The ultralight touring thread
 

Hi everybody! It was only old threads on UL touring, and wood love to see your ultralight set up. I mean these days UL touring dosent nessesery means credit card touring. Last few years there has been a lot of new stuff. Am sure people really dont now how much you can put on a bike without panniers now?

http://youtu.be/mR-G7iYgx18 this video should you how much you can load a bike without panniers :)
Am not sure If he is packing UL right there. Hope you people who is touring UL could show us some pics off your set up and helping others with good tips on compact sleepingmath/bags tent and cooking stuff?

Cheers :)

It's blatantly obvious who sponsors them... Anyways here's a another way to go Ultralight touring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVOefruhRAc I'd like to see if someone could possibly go lighter than that and still have the essentials for bike touring.

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/98...decisions.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/98...you-carry.html

And especially ...

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/84...vangelism.html

While weight is obviously a criterion for being ultralight there is also an approach and mindset involved. IMHO its as much about simplicity as weight.

If anyone can wade through that "Ultralight Evangelism" thread they deserve a medal.

Not to be overly smarty pants about it, the kinds of thing a thread like that develops into is almost the opposite of the activity itself. Don't overthink it. Leave what you don't need behind, worst case you might need to buy something or live without it for a while. The big long threads do consolidate a lot of ideas but you could end up making your task more difficult simply because so much stuff has a case made for it, or you just have to sort through the burden of all those ideas. As Tilman said "just put your boots on and leave the house".

When I started in the 70s ultralite was the bike side of things, then it became "loaded" that was associated with cycling, sorta like Canoeing where people carry ovens and the makings for bread, maybe a few hundred pounds of rock samples.

http://www.gonesouthblog.com/wp-cont...aho-bikes2.jpg

This is what my bike looked like for a three-week trip on gravel roads in Idaho. I didn't use a backpack. I wouldn't call this ultra light however because my bike is rather heavy. A true ultralight setup would include a lightweight bike too. But that costs $$$.

http://www.gonesouthblog.com/wp-cont...eenmachine.jpg

Here's what my road bike looked like for about 10 days on the Pacific Coast Highway. Again no backpack and this time no stove.

I could've easily brought less. As mentioned earlier, the key is to simplify. Think about bulk, not weight. If you bring less stuff, and if the stuff you bring isn't bulky, you can use smaller bags to carry them, which means you don't need racks and panniers to support the bulk and weight. You can then use a non-traditional touring bike because your bike won't have such a big burden. Using a lighter bike with less carried weight means you can use lighter wheels and higher performance tires without the worry of breaking spokes. It really can snowball if you do it well.

In the backpacking world the official ultralight base weight (all gear except what you wear and what you consume) is 10lbs or less. I think it'd be reasonable to make a bike touring base weight of 15lbs or less as the ultralight standard. This would include all bags, racks, tools, spare parts, clothes carried, camping gear, cooking gear, gadgets, and other personal items that get carried by the bike. For some this would be an easy number to make. For others it would be a challenge. And for those of you who could care less, congratulations, you don't have to worry about it and can enjoy making fun of the geeks.

I am too lazy to post it all here, but I did document my exodus from heavy to light to ultralight at:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Ultralight

It doesn't show all of my very latest gear choice, but I tried to include a lot of useful info and food for thought. I also tried to make it useful for both folks who want to go all out ultralight and also those who just want to trim their load a bit.

Staephpj1, thank you for your article. While I do not plan to tour in as spartan a fashion as you, I find the light packing mentality refreshing and will try it, atleast partially, for my next tour.

I hope that works out well for you.

I think that most folks could benefit from a bit of gear list trimming. I think that it is usually just a matter of how far to go with it. I know that I found that I enjoy both the simplicity of having limited stuff to deal with and the ability to ride a very lightly loaded bike.

For me lighter touring restores some what attracts me to touring in the first place, specifically a very simple lifestyle and a pleasant ride.

What bag is that on your top tube?

[MENTION=16293]DXchulo[/MENTION]

It's a Revelate Tangle size medium, I think.

Bingo. Think about space, not weight. Sometimes they go hand in hand, but often times they don't. For my round-the-world trip, I took rear panniers and a handlebar bag. I had everything I needed in those three bags. 23 lbs of gear in case you're wondering.

Thanks for making another one of these. My winter bikepacking setup currently, waiting for a thaw:

https://maxthecyclist.files.wordpres..._annotated.jpg

There's gear lists on my site, and I have UL setups for all four seasons on road and mountain bikes. I did 1,500 miles over 30 days, unsupported, with about 8lbs of gear. Ultralight is not only possible, some might call it enlightened.

Do your thighs rub against the frame pack or the under saddle pack?

