mymorningjacket

Planning a 7000k bike tour across Canada starting in May.
I've been looking up gear lists from popular bicycle tourists such as bicyicle touring pro.
Heres all the clothes I plan to bring. (this is the first time going through all my clothes and deciding what to bring.
-2 pairs of soccer shorts
-2 pairs of regular shorts
-Adidas soccer pants
-under armor pants/leggings
-rain pants & jacket
-3 soccer jerseys/biking shirts (short sleeve)
-3 cotton and athletic shirts (short sleeve)
-1 merino long sleeve shirt
-1 beanie
-1 hoodie
-1 fleece pants (for sleeping)
-1 collared shirt
-3 pairs of underwear & socks
-1 pair of biking under pants
-flip flops
-cap
All of this stuff weighed about 15 lbs. Not sure if this is a good amount of clothing to bring. Am I missing something? Something I shouldn't be bringing?
Thanks

dh024

6 short-sleeved shirts is way too many, IMO. And I am not sure what you mean by 1 collared shirt, but my temptation would be to bring two short-sleeved shirts and one polo shirt, plus the long sleeve shirt. Some might take less.

1 set of bike shorts (I assume that is what you mean by biking under pants) is too little - I would bring two sets so you always have one clean and one dirty one to go in the wash. Keeping your bottom dry and clean is essential (if you haven't suffered from saddle sores on tour, trust me here). If you wear bike shorts while riding, you won't need all those sets of regular underwear, either.

4 pairs of regular shorts and a pair of pants seems like a lot to me, also. How about one pair of athletic shorts that fit over your bike shorts plus one pair of convertible pants (legs zip off to form a second pair of shorts)?

Use your under armour leggings for sleeping in, and you won't need fleece pants.

If you are crossing the Canadian Rockies in May, you are going to need some warm gloves and an insulating layer, like a merino sweater under your shell (unless your hoodie is a down or primaloft jacket to serve this purpose - if it is cotton, just leave it at home).

Anyways, those are my initial impressions. Hope the feedback is helpful.

Machka 

Keep these things in mind:

First ... you can buy stuff along the way. Now you can think about lightening that load. If you suddenly discover you actually need another cotton T-shirt when you're cycling through Regina, you can buy one. You don't need to bring 3 cotton T-shirts with you from the beginning.


Second ... think about double duty. Can I use this item both on the bicycle and off the bicycle? Can I use this item to sleep in and also to use as a base layer if it gets cold? For example, I use 3 light weight wicking T-shirts in rotation. One on the bicycle, one off the bicycle and to sleep in, one in reserve. Next day the bicycle one goes into the laundry, the off bicycle one becomes the bicycle T-shirt, and the one in reserve becomes the off bicycle/sleep T-shirt. Etc. So all I need to bring for short sleeved tops are those 3 light weight wicking T-shirts. And being light weight wicking T-shirts, they wash and dry quickly.

LuckySailor

I wouldn't bring anything cotton. Merino wool is the way to go. It is lightweight, and dries fast when wet. Icebreaker makes great underwear, socks and shirts-albeit somewhat expensive. So does minus 33, which I have purchased off Amazon.ca for as much as 75% off retail. Darn Tough for socks, Cabelas, and Wright Socks from MEC. Cotton does not. Are you going on a supported or non supported tour across Canada? That will make a difference too as to what you should bring. You really don't need alot of different changes of clothing. You can't afford that luxury on a bike.
When I toured across Canada in '15, I had a pair of convertibles pants, 2 pull over shirts, 4 pairs of underwear and socks, 4 cycling pants/shirts, rain gear, Cycling jacket, leggings, arm warmers, 2 skull caps, bella clava, gloves, pair of sandals, pair of street shoes. I could have gone with a 1 less socks, underwear, cycling pants and shirt.

Squeezebox

As the above have said, you're thinking of way too much. Try to make time for some weekend overnights to practice on just how little you can get by with. 2 cycling shorts & shirts. off bicycle clothes get washed and are drying while riding, 1 each. Warmer base layer can be slept in. gloves? Same shake down for tent, sleeping, cooking gear. I need better street shoes than flip flops. And real cycling shoes of course.

indyfabz

Assuming "cycling under pants" is something you will be riding in every day because you won't be riding in cycling-specific shorts, I'd start by getting rid of some of those shirts on your list and adding another pair of "under pants."

At this point, I am down to one synthetic off-bike shirt. If it might be chilly, I will take a very light, synthetic pull-over with hood I found on the side of the road. If I need more warmth I will use the rain jacket in camp. As noted, one item can serve multiple functions.

