What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
PH
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by PH »

Bag drop - Why take the stuff for a full months tour when the conditions are so likely to be different? Plan two lots of kit, take one with you and post the other to a known half way point, send what you don't need back from there. You could even break it down into thirds.
Share - if you're traveling together work out what you can share, both personal and for the bike, repair kits can be weighty maybe a tube each and share everything else.
Clothing - I like to have touring kit that I'm happy to wear on and off the bike, merino stuff is good for this but there's plenty of cheaper alternatives. Layer up, if you're carrying several base layers take ones that fit over each other and mix long and short sleeve, then there's no need for a mid layer. When it gets cold, good windproofs and headgear will make the difference and don't need to be heavy.
Don't try and plan for every possible situation, that's what the credit card is for.
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Sweep
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by Sweep »

al_yrpal wrote:Grow stubble, look cool and save weight :D

Al


How much does the stubble weigh? :)
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maxcherry
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by maxcherry »

Eat all the cakes before you leave :D one thing less to carry :wink:

That tip is free
Honestly chaps, I'm a female!
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foxyrider
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by foxyrider »

I can easily do a CC tour with @ 10 litres of stuff so 20 is luxury! Don't take any toiletries - any decent overnight will have stuff available. I take a rechargeable electric razor - lasts the trip, can be used anywhere, takes little space. Don't overload with clothing 3 sets of bike stuff and 1 for off the bike. Lightweight rain jacket and a light fleece covers a wide range of on off bike warmth scenarios. Washing will generally dry overnight but with 3 sets you can afford to go 2 night's but remember to keep damp stuff separate from dry. I usually wear socks for 2/3 days on tour, they can be rinsed for extra use or dumped and replaced at low cost almost anywhere.

Take lightweight waterproof shoe covers - extra warmth but most important keeps riding footwear dry(er). Lightweight shoes/ sandals for off bike - your feet will appreciate the change.

Zip off trousers, walking t shirts - avoid cotton and nylon. I always split my kit by upper or lower body to make it easier to find stuff.

Always take some toilet paper/wipes - been caught out with a bad stomach once or twice and nothing worse than not getting clean down there and needing to keep riding :?
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
bohrsatom
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by bohrsatom »

Ignore what everyone else said and bring a proper amount of toiletries. Small/travel sized stuff is OK for a couple of days but for a longer tour it's a massive hassle to keep replacing, especially as once you get to your destination you want to be riding, not spending hours hunting down a shop that sells toothpaste in 15ml tubes.

Bring a small but full size tube of toothpaste and some refillable bottles - 100ml or so - one for shower gel, one for shampoo and share them with your friends. Then when you get to a hotel with no toiletries you have something to use, and you can top up your bottles should you stay somewhere that provides them.

Roll on deodorant is good but might not be something you are prepared to share. The compressed-size aerosols are better but not sure how easy they would be to find in America.

Washing powder - the liquid 'travel wash' they sell in Boots is good for handwashing in sinks and it goes pretty far.

Chamois cream - If you can't live without it bring as much as you can! Don't worry about space. Last year we rode for 4 months across Europe and found that much of continental Europe had never heard of chamois cream, especially annoying as we only took a small amount with us expecting to buy more when on the road. We got lots of funny looks in bike shops - the owners mostly told us to try a pharmacy instead! A couple of days of riding with no chamois cream is much worse than a few hundred g extra in your kit.
janetpl
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by janetpl »

Avoid alcohol for at least 2 months before the trip - especially beer
irc
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by irc »

janetpl wrote:Avoid alcohol for at least 2 months before the trip - especially beer


Surely a store of fat built up pre-tour is a prudent precaution?? Tours should be finished at a fighting weight. :-)
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foxyrider
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by foxyrider »

Not used chammy cream since I stopped using real chammies, with proper hygiene there shouldn't be a need for the revolting stuff. However if you do get sore down below i'm reliably informed Sudocrem is very effective - millions of babies swear by the stuff!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
ANTONISH
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by ANTONISH »

I don't see the point of a lot of this advice. You are already stuck with the weight of yourself and the bike and your panniers / saddlebag. What advantage are you going to gain from shedding a few extra items which may add to the enjoyment of the trip?
tatanab
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by tatanab »

ANTONISH wrote:What advantage are you going to gain from shedding a few extra items which may add to the enjoyment of the trip?
For me it is not about weight but bulk. The longest I've been away is 4 weeks, but since that was camping I had to carry toiletries so the toothpaste tubes etc that contain just enough are very handy. I used to take a paperback book, and throw it away when finished. Now I carry a Kindle which is heavier but less bulky, and of course carries a lot more that one book. I put all my travel docs (insurance etc) on it as well. Modern travel and cycle clothing is much more compact than when I started touring 45 years ago, so it is quite easy to pack with a low bulk.
22camels
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by 22camels »

I think some people find massive advantages in this pursuit. How do you know which items will add to your enjoyment and which can be left behind, it's not black and white. Many people start down the route of an extra couple of hundred grams here or there makes no difference, and before they know it they are carting a 30 kilo load. Ok it depends on your preferences, but for some people, going lighter up hills = more fun. So knowing how much everything weighs and choosing multifunctional items is important. There is also the minimalistic living and the organisation that goes with it, per se, as aside from biking/hiking/whatever, which some people enjoy in itself.
pwa
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by pwa »

foxyrider wrote:Not used chammy cream since I stopped using real chammies, with proper hygiene there shouldn't be a need for the revolting stuff. However if you do get sore down below i'm reliably informed Sudocrem is very effective - millions of babies swear by the stuff!


Of course, so called "chammy cream" is not like the stuff of years ago. It used to be a way of softening leather chamois inserts, but those have all but disappeared. Modern pads just need washing. So modern chammy cream is just skin cream. I use it sometimes, for long rides, and I find it helps to prevent skin inflammation. But I have also used Germolene, which was quite effective and comes in small tubes. Sudocrem I found a bit too viscous.
Vorpal
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by Vorpal »

Don't worry too much about it. If you find that you are carrying stuff you don't want to carry, throw it away or post it home. If you find you are short of something, stop and buy it. Most of all, don't let it keep you from enjoying your ride. :mrgreen:
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mnichols
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by mnichols »

ANTONISH wrote:I don't see the point of a lot of this advice. You are already stuck with the weight of yourself and the bike and your panniers / saddlebag. What advantage are you going to gain from shedding a few extra items which may add to the enjoyment of the trip?


The problem is that if you start with that approach you take too much. On my last two week self supported tour my entire luggage including tools, tubes, clothes and panniers weighed 5 kilos, and yet I met people doing similar distances (1200 miles on that occasion) with 4 panniers and a handle bar bag all stuffed to breaking point and struggling up every little climb

I can't see the point of carrying unnecessary weight, so the original question wasn't so much what can I do without, but how can I get rid of unnecessary weight that adds no value. For example, one good piece of advice someone gave me was to take the creams (sun cream, chamois cream, bike grease, etc) out of their packaging and take them in sandwich bags - this saves weight, space and bulk but I'm no worse off for not having the plastic pot

Keep the tips coming :-)
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Sweep
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Re: What's your top weight saving tip for touring?

Post by Sweep »

Am looking forward to this thread being a mix of the supremely practical and the infamous viz handy household tips :)
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