. It might be a prettier color, though :)

Stripped down bike frames are pretty light, but stripped down means
no wheels or anything.

So Don't compare a tour ready bike with a plastic composite wonder-bike.

any more than you compare a dinghy and a Barge.

That's not really that heavy for a touring bike.They are built for comfort,not speed. If I remember correctly,my bike stripped down is about 23-24 pounds.It's about the same as your with racks and all the junk on it.Then add panniers and all the stuff,it's in the 60-65 pound range,even more at times.

That's a drop in the bucket after I get on it.....

How much stuff are you packing? That could be the bigger issue wrt weight.

The frame is actually only a small portion of a bike`s weight. If you put a new frame in the middle of the same bike, it won`t be much differentfrom the current weight. It might be a prettier color, though :)

+1. Look to the components to save a bit of weight, like tires, wheels, racks, crank, etc. FWIW, I've seen a number of bikes from that era and price point sporting steel handlebars.:eek:

Ok so w/o fenders and racks it probably weighs 33 lbs. With lighter components you might get to 31 lbs. Just out of curiosity what kind of racks,seat and tires are on it? How much weight in gear and water do you plan on carrying, how much do you weigh?
In other words if you are carrying a big load or you are heavy a few lbs more in bike weight is very minor. A lighter bike can make sense when you're light but more importantly the load is light.

The weight on your current bike is completely within a normal range for a touring bike. I personally would not spend a single penny in lightening the components on this bike. It's futile. In the same manner, you may be in for a big disappointment with a brand new (even an expensive one) touring bike if you think you'll be getting one sub 30 lb. once it's touring ready. On non-touring bikes, if one wants to make them lighter, one starts looking at all the components that rotate first: wheels, drivetrain (crankset, cassette), pedals. Do you really want to do this on a touring bike? You can start seeing why getting top-end components made of the lightest aluminum or carbon fiber will make your touring bike prone to lots of reliability/durability issues on the road. It's much better to pay the 4-8 lb. penalty to save hours of headaches, repairs and $$$ on the bike tour. One is better off getting in shape (losing a few body lb.!!) for the tour and planning a careful packing list.

My 1994 T1000 went about 29 lbs, with a rear rack and a Brooks saddle on it.

I liked the way my heavier bike felt under a touring load
than when I rode the lighter one, with same racks and bags.

My converted MTB is 35 pounds without panniers or handlebar bag but with everything else. It's great as a touring bike. I carry a load on tour so I need a bike that's stout enough to carry all my junk. The whole enchilada comes in at around 90 pounds, which works for me.

If your tour is fully self-supported and not a cc tour, you'd be better off just paring down your gear as much as possible. If there is anything on the bike that is made of lead, dump that, obviously, but you probably won't get it down much more than a few pounds. But there's a lot you could leave home if a lighter ride is your priority. For example, skip the tent and luxuries (no netbook, battery packs, gps, big heavy camera, etc.), get a super light bivy or hammock, etc.

That weight seems comparable to many touring bikes. My Surly LHT with front and rear racks, plus waterbottles, weighs about 35 lbs. It might be expensive to shave 3 to 5 lbs off the weight of a touring bike. To help you get an idea of bike weight, see this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/768717-how-much-does-your-bike-weigh

If the bike you have fits well, I recommend you ride it and not worry about the weight.

Bryan

My expedition grade tourer (arvon1) cost close to $3000 even when using some used components and fits me since it was custom made. It weighs 40# empty, but I can carry incredible loads on the 26" 48-spoke wheels. Slow it is, but then so what!! Touring is not racing and it (usually) gets me to my destination every day... :p

I am planning a tour of 6 weeks in length. From Montana to west coast then south to around LA. I purchased a bike on Craigslist and have been training on it for the last 3 months. I weighed it a while back and it weighs 38 #. That is with fenders and racks but no bags or water in the bottles. It is a 1991 Giant Excursion chomolly frame. I need a lighter bike and have been looking for something for a while. Thinking of a Cannondale touring model t1000 or maybe just buy a Nashbar touring frame and switch everything over.
Any idea how much the Cannondale would weigh ?
How much weight would I lose if I got the Nashbar frame ? They tell me it weighs 3.6 #.
I need some ideas and thoughts. One of the main problems is finding something local so I am frequently looking at Craigslist adds and when contacted told no they will not deal with shipping.
Help

JOHN

My 2008 T-1 weights 32lbs unloaded.

