Cave

Stuff is lighter, but there's more of it.

Tents - tarptent at 1160g or so compared to 2.5kg for a previously-considered light tent
Stoves - minitrangia now available compared to trangia storm cooker
Sleeping bag - can now afford down
Digital camera - a little lighter, and no film to carry
Lithium batteries - maybe 1/3 the weight of using alkalines in AA

But:
- Mobile phone and charger
- PDA (although this is lighter than a book... and now that I have an iPhone, even lighter and combined with the mobile phone...)
- Anyone use GPS?

Water has gotten a little bit heavier... before camelback bladders and lexan were all the rage, we used to use aluminized plastic wine bladders and coke bottles... very light...

staehpj1

Other than the cell phone which I now carry, everything else is lighter than what I would have carried in my younger years. Some of it is much lighter.

Oh wait there is one other exception. I do carry a small, but real pillow now.

nun

This is so true. A couple of years ago I traveled without much electronics, maybe a cell phone, but that was all and my bags and gear was 20lbs. Now I take a Asus 900 PC with me, a camera, and an iphone and my weight is creeping up to 25lbs.

Gear is lighter than it was, you just have to sort through the large amount that is available.

mooncricket

I have to agree with most of what you guys are saying.

In the early 90s, I experimented with ultra-packing. I just found the lightest pack and the lightest equipment possible that would allow me to hike-jog twice my regular distance. Basically, I still have some of that stuff, and I still use them on short bike tours these days.

Somehow, things didn't get as light as I thought they would get in 15 yrs time. And they certainly didn't get cheaper as they got lighter. In fact, they generally got very expensive.

The only things that really got lighter&cheaper are electronics.

Cameras. Remember those big chunky things with the lenses that would take up most of your handlebar bags? Not to mention, batteries, films.

GPS, I didn't have one before. I have one now, but use it for something else. 15yrs ago, they were bricks.

Phones. Hahahahha! Just the memories of the size of those things make me.

Books. I brought 3 tomes on my first tour 15yrs ago. Now I can bring hundreds (on a pda/iphone).

Laptops. Brought my Toshiba Protege, the very first of their Protege line. It lasted 1,000miles, right until I took it on a mountain trail ride. The motherboard basically disintegrated. Now you can have a netbook or pda or iphone.

I think they shaved a few pounds off the average bike, but have added at least $100 for every pound they shaved off.

Oh, well. I shouldn't complain as I too have gotten heavier

BigBlueToe

I think this is more of a sociological, anthropological phenomenon than a technological one. I think technology has provided lighter, better, more compact stuff. But in the time that has passed since my earliest backpacking/bikepacking days I've gotten older and more affluent. I've learned about the wonderful stuff that's available, and I've gotten the means to pay for it. When I started I had an army surplus mess kit. Now I have nice, stainless steel, and could buy titanium if I wanted. My first bikepacking tent was a cheap, coated, singlewall nylon. My new one is much nicer, bigger, and about the same weight. I have two Svea 123's in the garage, but my Coleman 442 burns unleaded and doesn't have to go through the old priming procedure the Sveas do. I started with a blue, closed-cell foam mat. Now I have a Big Agnes Air Core. Sure, it weighs more, but it's SO much more comfortable. I'm old; I'd wake up in pain if I had to sleep on the old blue mat night after night.

I have the ability to tour with a lighter load than I did in the 70s, but the fact that I choose not to isn't the fault of the stuff.

tacomee

Back in the 1980's, my gear was lighter....but far from better. The new tarp-tents are under 3 pounds but not very good in heavy weather. Great 3 season tents are under 6 pounds now-- totally weather proof.

Here's some changes that have made gear heavier. Here's how traveled as a kid.

Sleeping pad? I don't need no stinking sleeping pad.
Lightweight down sleeping bag. lived with cold.
Lightweight nylon tent. got wet from time to time.
Lightweight nylon panniers. Water went straight though them. Packed in plasitc bags.
Lightweight alu racks.
Cooked with Heet on pop can stoves (or campfires using scrap wood I picked up on the side of the road)

I never packed very much food. (still don't) I'll eat whatever I can buy. I've eaten some pretty weird meals.

The trick of packing light is to skip steel racks (Tubus or Surly racks are way too heavy and can carry way too much weight) and only have 4000 cu inches, (or less) of carrying space. Otherwise you'll over pack.

As panniers and racks have gotten bigger and stronger, more gear makes the cut, bike gearing has gotten lower, wheels stronger (and often heavier), tires wider. Don't get my wrong, modern touring bikes and gear are great! But there isn't any reason you can't get by without it just fine. Anybody in their early 20's should be able to tour on stock Surly Crosscheck or old road bike using 2 cheap rear panniers on the cheapest alu rack at the bike shop. Hunt around for a front mini rack to set your sleeping bag on. (Nashbar sells a nice one). Tent--sleeping bag--tools and spare tube. That's all you really need!

Remember....suffering is the part of the fun!

arctos

Compared to almost forty years ago when started seriously to bike tour my load of gear has improved in quality, reduced in weight and cost less when you factor in inflation. As with gasoline the price today is less than the inflation adjusted price back then.

The Tarptent Virga that I used on the Divide Ride weighed just over one pound for an excellent shelter that cost less than $140. I saved 3 pounds in weight and dollars compared to my other tents with no drop off in performance. https://www.tarptent.com/

My Brasslite alcohol Stove barely weighs an ounce and my cooking pot weighs a few ounces. I saved three pounds off my old gas stove and cook kit and the outfit cost far less than the others I have used before. I have come to prefer the quiet of an alcohol stove over the bunsen burner roar of my old stove an MSR XGK. https://www.brasslite.com

Clothing has also lightened up particularly rain gear and wind proof down to mere ounces for DriDucks raingear and similar material items costing $20-30 or less on sale.

As I write this I keep wondering if I have misread the thread comments or you folks live on another planet where gear gets heavier and more expensive and bulkier by the week. It has certainly not been my experience if we are talking about basic essential gear for staying warm, dry and fed on a bike tour. If you are talking about adding nice-to-have gear and other non-essential gear then you may be correct.