The Wheels of Chance

There have been a few discussions on various cycling forums, of late, about how much gear to carry on tour. So I thought I’d take a leaf from E.O. Wilson’s book and do a bit of touring style taxonomy. So what are my categories? I’m going to go with three; Conventional; Lightweight and Ultralight. To make things simple I’m only going to include set ups with some sort of shelter and sleeping equipment, so credit card touring is out.

Conventional

I’d say that this approach emphasizes comfort off the bike or safety in remote places. Many examples can be found at http://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/fullyloaded. The basic set up usually includes 4 panniers, a handlebar bag and probably something strapped to the top of the rear rack. Gear weights can range from 40lbs upwards. The number of bags, their construction methods and need for sturdy racks contributes a lot to the overall weight as does the choice of traditional camping equipment.

Conventional arrangement

I’m not a fan of this approach for general touring where you’ll be riding on roads between towns or campsites and can expect regular resupply as I feel that the weight of the load takes away from the actual cycling. However, a good argument can be made for the conventional approach when going on expedition tours to remote places like Mongolia. In places like that resupply can be many days ride away so you just have to be more prepared. However, it’s not the only way to go.

A good argument can be made for the conventional approach on expedition tours to places like Mongolia.

Lightweight

I’d categorize this as having a gear weight between 20 and 40lbs, maybe a couple of panniers or a saddlebag and some other lightweight bags. Some effort will have been made to use lightweight camping gear and to cut down on items that are not strictly necessary, but comfort is still a criterion. I’d put my set up into this category.

Henry Kingsman's lightweight approach

Rivendell Rambouillet set up for long distance touring

This is the way I like to tour because I have plenty of comfort in camp, but the bike is not loaded down by a ton of gear so I can still enjoy the cycling. I have a tent, a blow up sleeping pad a sleeping quilt and cooking equipment. I estimate I’m 95% as comfortable in camp as I would be with the conventional approach, but a whole lot happier when I’m actually riding. Here are a couple of more examples using rear panniers

Ultralight

This way of touring is for the hardiest of adventurers and rigorously applies the principles of ultralight camping. So you might be sleeping on bubble wrap or a thin 3/4 length pad, the tent will be replaced with a bivy or a tarp, you’ll have no or minimal cooking equipment and your gear will weigh less than 20lb. Igor Kovse has an excellent over view of this way of touring http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/weight.htm and there’s also a yahoo group at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightbiking/. The bags used are generally made of lightweight nylon and are often just stuff sacks strapped to a rack.

Igor Kovse ultarlight approach

This approach to touring starts to meld with bikepacking and adventure cycling http://adventurecycling.org/features/ultralight.cfm although I’ll never understand how the guys that bikepack can ride with backpacks on. The current trend in this sub-branch of touring is to use frame bags and to strap stuff to the handlbars. Saddlebags tend to be longditudinal rather than transverse so that they don’t get hung up on vegetation.

Off road bikepacking set up

Finally I want to mention the Crane Brothers in this ultralight section as in the 1980s they rode through Central Asia with only 18lbs of gear carried in two panniers. Their story is inspirational and can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20041211045554/http://www.koopmann.lightup.net/crane/

Somewhere in the Gobi