ullearn

What does yours weigh?

I found some previous posts on it, but nothing since mid 2008.

In choosing my touring bike I focused on building up a bike that could serve double duty; 1st as a every day road bike for when not touring, 2nd as a lighter then the LHT trucker when rigged up (without the panniers).

My results were that I probably spent to much money for not enough payoff.

As a road bike the bike weighed just under 19 lbs with carbon fork, semi nice race wheels, 23c tires, lighter weight seat.

As a tourer the bike weighed 28.5 lbs with LHT fork, LHT wheels, LHT Rear Rack, 38c tires, Brooks saddle, cheapo front rack, fenders.

From reading the other posts a Surly LHT equally built weighs in about 34 lbs, is this right? If so I would say the extra $1k spent to build my tourer probably isn't worth 5 lbs of weight.

Agree or disagree?

(shown without fenders and front rack)

prathmann

Tend to agree, especially since it seems like a pretty involved operation to convert the bike between the two modes. I'd think it would be more cost effective to get a bike for your primary function and then buy an inexpensive used bike that'll perform the secondary function. That way you have both available and can pick the best tool for a given ride. It also gives you redundancy if something breaks and temporarily puts one of the bikes out of commission.

prathmann

Tend to agree, especially since it seems like a pretty involved operation to convert the bike between the two modes. I'd think it would be more cost effective to get a bike for your primary function and then buy an inexpensive used bike that'll perform the secondary function. That way you have both available and can pick the best tool for a given ride. It also gives you redundancy if something breaks and temporarily puts one of the bikes out of commission.

staehpj1

The bike itself is the place where I worry least about weight, but 5 pounds is a lot IMO. $1000 is a lot to me too though. Is it worth it? That is a question only you can answer.

Personally I only spent $599 for my whole bike new, but not counting another $160 or so for a crank with smaller rings, racks, and fenders. It weighs in at under 30 pounds in it's current configuration. I really don't think spending a bunch more would change my overall touring experience much. I tend to think that, for me once some fairly minimal standards are met more improvement just isn't worth a lot of extra expense. Looking back on my Trans America or my Santa Fe tour the bike itself just isn't that big of a deal unless it is completely unsuitable. When I think of the tour it is about the people, places, and experiences and not so much about the bike.

This is not to say others should feel the same way that I do. Some folks get a lot more pleasure out of pride of ownership than I would.

My point is that It is possible to tour on a very inexpensive bike and be quite happy if the focus is on the tour rather than the bike, but some may get a lot of pleasure out of the bike itself. Because of that no one can say if it is worth it to you but you.

dannwilliams

Well said!

Cyclesafe

I think the above posters are missing the point. You have a titanium road bike that you can't in any way blame for you not being the one pulling in the front of your peleton and a bike (with an hour or so of work) that can be converted into an able tourer. Congratulations. Not many can achieve the best of both worlds. Yeah, it cost you. Titanium is expensive.

Sure you can be happy touring with a crappy bike, especially if you pride yourself in being ignorant of the benefits of riding a bike of quality.

Pscyclepath

My Trucker (56 cm, 700C wheels) is 33 pounds, 12 ounces without the panniers or water bottles. Not a bike that I'd prefer to ride a criterium with or take on a fast group ride, but then that's not what I bought it for...

BengeBoy 

What are you doing for a front brake?

indyfabz

Good question. It appears that the brake is there but that it's not attached to the fork. I would certainly not want to ride any bike w/o a front brake, much less a loaded one.

dannwilliams

If you look hard, it is hanging there, just not attached. For pictures sake I presume...

kayakdiver

Depends... For most of us.. and I'll throw myself into the mix.. could lose 5 lbs.. it's free. And i'm 5'10" and 165 and consider myself fat for this sport.

I wouldn't try and justify it... If you want it and can afford it... It's your money.

There is a reason I own more than one bike.

antokelly

look's like a great setup ,so what exactly did you do ,from the photo you changed around the front folk and just added a rear rack.what about heel clearence have you enough and is there any flex in the bike when you have it loaded up.

Cyclebum

I admire what you've done here. Sorta best of both worlds. Light weight racing bike for around home. Hour later, a medium weight touring bike. Both high quality, comfortable rides that you can take pride in.

My son say's "Dad, it's just money. It's replaceable." I need a bit more of that attitude.

The Smokester

Kind of a complicated question that you have posed. Let's decompose it a bit. If one was paying $1k extra for a touring bike to keep the weight below 30lb doesn't seem cost effective. (My LHT weighs 31.8lb.) And, a 19lb road bike can easily be had for $2k. However, you have the equivalent of two excellent bikes for less than the price of two.

I'd say you were doing okay.

staehpj1

Any pictures of it when set up as a road bike? I'd be interested in seeing them.

ullearn

haha Love the comments and thanks, so the bike is still in progress and mostly coming together in the coming weeks. I will repost a updated picture once it's back to complete.

I picked up the Surly LHT wheels that already had 700x38c 's mounted so I attempted to use those, unfortunately to get it to work with tires that wide I had to remove the fender in the rear and it's still slightly rubbing on the chain stay (spins freely but drags to a stop eventually). My plan now is to test out a 700x35c and a 700x32c tires and see if my current chain stays and fenders work, is there a big difference? The main problem in the rear is the tire height and the fender underneath the brake mount, it's just not big enough. So I am concerned even after lowering my tire size in the rear that my fender still won't fit.

When the bike was built as a road bike I had Shimano Ultegra BR-R600 long reach brakes, but unfortunately standard side pull brakes don't fit on the Surly LHT fork without maybe some drilling and still would come up short in reach. So my plans for brakes now are a mix, in the front cantilevers (either Shimano BR550's or Tektro CR720's) so I can keep my Ultegra STI shifters; in the rear swapping to the longer reach Tektro R556's mostly because the R600's work, but to have a nicely tuned brake you have to insert the tire deflated then air it up, the Tektro has a nice cam that allows easy inflated tire swap.