I've used one of these Topeak seatpost clamp racks for carrying supplies on a long day ride. Even the bolt clamp around my seatpost was slightly annoying, and their quick release clamp is even wider. I suppose a rider ignores any rubbing after a day or two?

http://www.wigglestatic.com/images/t...=430&h=430&a=7

If I wear shorts over regular padded bike shorts, yes, the shorts will rub the top tube bag sometimes. I never feel the saddle bag.

Those seatpost clamp racks are heavy and you can't get to your stuff unless you stop riding. I like using a handlebar bag if I feel the need to carry a bunch of stuff on a long day ride. Even better would be to only carry what you can fit in your jersey pockets, but that has its limits.

Nice, super clean, streamlined setup. 8 lbs over 30 days, that is quite remarkable!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=436713http://www.bikeforums.net/mediafiles/products/5588/
Topeak® Cycling Accessories ? Products - Bikamper?
This might make a very light and compact tent, you don't have to carry any tent poles with you

You may want to do a forum search before buying one. It really is not a great choice IMO and I think most here agreed whenever the topic came up. For one thing it isn't especially light for a one man tent. For another once the tent is up you don't have use of your bike. So if you pitch camp and want to ride into town the bike is busy holding up your tent. Much better to just buy a light backpacking tent.

I just meant that it was a cool concept to go light and compact, I never said it was the lightest and most compact out there, me personally I intend to go with this Stealth Bivy | BlackWolf

That "bivy" weighs 1.1 kg, There are some nice single person tents that weight less, 1.04kg. Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 from Hikelight.com

The advantage of the tent over a bivy comes when you are tent bound due to weather, and want some room to stretch out, read, etc. Also, try dressing and undressing in a bivy. Single wall tents and bivy bags tend to collect condensation on the inside, which is going to be a challenge with your down bag.

By my definition, that is a bivy in name only. It is really a small single person tent IMO.

I realize that it isn't for everyone, but... I have not found dressing and undressing all that big of a deal in a bivy. I also have not found managing condensation to be much trouble with my down bag maybe due in part to the fact that it has a DWR coating. The minimal moisture that collects is usually only under the sleeping pad and on the outside of the bag down by my feet. I just shake the bag off in the morning.

That bivy is heavy and I wonder how easy it will be to pack the poles. There are lighter ultralight hiking tents that offer more space.

Although not pannier-less here's my minimalist rig from a couple of years back:
http://ziligy.com/photos/posts/CrossCheckUltralight.jpg

My rack and panniers combined weigh in at 57 ounces with a 25 liter capacity. Being fully waterproof, all contents quickly accessible, robust, easy to pop on and off, are big advantages IMO. More and more I see that "ultralight" means lots of rigging with straps and stabilizers to achieve proper attachment. While this makes sense for off-road bike-packing it seems somewhat burdensome for road touring. That said, I'm all for minimalism and shedding whatever we can to simplify touring.

Very nice. There is no real reason that ultralight has to mean getting away from panniers. Panniers as you have demonstrated can be part of a very light rig. Yhey often are big and heavy, but they don't have to be.

I guess I am weird in that regard. I do the rigging of light bags with straps for on road touring and panniers for off road touring.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=436794

True. The Arkel Dry Lites seem to be an interesting option at only 18 ounces for 28 liters.

Using stuff sacks will save a couple of pounds over more conventional bags, but at the cost of lots of straps and some inconvenience. Specialist bikepacking bags get around some of those issues, but people then proceed to stick bags all over their bikes which costs a lot and increases weight again. I find a single large saddlebag and a handlebar bag to be the most convenient for riding and getting around using buses and trains.

https://wheelsofchance.files.wordpre...obagmanmed.jpg

Even though I use them, bikepacking bags are definitely fussy, especially the handlebar rolls. There's something to be said for the convenience of a rack and pair of small panniers despite the weight penalty.;)

Nun, I'm surprised your legs don't rub against your Carradice. I tried it and it didn't work for me. Otherwise that setup of yours is nice and simple.

might as well repeat my pics...!

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3939/...f96a95c6_b.jpgKrampus in its Element by mbeganyi, on Flickr

my current bikepacking rig.
hoping to get out on my IF this year, it will be stripped of fenders and will be running my backpacking bags or i'll be using a front low rider setup.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3857/...a3a0c274_b.jpgSalsa Down Under Ortlieb test by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Where do water bottles go. Loose in the triangle bag?

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3853/...d5fff1d1_b.jpgyard sale by mbeganyi, on Flickr

bladder...!
in some most use cases with inline sawyer filter.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/...8b453ec9_b.jpgIMG_3162 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7473/...185c9fdb_b.jpgIMG_3867 by mbeganyi, on Flickr



or, if additional water or capacity is needed, on the fork:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7113/...72992690_b.jpgforest road 27 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/...ae4c548b_b.jpgfargo, waterfront, with revelate bags and salsa anything cages. by mbeganyi, on Flickr