The old ‘weight’ chestnut!

[Ming the Merciless]

No, son no. 2's got international racing and we're in France. I'm hoping to ride PBP next year though.

What about yourself?

Yes LEL this year. PBP we will see how LEL goes. But I’ll have a 400 BRM as a PBP pre qualifier if LEL goes to pot. Likely ride to Rambouillet again if I qualify and do PBP. Likely two days from Dieppe as that makes it more of a holiday with the local cider and long lunches on way down and back.

 

[chriswoody]

It's popular old topic, looking at other riders touring set ups, as well as weight, there's a couple of threads here:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/loaded-cycles.277253/

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lightweight-touring-kit.276481/

Personally, I'm a bit of an anti social git and I love an adventure as well, so my tours are roughly 80% off-road and as far from humans contact as I can make it. Given that, I like to pack light so that my bike will handle fine off road as well as being light enough to easily lift over the invariable trees and other obstacles I often encounter. I don't go full masochistic mode though and saw my toothbrush in half or carry half a sleeping mat, I'm happy to carry a few extra grams here and there in order to have a modicum of comfort.

Here's a picture from a tour last year in Brandenburg:

The bag on the front fork is the cooker, gas, mug and a few other sundries for cooking. 920 grams all told.

The other fork leg carries a one litre water bottle and there's two half litre bottles in the frame as well as a little in the water filter under the bungees in the rear. Water is scarce in the region I was in and as such, it was prudent to carry as much as possible.

The front roll is my tent, (Alpkit Soloist), sleep mat, inflatable pillow. 2.1 kilos including bag.

Rear bag is for clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner as well as sundry bits like wash kit, poo trowel, etc. The heaviest at 2.7 kilos including bag.

The frame bag is mostly food, power bank and a small ultralight rucksack for shopping trips. I've not weighed this one, but it won't be much.

The top bag is a small 1 litre bag with flapjacks, sunglasses and suncream.

Under the down tube is the tool caddy with hopefully everything I need.

Roughly 7 kilos of equipment, including bags, the bike is about 12 kilos (Lardy steel framed adventure bike!). I could get the weight down further, but I'm happy with that.

 

[Scotchlovingcylist]

@chriswoody Interesred to know how you get on with the soloist, I've bought one for some trips this year. Seems great from a test pitch.

 

[chriswoody]

@chriswoody Interesred to know how you get on with the soloist, I've bought one for some trips this year. Seems great from a test pitch.

The Soloist has been an interesting tent, it certainly well constructed and is the perfect size and weight for me. The height of it means getting dressed in the morning is not the contortionist act that it can be in some tents, it's still a bit on the narrow side. As can be seen above, I don't carry much in the way of luggage with me, which is a blessing with the Alpkit, as there is precious little room to store stuff over night, but then it is a one person tent.

A couple of downsides though, the first is a minor gripe and that's the pegs, I really hate the design of the pegs, trying to get them into anything other than soft ground is a painful experience and I need to fold up some clothing to put between my hand and the top of the peg.

The other gripe is the front door design of the flysheet and inner tent. It's really steep and narrow, so on mornings where there is dew on the fly, you end up getting a cold shower getting out of it. Even worse, if it's raining, then the design means the end of the inner tent is exposed to the elements and anything in the front half of the inner ends up getting really wet. There is also zero opportunity to brew up in the porch in bad weather (I know you shouldn't do it anyway, but it is possible on other designs to minimise the risk).

Overall though, at a third of the cost of other suitable tents, it's a bargain and I've had a number of really good nights out in it and looking at how it's stood up to the use it's had so far, it should last me many years yet.

 

[Scotchlovingcylist]

Good review and mirrors my thoughts along with what I've seen online.
Agreed the price of it at that weight point was the main selling point for me

 

[rivers]

All in, this weighs about 16kg- 8kg for the bike, 8kg for the luggage. But I'm only ever away for 5 days, so I don't need to take much. I have a sleeping mat,summer sleeping bag and an alpkit elan as my sleep system. One change of bike clothes, one set of off bike clothes, pj's, a cooking kit, enough food for a day as I'm never so remote I can't buy for the next day enroute. My set-up for this summer may come in around 18kgs as I'll be a bit more remote than my normal trips at times, so will have extra food and water.

