Touring Bike Weights
 

I've recently built a bamboo touring style bicycle and am wondering if I'm in line with where I should be with the unloaded weight. Currently (as pictured) it weighs about 31 lbs. unloaded (14 kg), and from what I've read this seems to be about right but personally it seems to be quite heavy.

Where do your touring bikes weigh in at and what have you done to reduce the weight, or am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

Attachment 557826

Thanks! :thumb:

Is that a rear caliper only braking bike? I think I see 4 cables, but I dont see a front caliper.

Anyways, I would consider that heavy for a bike without racks or even bottle cages.
At the same time, oh well- its a few # more than many other bikes.

Typically, road touring bikes are 22-32# depending on size, frame material, spec quality, and rack materials. Its a massive range.

citrocycle, Neat bike!

Brad

I guess it was a bit misleading, since the shown photo I've added bottle cages and front Cantilever brakes (cyclocrss/mtb fork) since the caliper brakes didn't have enough reach. The front brake and cages are included in the weight.

The frame, before adding components, was about 4 lbs (1.8 kg), is this where the "heaviness" of this setup is coming from or would it be the components?

Thanks Bradtx! If only they didn't take me so long to make! (1.5-2 mo after work & weekends)

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...le-weight.html


https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...ter-rider.html


https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...vs-60-lbs.html

Perfect thank you, I don't know why I wasn't able to find these when I was looking for related posts? :wtf:

Click "Search" and select "Advanced Search." There, you can search thread titles in specific forums like Touring.

I have even more admiration. My frame-only weight for my 23" Cannondale touring bike(s) is right around 4 lb. or perhaps just a bit lighter. I didn't write it down, but maybe it's in an old post.(?) Your built bike is ~3.5 lb. heavier than mine and a rack may bump that up 1-2 lb.

One thing I've learned is that a little extra weight doesn't hurt when distance cycling or touring. We all want our equipment to be as light as practical, but I learned that my touring bike worked just as well as my distance roadie on long distance rides in spite of weighing 6.5 lb. more.

Brad

The search here is not good. I just use google, and add "site:bikeforums.net" on the end of my search to only search this site. Works much better than the built in search.

Sweet bike, though, comes in right around the weight of my Miyata.

Is your Cannondale aluminum? I've thought about switching to Aluminum but haven't yet. The pictured bike is made from heavy 1/16" mild steel since thats what was accessible at the time. I'm currently building one out of 1/32" 4130 chromoly so we'll see how that affects the weight.

Good point although I'm going to be making one for Cyclocross riding and would like the weight to be "competitive" at least!

Thanks for the info.

More $$$ you are willing to spend along the way, the less you have to carry.

On The Pacific Coast , summer cycle touring season sees all sorts of bikes..

some are road bikes , towing a bike trailer.





....

Thanks for the useful tips guys, will definitely use these in the future before posting. :geek:

Whats the best "bang for the buck" when trying to lighten things up outside of the frame? I would suspect rims but am not confident in that guess.

"nothing weighs less than a part not installed"



:rolleyes:

Most of the things that weigh more on a touring bike are there for extra reliability, although there are some things that cost less.

Rims: A god rim won't dent or break with a hard knock (tree limb, pothole, etc.) You can probably get a lighter rim; do you want to?

Saddle: Not clear what saddle you're riding from the picture, but you can save a pound on a plastic saddle over a Brooks leather saddle. OTOH, there's a reason 1/2 - 2/3 touring cyclists ride Brooks IME, and it's butt comfort. How much do you want to lighten the load?

Seatpost: Unless you've got an expensive seatpost, you can probably buy a lighter one. It might resist bending or breaking as well as the cheaper model, or at least well enough to get you through your tour safely.

Derailers: A good place to save a few ounces, but it's going to cost you! Cassette: ditto.

Overall, my bikes come in right around 32 pounds. When I lose a third of my body weight, then I'll think about getting a bike that weighs 1/3 less, too.

Im guessing the DeepV rims arent lightweight. And what are all the connection points made of? No idea what the drivetrain is as the pic you took is from the non-drive side.

Yeah, that isnt terribly heavy for a frame. Im guessing there is extra weight in the fork and components.
With that said…meh…oh well. My touring bike is no lightweight. It isnt a land whale, but itll never be mistaken for a waifish model.

Its really cool that you built a bike- that, in my mind, far outweighs the weight being a few # more than what I would consider typical.



Looking around, this is apparently more of a 1st/2nd crack at a product to sell? Where does the rear rack attach? I see 2 mount points at the dropouts, but nothing up on the seatstays. Also, no ability to traditionally mount a front rack? That could really limit usability.
http://www.citrocycle.com/

[QUOTE=citrocycle;19480606]Is your Cannondale aluminum?

Yes.

Brad

Good information, goes along with what [MENTION=197614]fietsbob[/MENTION] said earlier about just spending more money to get lighter parts.

Thanks for the overview, I'm personally fine with the weight, but have talked to people who were interested in a bike like it but also were interested in having a lighter bike and I was wondering where I could shave weight off at. I'll just pass along the cost if they want lighter!

On this bike and the one pictured in my "coming soon" site the connection points are all 1/16" mild steel - heavy and readily accessible. The drivetrain is Tiagra, 105's may be coming soon.

Your exactly right, this is the 2nd bike I've made, currently working on the 4th with lightweight chromo and more rack attachments. This bike has been my "dummy" bike with modifications out the wazoo, I may grind away the paint and weld on some rear mounts for a back rack. I have a seat post rear bike rack (example image below) that I'm currently using, but limits the weight of the pannier bags.

Lastly, this would just be a matter of using a different fork with the correct mounting holes, correct?

I really appreciate your input, its great having a fresh pair of eyes to point out the things that I've overlooked.

Pretty cool bike! But it does seem on heavy side, considering bamboo is not a heavy building material. As you've point out those steel connectors seem to be rather large and therefore heavy. But IMO there's nothing wrong with an overbuilt touring-bike. By way of reference, my overbuilt all-steel touring-bicycle with a sturdy wheelset comes in at about 30 pounds. Kitted out with racks, cages, fenders, and 2-inch touring tires it weighs in at 33 pounds.

I'm hoping to be able to knock down the weight by a pound or two by using thinner Chromo but we will see how it ends up working out.
I imagine that the overall size plays into it also, this is a "large" frame for someone 6'+.

I'll have to reference this one against the "small" frame I'm currently building!

Thanks for the input.

this weight is pretty close to what my touring bikes have been.

oh, and I have always found the search function on this site to be extraordinarily frustrating, dont even try using it anymore.

This bike is 27.5 lbs with out the Tubus rear rack but with all the other accessories including the Arkel handle bar bag mounts. I read, today in Bike Rag, of the Surley Disk trucker at 34 lbs with no accessories. Andy

My DT was 34 with cages, tubus racks and probably my Road Morph pump as well as a few minor upgrades that weren't a whole lot lighter. My Co-Motion is 28 pounds without the pump but slightly heavier cages.