Here it is with 56 lbs of stuff added.
I can ride it with no hands like this.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/Birth%20Place%20of%20Texas%20Ride/BirthPlaceofTexasRideApril2010001.jpg

Touring bikes are all about having the proper gearing for heavy loads.

A couple days ago I rode home with 4 six-packs in the panniers of my LHT. Never had a bike carry weight so well.

My Salsa Fargo is a heavy bike, no idea how much it exactly weighs, but it is the fastest touring bike I have ever owned and it is fun to ride unloaded as well. Design, geometry, tubing.... will make much more of a difference in efficiency than will a few pounds of frame. Try and compare your bike to another touring bike and see if there is a noticeable difference. I know we are just touring and enjoying the sites but I don't like a sluggish touring bike since a more efficient one will either get you to where you are going sooner or in the same amount of time using losing less effort.

I am planning a tour of 6 weeks in length. From Montana to west coast then south to around LA. I purchased a bike on Craigslist and have been training on it for the last 3 months. I weighed it a while back and it weighs 38 #. That is with fenders and racks but no bags or water in the bottles. It is a 1991 Giant Excursion chomolly frame. I need a lighter bike and have been looking for something for a while. Thinking of a Cannondale touring model t1000 or maybe just buy a Nashbar touring frame and switch everything over.
Any idea how much the Cannondale would weigh ?
How much weight would I lose if I got the Nashbar frame ? They tell me it weighs 3.6 #.
I need some ideas and thoughts. One of the main problems is finding something local so I am frequently looking at Craigslist adds and when contacted told no they will not deal with shipping.
Help

JOHN

John, don't be too obsessed with saving a few pounds on the bike. The difference between chromoly and aluminum on the Cannondale T1000 in terms of weight is not that much. Certainly not enough to make you climb mountains like Lance Armstrong on a carbon OCLV bike because you are going to carry a load and you're going at a relaxed pace. If you are looking to save some significant weight, then you really need to look into touring very light; like say about or below 20lbs of gear plus water and food and a carbon bike or light steel bike. Otherwise, what's the point of saving a few pounds on a frame and bike setup which will be offset by weight on your other stuff?!?
Save your money for the trip and enjoy your Giant.

If your first touring bike weighs 35 pounds, your doing pretty good :)

I've just weighed my box which has my bike in it and it weights a nice 68.5 pounds with the majority of my gear inside. I'm happy with the weight, figuring my bike weighs in about 35 pounds (16" Surly Troll with a heavy Rolhoff :) ), couple pounds for the box and packing materials and the rest is all gear. It really adds up fast, but whatever, it's my 2 wheeled home.

I have a set of Salsa Delgado's on 36H 105hubs. This rim set is really heavy. Then when you add a pair of Schawabe 32c tires and the bike is
really heavy. I had my 28c Bontragers on Mavic Kysikum(spelling) rims for a charity ride today and bike is considerably lighter. It's not just the
frame that weighs. The bike wouldn't be so bad if i lost 80 lbs.

John,
Bike fit is more important than the weight. If the bike fits you well, and you are comfortable on it; I would not worry that much about the weight. However, if the fit is not good, gearing is not what you want or need, and upgrades or new parts are needed to make it tour ready; it might be prudent to go for that "new" bike. I suspect that there is not a significant amount of weight difference between most steel touring frames and an aluminum frame (with steel fork). Even if the Nashbar frame is a pound lighter, that is not going to buy you much. I believe that Nashbar's touring frame does not come with a fork. If that is the case, add the fork weight.

FWIW--My 58 cm LHT equipped with fenders, racks, tail light, 3 bottle cages, and a handle bar bag mount weighs 30 lbs. Some of that weight is in the 32mm Schwalbe Marathon tires. They are relatively heavy tires.

My 60cm 700c Surly LHT weighs 27lb with Marathon Mondials, but without bags/cages.

I have a set of Salsa Delgado's on 36H 105hubs. This rim set is really heavy. Then when you add a pair of Schawabe 32c tires and the bike is
really heavy. I had my 28c Bontragers on Mavic Kysikum(spelling) rims for a charity ride today and bike is considerably lighter. It's not just the
frame that weighs. The bike wouldn't be so bad if i lost 80 lbs.

35 yrs ago I weighed 145lbs, toured on a 23lb road bike with 1lb rack and 12 lbs of gear and 1 1/2lbs of water on light training wheels and tires. Now I weigh 210lbs, bike weighs 30lbs with 3lbs of racks, 25lbs of gear and 2 1/2lbs of water on heavy touring wheels and med. weight tires. They both work but the extra five lbs in the bike are needed at my present weight, I'd notice it if I weighed 145lbs but if I was 145lbs carrying 50 lbs on the bike I'd rather have a bike that had more substantial tubing and wheels.