 

[Sallar55]

All depends how long away for, weather extremes and if camping or not. This tour I can't lift the bike as we packed for the mountains (Picos) and back up thro France. Summer and winter cycling gear. 😂

 

[HobbesOnTour]

On this topic something crossed my mind today.....
It's often said (mainly on Feckbook) that a 1X system is superior to a 3X system because it is less weight.
Has anyone ever done the calculations or actually converted a triple to a single?
Looking at the mass of those single cassettes the saving can't be much can it?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Has anyone ever done the calculations or actually converted a triple to a single?

Yes , it comes down purely to the weight of the front derailleur, which is between 100 - 150g depending on which one you have. If you use down tube or bar end shifters there’s no difference. Weight should not be a large factor in consideration of 1X.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Weight should not be a large factor in consideration of 1X.

That's what my very unscientific brain was thinking. Thanks!

The obvious follow on then is the cost. What excess is someone paying to save the weight of a front derailleur?

 

[mudsticks]

Hi all,
I know it’s the inevitable question to ask, and no doubt gets asked a lot when anyone sees a loaded bike but ………… I’m genuinely interested. Being fairly new to the whole bikepacking/touring (I have a bit of a hybrid set up) I’m interested in what your ’rig’ weighs. Loads of variables I know, but, I’m away for a couple of nights completely self sufficient camping tomorrow and being a bit nerdy, I’ve just weighed my bike. ‘Naked’ bike is just over 10kg and fully loaded with food & water etc is 23kg which I thought was pretty reasonable?
I know it weighs what it weighs etc etc but I’ve shown you mine, how about you show me yours😀

That sounds very reasonable.

Personally

My bike 11kg

Me about 76kg.??


My luggage including tent sleeping bag mat stove clothes food water, the bags to carry it in, and all other 'stuff' is about 14 kg all told.

I use mostly the same kit for touring, as backpacking, so weight is a thing I consider
.
But I could go on indefinitely with that kit..
..
If time allowed.. 🤔

I usually tour in hilly places, and I find inclines are steep enough without pushing extra weight up hill .

Hope you enjoyed / are enjoying your trip. 👍🏼

 

[chriswoody]

On this topic something crossed my mind today.....
It's often said (mainly on Feckbook) that a 1X system is superior to a 3X system because it is less weight.
Has anyone ever done the calculations or actually converted a triple to a single?
Looking at the mass of those single cassettes the saving can't be much can it?

This comes up often and to be honest, whilst I couldn't really give a monkeys about the weight of my drivetrain, it did get me thinking. I have most of a 3 x 9 groupset downstairs off of an old bike and I have some spare 1x drivetrain parts lying around waiting to go on my Kona. So whilst the wife is out and I can put oily parts on the kitchen scales without getting caught, in the name of science and morbid curiosity lets get weighing!

Cassette 9 Speed - 335g as opposed to 11 speed cassette - 398 grams. (This is the base model, steel 10 - 42 SRAM cassette, so not a weight weenie)
Chain 9 speed - 292g, Chain 11 speed 263g.
Crankset - Triple crankset (Hollowtech 2 Deore LX) 1190g. Single Chainring crankset (Race Face Aeffect 652g)
Now for the components that only feature on a 3x :

Front gear cable 35g
Front Shifter 38g (The difference in official weight between a SRAM 1x Rival Brifter versus 2x Rival Brifter)
Front Mech 135g.

OK, some of that may be a little off, but not by much. I've also compared a 3 x 9 using a Hollowtech BB, because my 1 x system also uses a Hollowtech bottom bracket, so this is the same for both drivetrains. A square taper crankset/bottom bracket will be different.

So all up drivetrain weight for a 3 x 9 is 2025g versus 1313g for a 1x system, so 712 grams lighter for the one by. This isn't even an expensive lightweight 1 x system either, I must admit I was really surprised how little difference there was between my cassette weight and the 9 speed cassette.

