loaded touring weight

[pmspirito]

I am trying to get a feel for the total loaded, on the road, weight for bike, gear, food, water, clothing etc, etc, etc,.    

As an example.  On this months Adventure Cyclist magazine there are tow loaded bikes.  What do they weight with all of that gear (without the riders)

Thank you,  Peter Spirito

[FredHiltz]

Hi Peter. My bike (a standard four-pannier configuration) weighs 75 pounds ready to go for road touring, that is, with food and 3 water bottles on board.

Fred

[PAdkins]

I've done several long hauls and I like to travel a bit lighter. My bike, racks, and panniers totals 25-30 lbs. With gear it comes up close to 50 lbs, maybe 55 on the fullest days. When I tour off-road I like to carry even less, closer to 40 lbs total, thats 25 lbs for the bike and rear rack, 15 lbs for gear and food.

I work here at Adventure Cycling, we see several riders that are really loaded down. I'd bet some of them are closer to 100 lbs loaded. We are planning to install a scale here at HQ this summer and test some of the bikes that come through. It should be quite interesting to see some results.  I'll keep you posted on this.  

--
Paul Adkins
Adventure Cycling Association

[wanderingwheel]

I've had my bike up to about 80lbs.  Coming from a backpacking background it was all too easy to say "another 10lbs on the bike is nothing compared to another 10lbs on my back."  With this in mind, my first trips included the heavy tent, the big sleeping pad, a chair, a full kitchen kit, and anything else I could get my hands on.  Since then I have pared down my load somewhat, more because I didn't want to have so much "stuff" than because it was heavy.

I have also done ultralite week-long trips with a total bike weight of around 30lbs.  While the riding was a little better and I covered more ground, the camping was a lot less fun.  Pick either fast riding or comfortable camping.

Sean

[pmspirito]

Thanks for all of your feed back. I have an Easy Racers EZ-1 aluminum frame recumbent that weighs in at 38 pounds with racks. Camping gear, panniers, bike tools, spare parts, and clothes another 42 pounds.

I agree there is a trade off between going fast and being comfy.  I figure if i don't get a dry warm good nights sleep it just doesn't matter how fast i went all day because i will be miserable in the morning.

When i read travel cycle journals there is not too much specific talk about camping gear.  I have begun following Appalachian Trail hiking journals at www.whiteblaze.com  its very interesting.  Thanks to everyone at Adventure Cycling.

Peter Spirito