John, One thing I didn't see is the size of your bike. The larger the frame, the heavier it is.

Your bike is well within the weight range expected for a loaded tourer equipped for an expedition level tour. For example, my older Cannondale frame set is heavier than 10 Wheels' Cannondale, but mine is set up for short tours (less equipment) and thus weighs less.

As a long time roadie and a short time tourer I was concerned about the weight of my touring bike at first. I was silly to be concerned and the touring bike had the most miles ridden last year. Enjoy your tour.

Brad

So since I posted I think i figured out what happened.
I had been riding the bike for a few months and then had a tire go bad and my neighbor who is a bike nut of sorts had an extra tire so he put that one on and then changed out the other tire which was original to the bike. The new to me tires are wider and heavier. That is the reason the bike began to feel heavier ( feels like I am pulling a chain behind me ) I have now decided. That happened about the same time as my deciding to weigh the bike.
I weigh 240 pounds and will be taking a full load because I want to camp and cook on the road so I will, obviously, need a solid bike.
Having read a lot more in the last few days it seems like I need to focus on lighter rolling weight and tires with less rolling resistance. So I am ordering a set of Schwable marathon supreme tires.
Wondering about changing out the wheels to something newer but do not know what way to go
The current rims are Araya 400c I think again original to the bike ( the bike looked to have been ridden very little when I got it from the original owner).
My neighbor could build a set of wheels using the old hubs. 36 hole Deore.
I do need to change the gearing on the bike .My lowest gear inches is 24 and that is just not low enough. I want to get to 20 gear inches so I am thinking of going with a rear cassette of 13 34 and changing the middle a lower chain rings to 36 and 24 or 26. The rear derailleur is a mountain bike long so it should work.
Any thoughts ?

JOHN

Most road triples will go as small as 24t in the granny chain ring. I changed gearing all over the place looking for what I liked. My tour bike came 52,42,30 with 11-32 and I ended up with 52,42,24 with 12-36. At one point I had a mountain bike crank on it just to name one of many.

I suggest using this site to look at gearing choices, and to experiment without trying things out the hard way. Start by putting in what you have now and knowing what gear inch you are in on the bike. Load the bike up with what you think your touring load will be front and back. And ride it in the gears you have and think about what top and bottom gears you will need and then think about what range you would like across the center chain ring. For me making front shifts all the time is not the way to go that’s why I wanted my center ring to span the most used riding conditions. The large chain ring won’t get used much and will overlap the center range a lot. I tried to make the overlap fall in-between the gear inches I got with the center like (half steps) that shift large to center isn’t as bad a shift as center to granny. Then with the granny I wanted to go super low so I had 6 good gear inches off the cassette I could use.

Weight can be counteracted with gearing and all you lose is speed.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.sherman/shift.html

Good plan. Twenty gear inches should be great. My lowest is 22.3 which works ok, but there have been times I've wished for lower.

Great choice on the tires. On the wheels, considering the overall weight of your rig with you on it could easily be in the neighborhood of 325 pounds, you might consider going with something more than 36h. Not sure about that though - maybe others will have a better idea.

My lowest gear inches is 24 and that is just not low enough. I want to get to 20 gear inches so I am thinking of going with a rear cassette of 13 34 and changing the middle a lower chain rings to 36 and 24 or 26.

I am on the heavier side (currently around 215) and don't weigh my toilette paper (ort anything else) when packing, I recommend going with the 24x34 or even a 22 if it will work. Send me a PM if you have any questions about MT. I have spent some time riding there. Was just there last year.

Having read a lot more in the last few days it seems like I need to focus on lighter rolling weight and tires with less rolling resistance. So I am ordering a set of Schwable marathon supreme tires.
Wondering about changing out the wheels to something newer but do not know what way to go
The current rims are Araya 400c I think again original to the bike ( the bike looked to have been ridden very little when I got it from the original owner).
My neighbor could build a set of wheels using the old hubs. 36 hole Deore.
I do need to change the gearing on the bike .My lowest gear inches is 24 and that is just not low enough. I want to get to 20 gear inches so I am thinking of going with a rear cassette of 13 34 and changing the middle a lower chain rings to 36 and 24 or 26. The rear derailleur is a mountain bike long so it should work.
Any thoughts ?

