Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
I mentioned this as a point of reference. Touring in the traditional sense of huge pannier’s and duffle bags strapped to your bike is mostly dying off replaced with lighter and more streamlined setups. My touring rigs are either a carbon gravel bike for rides 2 weeks or less and a steel adventure bike for 2+ weeks. Both bikes are 2x11 wide ratio gearing, disc brakes, tubeless and carbon wheels. These bikes are quick, good performing either loaded or not. The rack system is either my Tailfin or Tubus, 12L panniers, 6L handlebar bag and optional 4L fork packs, 10L cargo bag.
There's no denying that newer bike tech has benefited touring, much in the same way it has benefited essentially all other types of riding. Who wouldn't want better brakes or tires or such and such. But newer tech has also made reaching low gear ratios with drop bars a nightmare. I did a quick search and Shimano currently has no off the shelf approved combinations for low gearing. That means either going with SRAM (ew) or mixing and matching, which many bicycle tourists aren't comfortable doing, even if that simply means using an MTB crankset instead of the road/gravel one. And these days the only low gearing drop bar options are 1X, which means massive jumps at the low end and severely restricted high end, both of which make riding at one's own pace a bit of a bummer.
Triples were better than what we have now. Triples were even better than what can be customized. I've been riding a 2X with 46/30 and 11-46 (an impossible combination without some heavy customization or bar end shifters) for a while now and it's just not as good as my old Deore triple 22/34/44 and 11-36. For riding at my preferred pace that is. Low jumps between gears is better for maintaining steady power.
But the large panniers aren't going anywhere. Thinking that they are is youtube influence. Panniers haven't been the go-to choice of high performance long distance tourers for a long time, but for your average bike tourist on vacation, they still reign supreme. There simply isn't a better way to carry a lot of stuff. And if you want to go out to town in chinos and a button down shirt after a long day's ride, you're gonna need that space. Your average bike tourist is far more likely to ride a flat bar trekking bike with 20l panniers and a rack pack than a carbon drop bar bike with frame bags.
All of this gear is lightweight, fairly streamlined and low profile which makes the riding experience much easier and more enjoyable.
Debatable. Depends on how much of a hurry you're in. Also lots of small pouches, frame bags etc. is a hassle to take off compared to a couple of quick lock panniers. Being able to load/unload the bike quickly is a real benefit when using public transport or staying at a hotel that doesn't allow bikes in rooms.
Most importantly much faster allowing to ride at ones preferred pace longer and more comfortably.
Preferred pace is a power output, not speed. On a bike, it doesn't matter how much weight you're carrying when riding at preferred pace. The only variable is distance covered, which again is something that can be important to some and is of no importance to others. How long one can ride and at what comfort level relates to bike fit and ergonomics, which has nothing to do with weight or aerodynamics.
Modern gear such as clothing, sleep systems etc. are better and incredibly lightweight. Although slow to change even the touring world is benefiting from the innovations modern technology brings, unfortunately it does come at a cost, this stuff has a tendency to be expensive. Just adding up my onboard electronics, phone, radar taillight, gps watch and bike computer is a crazy number.
Modern gear can be lightweight but like you mentioned, that brings the cost up. And the cost does go up exponentially. Some would rather use that cash for the actual trip.
But lightweight gear is also fragile. For example one does need to evaluate whether the risk of sleeping pad punctures is worth the decreased weight. Same goes with rain gear, tents, etc.