Originally Posted by
LucF
Thanks Pete. Can't go super light. The Cervélo is a carbon frame, I'll be gone for 8 months and I do photography (15 lbs of equipment).
What do you mean by "a triple with only two rings" ?
Is there some scope to carry lighter weight photographic gear? I know there's an inevitable downgrade in image quality but some of the hyperzooms can be light, compact and produce images that are surprisingly good given their low price. Throw in a relatively small SLR body (In Canon terms I'm thinking of the xxD rather than a 1D, for example) and you lose a bit more weight, and with a lighter body/lens combo you can use a lighter tripod. If you're gone for 8 months I guess you'll also need some pretty heavy duty storage with backups as well.
If "I do photography" means it's a hobby rather than a profession then seriously consider taking a high-end compact camera. When I'm looking to take quality pictures with a view to potentially selling them I haul the big heavy stuff around; if I'm hiking or cycling and just want to be able to take a few snapshots as a record I'll leave the heavy stuff behind and put my old Canon G11 in the saddlebag. In anything less than ideal conditions it's clearly not as good as the DSLR but if conditions are OK it can produce perfectly useable pictures.