As for weight I noticed the surly racks and rei novara racks are much better built (and way heavier) then the nashbar racks I originally purchased, so I am currently in the market for a new front rack as well. See my other post on the hub resizing from 135mm to 130mm to see my other pains on why the bike is partially assembled.

I also already had a pair of 32-35 fenders that were brand new and on the front, but when I took it out for a spin last night I didn't want to use the new fender in case I have to return it for not fitting. Thanks all for the encouragement and all advice is welcome.

I will post some of the road bike pics as well.

BigBlueToe

All I can do is relate my personal experience. Twice I've felt too loaded down on a tour and sent home a load of stuff I felt was surplus. The second time I think I sent home too much stuff which I needed. I missed some of it, to the detriment of my enjoyment of the remainder of the tour.

Now I do what I can to save weight, but don't sweat it if something I really want to bring is a little heavy. I have low enough gears and a strong rear wheel. As long as I can get my load up hills without suffering and as long as I'm not breaking spokes, I'm happy. My LHT is, perhaps, a couple of pounds heavier than another bike I might find. But in the grand scheme of weight vs. comfort and enjoyment, those pounds are of minimal importance.

On my just-completed tour I brought a chair! It was wonderful to have a comfortable chair! It probably weighs a couple of pounds. It's worth it! I also bought a backpack for $10 at the camp store because I wanted to do some hiking. It was so nice to hike with a real backpack, rather than trying to carry a handlebar bag or a pannier. From now on, if there's any chance that I'll be taking any hiked, I'm bringing the backpack! (It probably weighs a pound?)

I usually take three jerseys and three pairs of shorts. This tour I only brought two of each and it was fine. Yowza! I probably saved the weight of the backpack!

(This weight vs. comfort/convenience conundrum will probably last the rest of my touring life.)

AdamDZ

This is a highly personal choice. I'm building my touring bike now and the weight is not something I worry about at all. I've picked components based on their value (quality/price), usability, reliability and comfort. The truth is that unless you're going really high-end the weight of all the parts is close. The difference between a full Deore, Deore XT or even XTR drivetrain is negligible for a bike that's going o be loaded with 30-50lbs pounds of stuff. You won't notice even 5lbs of difference you have saved by buying high-end ultralight components.

From what I see real weight savings come from choosing the right camping gear not the bike itself. Example: I have a cheap tent that we use for car camping, it works fine but it's 10lbs. So I bought a 5lbs REI tent. I dropped 5 pounds by spending around $100. I would never drop 5 lbs by spending even few hundred more on bike components. I also saved few more pounds by paying a bit more for the other gear.

stedalus

It sounds like you have just about all the components for a second bike except for the frame. Personally, I would just buy a second frame and build up a dedicated tourer/commuter/rain bike. (Actually, that's pretty much what I ended up doing after trying to "roadify" my tourer.) All the fussing with tire clearance, brake reach, wheel dish, and so on seems like a pain to me. And considering that the difference in frame weight between the Litespeed and the LHT is maybe 2 pounds, I doubt you're saving as much weight as you think you are.

Of course, just my opinon.

Bikearound

Weight of a touring bike...Really? That's like walking into a titty bar and worrying about proper arch support of high heels....if 5 or 10 pounds is the difference between you making it or not making it then maybe touring may not be for you

Just sayin...

foamy

I took a similar path with my bike. I wanted a nice custom road bike, built as light as reasonable but with a comfortable geometry. I’m not going racing, why have a racing bike? I made a couple of compromises: 32 hole rims (Velocity Aeroheads) and instead of a carbon fork, I had the builder use a touring fork as a carbon one can be installed at a later date. I knew going into it that I would be riding around in regular road bike fashion 99% of the time, so why buy or build a specific touring bike? All I have to do is throw the racks back on it and it’s ready to tour again. Lightly and comfortably. The bike weighs about 22/23 lbs with a steel fork and steel fenders. A tubus Vega rear rack and Tara front low rider are also light and effecient. I left the rear rack and fenders on—just ‘cause I like ’em and they’re useful.

Was it worth the money? Yeah. You bet. Particularly considering that a high-buzz road bike costs the same or more.

sstorkel

I think my touring bike weighs about 23lbs. Three water bottles adds about 5lbs, and the gear I took on my credit card tour weighed around 22lbs. Total package was around 50-51lbs. That's, literally, 3X heavier than my road bike but not terribly unmanageable by touring standards. Wouldn't have wanted it to weigh more, but not willing to leave enough stuff behind to save any significant weight...

ullearn

What are the details of your bike?

The LHT frame is 5.15lbs & the Sportive is 3.01 lbs, so looks like your right and that is basically where I am at on trying to decide if just to scrap the litespeed and start fresh with the LHT frame. My tour isn't until mid-July so I have time.

cachehiker

Thanks. I just blew Mountain Dew all over my computer screen.

You pretty much already have the build kit and a perfectly reasonable touring frame can be had for for $125 from Nashbar. There are numerous other options below $400 too. No changeovers required. I myself hate doing more than two changeovers per bike per year. Summer setup, winter setup, that's all folks.

antokelly

ok lads hang on one second here explain this to me.take the op bike unloaded then take my thorn sherpa unloaded.which bike is going to feel the more lively on the road i reckon the litespeed is ,more efficient because it's a much lighter bike for starters and been a race bike the angles give it that more zip where as my wonderful sherpa is heavy not built for speed.
now load them up with the exact same weight ,which bike is a winner again i reckon the litespeed.
but i could be wrong has been known.