Originally Posted by
corvuscorvax
OP is apparently just making stuff up.
Making stuff up does nothing for me, so why would I? Please don't come in here to pick fights...
A Surly Troll frame weighs
about five and a half pounds. By comparison, an Ibis Tranny frame weighs
about three pounds.
And nobody is going to lift the bike onto their shoulders and "hike a few miles" with a loaded touring bike. Ever. (And yes, I have had to portage plenty of times.)
I hiked 2.2 miles from the road to the summit of Mt. Hurricane with a 46lb touring bike, gear and that night's food and water included. My touring bike alone was 29lbs.
In fact, LAST NIGHT I biked up Mt. Greylock in MA, and then carried my bike 1.5 miles down the trail. This time, we were leaving from town, so it was only a 15 mile ride up the mountain. I put a 25lb backpack on my back for the entire excursion, so I was carrying a backpack AND a bike when I took the thunderbolt.
If it means a summit with a view, I'd hike 5+.
Maybe you don't walk with a bike on your shoulders, but I do- it's part of getting to the best camp spots for me, an experience I am not willing to give up. 2.2 miles of hiking with 46 lbs balanced across my shoulders got me this:
2012 Northeast Bike Tour (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts) by
Max Roman, on Flickr
There's my motivation for shaving pounds off the frame. So, for the last time, NO SURLY TROLLS!!!
Much love for full touring setups like 4x panniers, those who do it enjoy life. But it's not me- my gear is minimal. I may use a back rack if the frame supports it. More likely, I'll be bikepacking it with Relevate Designs frame bags, as other users suggest. Please make reccomendations with this in mind!
Alright, addressing other posts:
I see Rolhoff a lot on this forum, so I'll look into that. Also, I got to see an expedition tandem this summer and the wheels were burly, but if I'm not mistaken, considerably wider than most wheels. I doubt there's a direct translation to be had here, but I'll keep the materials in mind and check these out anyways.
I will not be building this bike up myself, since it's considerably cheaper to get a fully built bike. The El Mariachi picture was just so you all could see what kind of frame I was interested in. 26" wheels won't fit on it. What I need is a DIFFERENT bike frame that does fit 26" wheels, salsa or otherwise. The Salsa is a great example of a minimalist steel frame without too much overkill in the weight department.
A big thanks for the advice on handbuilt wheels. Anyone know of pre-built wheels that also fit the bill? The stock rims on my Port Townsend are absolutely beastly, I've never even untrued them and I've had to "mountain bike" more than once. There must be some rims out there that I don't have to get custom made, since that'll cost a small fortune (though, I'd do it if I had to).
Also, my pricing on the El Mariachi was off of mtbr.com, and they had it at 1500 even. That may have been for the steel fork version, though.