azza_333

How much does your bike and gear combined weigh for a unsupported tour?

andrewclaus

"Base" weight (not including food and water) for three-season camping (down to 30F) is 17 pounds, in rear panniers only. The bike is 28 pounds including fenders and heavy Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Total is 45 pounds.

Machka 

Ideally ... the total of bicycle + gear would equal half my body weight or less.

I have found that works for me. Any more than that, and I start to have difficulty climbing hills, getting through train stations, hauling my gear to a second floor hotel room ... and I find that my riding slows down a bit and can become a bit of a slog.

staehpj1

I have gone with a pretty wide variety of base weights starting with 45 or 50 pounds on my first tour and cutting back over time to 9-15 pounds. In all cases that was for cooking and camping and always with the possibility of overnight lows below freezing.

fietsbob

More when I had to bring warm clothes for a February start, in Ireland.


For Azza The overthinker Actual numbers are not important..

At least I didnt bother weighing each Item. I still had a Good time.

mev

I don't often weigh, but departing LAX to SYD on my one year trip, the airport scales recorded ~45 kilo (100 pounds) for both bike and gear.
Usually, I'll have just a little less than that.

nun

Unfortunately you'll probably get a lot of answers from folks like me who like to throw around low bike and gear weights (by the way my bike and base gear weight is 37lbs; 18 lbs of gear and 19lbs of bike ). Seriously, there's an enormous range of weights, but the usual set ups seem to come in at about 70lbs or 80lbs, maybe 50lbs of gear and around 25lbs to 30lbs of bike.

indyfabz

It depends on several factors. Cooking or eating out? Length of trip (e.g., If cooking I will bring more fuel and olive oil for a 10 day trip than I will for a 3 day trip, and for 3 days I would not bring a phone charger). Anticipated weather conditions (e.g., no need for cool/cold weather gear if there is little or no chance of cool/cold weather). Am I carrying a tent large enough for two people or one? Am I riding on rough surfaces and thus opting for 37c tires over 32c tires? Will I almost certainly not be riding during low light/dark hours and thus not bringing lights? Chance of rain?

Raw numbers, without context, are pretty meaningless.

robow

I generally shoot for 1/3 my body weight which puts me in the 55-60 lb max. total weight of bike, racks, panniers and stuff

mm718

Bike, rack/bags, gear = 60 lbs.

dellwilson

Front panniers: ~5 lb ea. Rear panniers: ~6.5 lb ea. Handlebar bag: ~1 lb. Tool/seat bag: ~2 lb. Total (not including bike or rider): ~26 lb.

10 Wheels

Bike 32 lbs
Gear 56 lbs . had some old hurricane food to eat up.
Me 218 lbs

306 lbs

600 miles 11 days

Bicycle365

I have never weighed the bike itself but Id guess that its on the high side based on the components and materials. My Panniers/Rack/HB bag with all contents for a self contained tour (months not weeks) is 55 pounds.
Even if the bike is 40 pounds I'm still way under 1/2 my body weight, maybe I can get a trailer since I've still got another 50 pounds in the bank

Machka 

Obviously everyone is different. But for me,a half my body weight limit is relatively low. It's a bit of a challenge getting the weight of all my stuff down under that limit.

Happily, when I do, that also puts my stuff within the baggage weight limits imposed by airlines.

Machka 

If I weighed that much, I think I'd be inclined to go ultralight with my gear. Personally, I wouldn't want to try to haul ALL of that up a hill.

hueyhoolihan

i'm heading out Saturday for 150 mile overnighter.

down bag, thermarest full size sleeping pad, 2man net tent, Tyvex ground sheet, 3 poles, no fly, no stakes. gortex parka shell, stocking cap, fleece gloves, just in case i want to get an early start and it's cold (i've suffered before ).

bike and gear 35 pounds. i'll be adding some water, a couple frozen burritos and a paperback before i leave. i can count on good weather.

shibbyman23

For my TransCanada Tour this year:

Gear - 26 lbs https://lighterpack.com/r/9snkb9
Bike - 28 lbs
Total - 54 lbs

On my last tour I had around 58 lbs of gear and a 23 lb bike with only 10 speeds.

On my next tour after my TransCanada Tour I'm going to do away with racks and panniers, and just use a bikepacking set-up on a road bike. Going to aim for 17 lbs of gear and a 20 lb road bike.

prathmann

About 205 lbs.
Engine - 158 lbs.
Bicycle - 25 lbs.
Misc. - 22 lbs.

intransit1217

This seems like where I'm targeting my needs. If I make it to 200 lbs, that puts me at 100 for bike and gear or roughly 60 lbs for gear.
My first trip will be motels and restaurants so no cooking and no sleeping gear. Clothing must be lighter than I think.

Cyclebum

Less than 25 lbs of gear/panniers in warm weather. Plus water/food. Every ounce counts on a long tour. I've also become a light tire tourer, quality 28's or smaller. Livelier ride and no downside on pavement. This on a DF, not the recumbent pictured.

okbikeanywhere

Had no idea for 2 and a half months. Got rid of probably 5-10 pounds of gear (sent cooking stuff, rubik's cube, book, sweatshirt, other stuff home) before weighing it for the first time. Bike + Gear = 75lbs. My friend's was the same pretty much. A kid we met on tour was carrying 100+ lbs though.

gif4445

Bike (Surly LHT) at 32 lbs. Panniers and gear, 25 lbs. But I credit card camp, so I'm probably on the heavy side of things.

Chris Bamford

This young fellow Couchsurfed with us in Edmonton the night before he set off for Banff via Jasper to ride the Great Divide Route to Mexico.

His bike, gear, hydration and backpack weighed in at 123 lb. I believe he replaced a number of broken spokes and an entire wheel somewhere along the way.

MassiveD

I can get the base gear down to about 9 pounds, my bike is sturdy, never weighed it. But this base weight stuff is leaving out variable weight, which can be a lot if you need to carry a lot of water, any spares and such for tools, and food, or foul weather gear.

The bike is the single most efficient means of conveying weight per unit energy ever invented and bested only by fish. It isn't like ultralight backpacking where Matchka's load would start around 110% of body weight. There isn't any backpacking while seated. So i don't go all out nuts on weight, and probably get the most of my reduction from leaving stuff behind. I like a few pieces of sturdy and comfortable gear.

Rowan

The OP has aspirations of travelling overseas. The determining fact for me has been that -- the baggage and carry-on weight limits. This includes the bike, clothing, camping gear, spares, electronics, panniers and the bike box or suitcase for BF riders. The final on that mini-list gives some leeway for food.

So, I would suggest starting with the baggage and carry-on limits, and work back from there. If he exceeds the limits, then he needs to ditch something. If he is well under it, then he is all well and good.