I went to an LBS today and we got to talking about my commuter. They were blown away by how much my bike weights fully loaded.

This got me wondering. What do you carry with you during your commutes?

I have a rack with Avenir pannier bag. In that, I pack a pair khakis, an undershirt, underwear, sock, and work shirt, the cable for my lock, some aa batteries, safety vest and anklets, and spf. Then the lock on top. Plus, I have a blinky attached. My bike has one set of brazens for a waterbottle. So, there's a waterbottle, and an airpump attached to that. On the front of my bike, there is another light, phone cradle, and handlebar bag. Now, in the bag I have a multitool, patches, spare tube, tire levers, tire gauge, energy bars, and 2 more waterbottles.

I would say, when all said and done, fully loaded, she weights 50lbs. So, after all of that, is that a heavy load?

What is the weight of the bike only? Mine is 25lbs plus I carry about 10-15lbs of stuff (tools/clothes/lock/lunch) in courier bag, for a total of 35-40lbs.

You do seem a bit heavy but not unreasonable compared to what some others do.

>.> when I do commute I don't have to change... so my main commuter lately reflects this at 19.5lbs, and I prolly carry 4-5lbs worth of gear but usually in pockets or a pack.

Sorry, the weighs about 25lbs. And I add about 205lbs

25lbs is a reasonable bike weight, 25lbs of gear is way to much in my opinion. How far is your ride? Do you ride everyday? What can be stored at work to lighten the load?

Well, I try to ride at least twice a week. Thou, I'll probably only ride once this week. 115 tomorrow and possible rain rest of the week. I'm always worried of needing something, so I take what I think I need. For some it may not be that far of a ride. My ride is about 11.5 miles one way. I think I might leave my work clothes at work, and just bring them home to wash.

I dunno how much my rig weighs. Trek 7100 hybrid w/ a rack, wald fold up baskets, a trunk bag, bike lock, fluids, change of clothes, lunch.......

No idea.

I do know that the bike's weight doesn't hold a candle to the weight of my a**.

I'm pretty sure 50 lbs. is not outrageous among commuters. My bike alone is just over 30 lbs, and my panniers and their contents usually weigh between 10 and 15 lbs depending on the time of year. If I stop at the grocery store on the way home, I can sometimes top out above 60 lbs.

That is a good distance for vegas with the heat. I would look at how much fluids you really use considering you can leave fully hydrated and you have water where you are going. If you are on a populated route, you can always stop for some if you are really hurting.

You also mentioned energy bars. Why not keep those at work for after the ride?

And in terms of locking, why not keep your extra locks (cables and such) locked to the regular city objects you lock to. The locks will be where you need them when you arrive. You could hypothetically ride w/o locks if you truly only go from home to work and back. Please tell me you keep work shoes at work and don't carry them with you.

Why a patch kit plus a spare? Why not keep the patch kit at work only. What are the odds you would get two flats on a route and need to patch also? In the time it would take you to patch you could have walked pretty damn far in a 11.5mile commute.

Most people swear by racks & panniers. Ask yourself, can everything go in a big messenger bag? If so you can lose the rack and save weight. I don't use a rack anymore just because of the cumbersome nature of panniers and hopping on and off the bike since you need to take them with you. I prefer a large mess bag.

Are batteries necessary? You don't really need them in the mornings/day and if they run out riding home can you tough it out for 11.5 miles? Keep extra batteries at work and home and switch them out if they die during the ride. Reflectors should be enough for the odd times when your lights die.

SPF? Are you reapplying during the ride? Why not keep that at work and home only.

Do you need the cell phone cradle? How often do you need to check your phone on a (presumably) 50 minute ride?

I did an audit on my gear not long ago since I started to 'collect' things as well, my pack got pretty heavy. I rarely used many of those items and have not missed them since lightening my load.

In the end it is about simplicity. I like to go grocery shopping and ride with heavy loads when necessary. Otherwise, I like to keep it light and simple.

Many (most) bike shops are more oriented towards recreational and racing type bikes, and have a skewed perspective (IMO) about weight, as if it is the end-all, be all. They love to pick the bikes up to see how much they weigh, and are largely influenced by the "OMG! THIS IS SO LIGHT" factor with the high zoot carbon fiber race bikes, that anything over 20 pounds is considered portly. Sorry, just an observation that never fails to make me roll my eyes. It is sort of like going into a porsche dealership with your station wagon and them being surprised that it doesn't handle like a sports car.

I'd say your rig is pretty standard fare - most commuters are oriented towards reliability, some degree of comfort, and utility rather than spec sheet competition.