JOHN

I suggest you don't focus on lighter rolling weight but strong enough rear wheel and balanced load. While you may have noticed the new tires once you load the bike up wheel weight will be insignificant. Are you sure the rims are Araya 400 or Araya 700c? Googling around I found a Araya RM400 Pro that is about 400grams and 19 mm wide which is a racing rim. Is it possible you're reading 700c which is a rim size? The Supremes are good tires, I'd pick 35mm width. Regarding new wheels it would help to know what's there. If the existing rims are narrow or wider box rims.

Rims are Araya 400vx 400 grams
JOHN

Rims are Araya 400vx 400 grams
JOHN

http://www.velobase.com/velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=6afd1851-c497-4105-b962-a4e3ca13d4ec

Somewhat vintage. 19.8 mm. No eyelets. I carred a lot of weight on my first tour (Seattle to Bar Harbor to Philly) and had wheel problems from the start. It's something that can be very frustrating. Used whatever came on my Cannondale T 700. I know they were Sun rims. May have been CR 17. I do remember they had no eyelets. I finally had to have the rear one replaced in OH because it was cracking around the spoke holes. The following March, I discovered similar cracks in the front rim. I would go with something sturdier.

It's unanimous. My Thorn Nomad weighs in at about 38lbs with the tyres I have on it. It ain't the fastest, but it's still a nice ride and the more stuff I load on it, the better it seems to go. My lowest gear is about 18 gear inches, so frankly I couldn't care less how heavy it is or how steep the hills are. And I descend like an avalanche.

Rims are Araya 400vx 400 grams
JOHN

Eeek, assuming you aren't going to be putting on tires narrower than 28mm and more likely 32-35mm I'd go straight to the beefiest rear rim 22-25mm wide and any medium weight front rim. 400 gram rear rim for 240 lb rider and loaded bike won't last long, or if it does praises for the wheel builder . That's the sort of wheel used for light touring when I weighed 145lbs.
Funny thing is that on hearing about your light weight wheels and desire for LIGHTER wheels I'm happy to suggest you building up some HEAVIER wheels. Go ahead and have the rear built up with a Velocity Chukker, 8 oz. heavier!
Last thing you should be doing is starting a big trip with very light rear wheel for a very not-light load.

You mentioned the Cannondale T1000 in the original post. Cannondale has discontinued their touring bike line. However, occasionally there are still touring bikes in stock at bike shops. Second hand cannondale touring bikes seem rare.

Good advice here, I haven't even weighed my 62cm Surly LHT with 42-622 tires, Velocity Dyad wheelset with 40-spokes front and rear, fenders, brooks saddle et al, and I don't intend to. It rides like a dream. You can't go wrong with a well-built set of Velocity rims. There are other good ones out there, but Velocity is great for the money.

surlyman
Good advice here, I haven't even weighed my 62cm Surly LHT with 42-622 tires, Velocity Dyad wheelset with 40-spokes front and rear, fenders, brooks saddle et al, and I don't intend to. It rides like a dream. You can't go wrong with a well-built set of Velocity rims. There are other good ones out there, but Velocity is great for the money

+1

I have my LHT on the workstand replacing brake pads, and when I moved the wheels today to get something out; I realized that they were sort of on the heavy side. Out of curiosity I weighed them. They are 36 spoke Dyad rims, XT hubs, and Schwalbe 32mm Marathon tires. The Cassette is a XT11-34. Front wheel weighs 3.1 pounds, and the back 4.1 pounds. I thought about weighing the wheels on my road bike for comparison, but maybe I don't really want to know.:)

I am planning a tour of 6 weeks in length. From Montana to west coast then south to around LA. I purchased a bike on Craigslist and have been training on it for the last 3 months. I weighed it a while back and it weighs 38 #. That is with fenders and racks but no bags or water in the bottles. It is a 1991 Giant Excursion chomolly frame. I need a lighter bike and have been looking for something for a while. Thinking of a Cannondale touring model t1000 or maybe just buy a Nashbar touring frame and switch everything over.
Any idea how much the Cannondale would weigh ?
How much weight would I lose if I got the Nashbar frame ? They tell me it weighs 3.6 #.
I need some ideas and thoughts. One of the main problems is finding something local so I am frequently looking at Craigslist adds and when contacted told no they will not deal with shipping.
Help

JOHN

Fred Birchmore said his bike and gear weighed 150 pounds when he rode around the world in the 30's. Imagine what he'd say about 38#s, plus 30-40 in gear!!

I have the same Schwalbe Supremes and although the price is "supreme" you will not regret getting them. I weigh 165 and ride 70 pounds of pressure in the 42mm width and am very comfortable (on my Vaya). I am "over' skinny little tires and will never go back.