Dan Burkhart 

There are no guarantees on the weather across Canada in the month of May or even later. I once spent two days storm stayed in Swift Current on the last weekend in May. 1982 I think it was.
One time, I just made it through Banff before a snow storm closed the highway on July first.
I would be packing some warm duds any time of year.

gauvins

Your list of clothes is quite extensive. I wear/carry:

Tops:

o 1 short sleeve T
o 2 long sleeve Ts
o 1 long sleeve white linen shirt
o 1 lightweight rain/wind shell

Bottoms
o 2 cycling shorts
o 1 yoga pants

Underwear
o 2 capilene boxers
o 2 below the ankle socks

Headgear
o 2 tubular headwear (multiple uses)

Gloves
Touring cycling shoes (can be used around town as well as on the bike)

--------------------------------------

It all fits inside 2x3Liter stuff sacks and doesn't weigh much. Three additional observations:

1. Linen shirt + yoga pants are essentially used after riding. (What was worn during the day is systematically washed at the end of each day)
2. No cotton. Weighs too much, absorbs humidity. Either wool or synthetics
3. There is a tendency to carry too much, just in case. Once, however, our family felt uncomfortable, in a cold downpour. We now carry "space blankets".

mymorningjacket

Ive edited what im bringing.
2 polyester tshirt
2 polyester tank tops
1 long sleeve merino shirt
1 long sleeve polyester shirt
1 pair of underarmour pants and long sleeve shirt
2 pairs of padded biking underwear
2 pairs of regular shorts
2 pairs of lightweight athletic shorts
3 pair underwear, socks & undershirts
I feel pretty confident with this set up. My only thing is jackets.
I have a MLS adidas rain jacket I got from my friend who worked at a soccer stadium. When ive used it the water just beads off the jacket nicely. It says on the tag %100 polyester inner and outer shell. So its not just a rain shell jacket, it kind of has a soft inner. So just wondering how that would work. I was planning on having a rain jacket, biking jacket to keep warm and a bigger jacket for when its very cold.
So this rain jacket I think will do, and I also think it will double for a biking jacket because it does have some warmth to it. My only thing is now what do I bring for a warmed jacket. I was thinking just a hoodie that is 78% poly 22% cotton. But i still dont know. Pretty sure ive been told anything thats cotton is a no go. Also how is polyester because I didnt realize until now but basically everything I am bringing is polyester. What is a good material for a lightweight jacket/hoodie to keep me warm.
Thanks

skookum

I'd bring what gauvins recommends above. I would add a warm puffy synthetic jacket . Not down, synthetic is better in damp conditions.

Machka 

Why 2 tank tops? Why 3 pair undershirts? Why undershirts at all? But if you feel you must wear undershirts, you've basically listed 5 of them here. Your tank tops can double as undershirts.

Also this:
2 pairs of padded biking underwear
2 pairs of regular shorts
2 pairs of lightweight athletic shorts

Personally, I would bring:
2 pair of cycling shorts
1 pair of zip-off/convertible pants
1 pair of stretchy capris
1 pair of basketball shorts

It is Canada and weather can be quite chilly ... or quite hot ... or anything in between. It's not a bad idea to have at least one pair of long pants in the collection.

Squeezebox

2 pr of cycling shorts
2 jerseys or short sleeve T shirts (I prefer wool T shirts)
2-3 socks & undies

-only 1 of anything else-

Check the average temp and record low & high. Bring appropriate cold weather clothes.

andrewclaus

A rule of thumb I like to follow for traveling is that you should be able to wear everything at once in a coordinated layering system.

Clothing weight is not the only concern--think of volume, and then the weight of the extra pack needed to carry it all.

On a summer tour, take an afternoon break in a public park restroom or natural setting, wash or just rinse out your dirty clothing, put it on damp and wear it dry for the remainder of the day. It's refreshing on a hot day, and you get to camp with mostly clean and dry clothing. You don't need to carry any spares at all. And you won't explode if you skip a day when it's raining.

This method worked fine for me on a recent 7000+ km trip on the Northern Tier in the US (and CAN for a few km). Reducing clothing volume allowed me to tour comfortably with only two panniers and one rack.

linus

Just pack whatever you like.

You can buy stuff on the way, and also you can dump or mail back what you don't need on the way.

What works for me won't necessarily work for you. Just do it.

Doug64

We've experienced temperature ranges from 100F to freezing on the same trip while riding in Canada.

You can always mail clothes home when you think they are no longer needed.

geoffs

When were were touring eastern Canada last June July, we started off in weather that was down to 5C with a max of 12 with lots of rain. It was colder in summer than it was in winter in Sydney where we are from.
We tour on a tandem so we only have one pannier each and after 20yrs of touring we take just enough.
We wash clothes every night. Everything must be quick dry so you are putting damp clothes in your pannier. Anything cotton is not quick dry. Polyester clothes stink if they don't have an antibacterial treatment or you wash them as soon as you take them off.
I took the following:
2 Cycling bibs (if you're doing long distances day after day wear something really comfortable not shy boy shorts)
2 long sleeved cycling tops (Groundeffect)
1 rainjacket (Groundeffect anti-Cyclone)
1 thin fleece jacket with windproof front (Groundeffect Frostyboy)
1 Merino undershirt (Icebreaker)
1 Convertable pants (Katmandu)
1 Long sleeved collared shirt (icebreaker merino)
1 short sleeved lightweight shirt (kathmandu polyester tech fabric)
2 socks
2 underwear
I'm sure you can get some good clothes from MEC