Unless you are a lighter person, the total weight of bike + rider is only marginally greater on a loaded commuter than the same person on a light bicycle. So I'd say don't sweat it. Besides, if speed is a factor, air resistance is more an issue than weight beyond 16-17 MPH.

Bottom line is that if the bike works for your needs and you enjoy riding it, keep rollin' with a smile on your face.

grant petersen's nightmare:

commuter 1: carbon drop ~18.5 lbs
commuter 2: carbon flat bar ~20 lbs
commuter 3: carbon rain bike with fenders 22 lbs

i also have a beater bike and a shopping bike.

Is bike 1 for oversleeping?

I work retail and in this heat, a messenger bag would leave me a sweaty hot mess. And my phone is my computer and keeps me linked to my wife. She freaked out during one of the first 100+ days. Getting home took me an hour and half. She was not happy with me since I wasn't communicating.

Even with all that, the ride isn't bad for me. I was just surprised by the guy's reaction. I was wondering what everyone else ride with.

I would honestly stab at guessing most commuter bikes weigh about what yours does, as has been said a lot of shops/people are totally into the reduced weight syndrome.

Road bike around 21-22 lbs. I ferry clothes/food to the office on days I don't ride.

My bike is an old steel Fuji Saratoga touring bike. I weighed it once out of curiosity and it came in about 27 lbs if I remember right. That was before I added lights and a computer. I ride with two panniers filled with tools, spare tube, pump, clothes (work as well as clean stuff for the ride home), lunch, wallet, keys, laptop, etc. I weighed the panniers one morning on my work shipping scale and they totalled about 25 lbs. So my rig is also around 50 lbs, maybe a bit more.

As noted above, I'm interested in getting there and being safe and comfortable. Weight isn't a consideration.

12.5 miles each way, big hill at each end.
trek 520 with pannier, fenders, maybe 28lbs
change clothes plus lunch in the morning 5 lbs
laptop - 7 lbs
on the way home, twice a week a gallon of milk and 1/2 doz bagels.

If I was worried about the weight I'd drop some lbs from my fat @$$

I'll re-use shirts and pants, so the amount of clothing I take on one trip is a small fraction of a full wardrobe. Besides that, all I really bring is my wallet, phone, lunch, and some tools.

My FG is about 31 lbs with tools, lights, and some water. Backpack is probably around 10 with clothes and lock and other stuff.

100% True. I have no doubts that the LBS person had a "nice lighter weight bike" in mind for the OP to purchase, regardless of what is suitable for him or how little added value, if any, would be gained by the OP.

For a second there, I thought I was in the touring forum. See what your can ride without or leave at work, and your load will be much lighter. Lock stays on the rack and shoes, belt, some tools, umbrella, coat, extra clothes and spares are all in a drawer at work.

I can lift it over the side of a pickup [no truck lift kit & big tires] after I take off my front bags.

Bathroom digital scale just said mine weighs 35 lbs with the rear rack, trunk bag, stem bag, tools, water bottle, garmin 305 etc on it. In the morning it will be heavier with shorts, underwear & tee shirt, 2 cell phones etc. Some mornings I take a G2 drink in the second bottle cage. So I'm guessing its around 40lbs or so - more if I take a lock. I'm still working on reducing *MY* weight which will be easy that shedding weight off the bike... all which helps on my commute where my total ascent is 200m.

Since its summer and I don't need to bring home the extra layer of clothes I wore in the morning, I am riding my Volagi instead of my dedicated commuter rig. With the fenders, disc brakes and lights (along with pump and flat kit), it weighs in at around 19 lbs.

My dedicated commuter rig weighs in around 26 lbs but that has a IGH and a rear rack.

The Volagi is much more fun to ride.

My commuter bike, unladen, is about 27 LBS. Add the rack, pump, lights, tools, spares, etc... and the bike with 'fixed' gear is about 35. Add my panniers with a typical load (lunch, change of clothes, U-locks, rain gear, spare lights, spare spares, etc...) for another 15-20 lbs, for a total of around 50 lbs most days. Then add me at 190, and it hardly seems to matter.

This morning (for the first time evah!) I commuted on my 'sporty' bike, which, naked, weighs under 20 lbs, and is unburdened by rack or panniers, so the total bike weight (lights, pump, water bottle, computer, tools and spares etc...) might be 22-23 lbs.? (I'll have to remember to weigh it when I get home). I wore a backpack at around 12-14lbs (lunch, change of clothes, mini U-lock, some other stuff)? Unfortunately, I'm still about 190. I will admit, my average speed this morning was quite a bit faster than my norm, at about 15.5 MPH, instead of my usual 13.5. Total time today was 72 minutes for 19 miles, instead of closer to 82 minutes for the same. I'm really interested to see what it does for my ride home, which is usually even slower (it's more uphill).