Originally Posted by
big john
If you can deal with that then having the extra weight won't ruin your experience, even if your bike is 100 pounds. As long as you have the gears you need and keep an open mind you can have an adventure. I've been on short tours with people who sacrifice everything to shave a pound or 2. This is ridiculous if you don't have the clothing you need or other essentials.
Early on during my X-country tour, I put my bike on a scale at a weigh station. 90 lbs. Probably not the most accurate scale for something relatively light, but I’ll take it. I have never weighed my stuff again ever since. I am a disciplined packer and have invested $$ where it counts. My lighter of two touring tents is only 2.75 lbs. The heavier one, which I take on relatively easy terrain, is 3.25 lbs. My long mattress is just under 1.5 lbs, and my sleeping bag is only slightly heavier. And my bags are never full.
For the tour in MT mentioned above, where I got caught in two bad storms at altitude, I caught a case of weigh weenieitis just before I left. Decided to leave my warm, waterproof gloves and good rain jacket at home and instead took inferior items to save some weight. Dumb risk I’ll never take again when dangerous conditions are possible. The extra weight of the good stuff would have amounted to a tiny fraction of my overall load including body weight.