People Google "loaded touring" and come up with the set ups you describe and think that's how you have to tour. It's self reinforcing.
When I tour basically every other tourist I meet is surprised that I have a CF bike and just a handlebar bag and a saddlebag and have everything I need to camp and cook. They tend to have heavy touring bikes with 4x panniers etc (probably because that's how they've always done it or if they are new because thats how Google told them to do it). I'm an old fat guy, but end up climbing faster than stronger and younger riders because I have less weight to push up the hills.
You don't need to spend a lot of money to go lightweight. A steel or Al road bike is fine and packing sensibly rather than buying a lot of high tech gear can quickly reduce what and how much you carry. Clothing is a prime example where people just pack far too much.
This post is so full of true.
I have toured with four panniers. The trouble was, I had trouble filling them in most cases. I realised I could pare that back to two panniers and a tent on top of the rack, plus a handlebar bag.
One of my plans is to acquire a Nelson Camper Carradice bag and to modify the fly of one of my tents (the inner is falling apart) with a floor; we went exploring at a "tip shop" (recycled goods outlet attached to a rubbish dump), and found people just throw away tents that have great fabric still).
I also know I can reduce my Trangia cookware to just the essentials, and I already have a lightweight down bag and sleep pad. I'd probably opt to go with my Shogun 400 fixie and try a weekend or two away with that set-up.
I totally agree about the clothing. The essentials for me are waterproof jacket (Ground Effects in this case), polypro base, T-shirt (no pockets, lightweight material), lightweight polarfleece jacket, spandex undies (not bikeshorts), synthetic shorts, long synthetic pants, woollen socks and bandana, plus long and short-fingered gloves. I had several sets of that everday wear when we toured Europe and the UK for over three months several years ago, and it served me well. I even had a down jacket thrown in there (and it was particularly useful in the French Alps and Scotland!).
Bulk ends up being as much as enemy as weight in packing. Hence substituting two or three pairs of undies for two pairs of bike shorts (no chamois), and tech Ts for jerseys because they don't have pockets and extended backs.
Where I tour, the weather can be marginal, so I like to have wind and cold protection, but even that doesn't have to be bulky to be functional. The Ground Effects StormTrooper jacket is an example.
The tent can be another bulky item. I have a bivvy tent, but that hasn't been used, because I tour with Machka and we need the bigger tent space. The fly I talked about above is from an old Mountain Designs 2p tent that we both have squeezed into, and by removing the liner, we open up a bit more usable space.
To get down to a particular light target weight for me would not cost any more than a new Carradice Nelson Camper. And all said and done, I could try to fit everything into the Nelson Longflap that I already have.
Hmmmm... this could be an interesting challenge.