As stated above though, for me the attraction of 1x doesn't lie in the weight differences, rather a couple of other factors. Firstly with the frame I have, a front derailleur would restrict the width of tires I could use and my preferred 47mm wide tires wouldn't fit without fouling the derailleur cage. Secondly, the off-road terrain I ride is constantly changing from sand, to gravel to dirt, requiring a lot of gear changing to keep any kind of momentum. Having ridden a 3 x 9 for a year, then switching to a 1 x 11, I find the 1x so much easier to use on this terrain because I don't have a front chainring to worry about.

One last thing, cost. Yes I know 11 and 12 speed cassette are exorbitant, but consider this, I spent 90 Euros on a replacement cassette, yet the old one is 6 years old and done thousands of kilometres off-road year round and has had an incredibly hard life ,yet the durability is amazing. There are other drawbacks to 1 x on gravel bikes, but that's enough thread drift for now, so let's leave it there.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

That's what my very unscientific brain was thinking. Thanks!

The obvious follow on then is the cost. What excess is someone paying to save the weight of a front derailleur?

If you’re sticking with 3 x 9, it’s a lot cheaper

 

[Ming the Merciless]

This comes up often and to be honest, whilst I couldn't really give a monkeys about the weight of my drivetrain, it did get me thinking. I have most of a 3 x 9 groupset downstairs off of an old bike and I have some spare 1x drivetrain parts lying around waiting to go on my Kona. So whilst the wife is out and I can put oily parts on the kitchen scales without getting caught, in the name of science and morbid curiosity lets get weighing!

Cassette 9 Speed - 335g as opposed to 11 speed cassette - 398 grams. (This is the base model, steel 10 - 42 SRAM cassette, so not a weight weenie)
Chain 9 speed - 292g, Chain 11 speed 263g.
Crankset - Triple crankset (Hollowtech 2 Deore LX) 1190g. Single Chainring crankset (Race Face Aeffect 652g)
Now for the components that only feature on a 3x :

Front gear cable 35g
Front Shifter 38g (The difference in official weight between a SRAM 1x Rival Brifter versus 2x Rival Brifter)
Front Mech 135g.

OK, some of that may be a little off, but not by much. I've also compared a 3 x 9 using a Hollowtech BB, because my 1 x system also uses a Hollowtech bottom bracket, so this is the same for both drivetrains. A square taper crankset/bottom bracket will be different.

So all up drivetrain weight for a 3 x 9 is 2025g versus 1313g for a 1x system, so 712 grams lighter for the one by. This isn't even an expensive lightweight 1 x system either, I must admit I was really surprised how little difference there was between my cassette weight and the 9 speed cassette.

As stated above though, for me the attraction of 1x doesn't lie in the weight differences, rather a couple of other factors. Firstly with the frame I have, a front derailleur would restrict the width of tires I could use and my preferred 47mm wide tires wouldn't fit without fouling the derailleur cage. Secondly, the off-road terrain I ride is constantly changing from sand, to gravel to dirt, requiring a lot of gear changing to keep any kind of momentum. Having ridden a 3 x 9 for a year, then switching to a 1 x 11, I find the 1x so much easier to use on this terrain because I don't have a front chainring to worry about.

One last thing, cost. Yes I know 11 and 12 speed cassette are exorbitant, but consider this, I spent 90 Euros on a replacement cassette, yet the old one is 6 years old and done thousands of kilometres off-road year round and has had an incredibly hard life ,yet the durability is amazing. There are other drawbacks to 1 x on gravel bikes, but that's enough thread drift for now, so let's leave it there.

And yet other Shimano triple cranksets are 650-670g which just shows how variable this is. The vast majority of weight of a crank is the spider and arms. The middle and granny rings comes to 70g which is nothing.

 

[Petrichorwheels]

If you’re sticking with 3 x 9, it’s a lot cheaper

call me a luddite but I reckon it's all you need for the majority of cycling - not racing. All very bodgeable as well particularly if using flatbars.