Ultralight touring

[nun]

I'm beginning to plan a ride across the US on the Bikecentennial route. I want to keep weight down to a minimum by carrying ultralight equipment, tent, sleeping bag, cooking pand etc have a total weight of 10 lbs or by just staying in motels along the way. Does anyone have experience and or comments about these two ways to travel.

My other method of reducing weight is to loose some flab before I start, I can easily stand to loose 20 lbs. I have a Bianchi Volpe, is this suitable for such a long ride?

 

[escii_32]

Ultralight -> Here is the easy one, ditch the cooking pot and stove.

Volpe works just fine.

 

[byfred]

I'm beginning to plan a ride across the US on the Bikecentennial route. I want to keep weight down to a minimum by carrying ultralight equipment, tent, sleeping bag, cooking pand etc have a total weight of 10 lbs or by just staying in motels along the way. Does anyone have experience and or comments about these two ways to travel.

My other method of reducing weight is to loose some flab before I start, I can easily stand to loose 20 lbs. I have a Bianchi Volpe, is this suitable for such a long ride?

I don't think you need to take a stove or a cooking pot..........you can eat very healthy from grocery stores by buying cooked chicken, salads, sandwiches, etc. Also, make your rain pants double as "warm" pants and your rain jacket double as a windbreaker..........byfred

 

[EmmCeeBee]

I second (third?) the recommendation to leave cooking gear at home. I rode the western half of the TransAmerica (from Portland to Wyoming, then returned on generally remote roads), and used our camping stove twice. The extra weight simply wasn't justified. We got our share of hot meals in towns, and lived perfectly well on cold sandwich fixin's, bakeries, fruit stands, and creative picnicking (like 'crab louie' in a bag. yum!)

The two times we used the stove were simply to justify the fact that I carried it.... Yes, hot coffee at a morning campsite is nice, but we often got offered boiling water by fellow campers anyway. Just bring one lightweight pot for use over a campfire if it's that important.

When I backpack, I gotta have a stove. When I tour, I can't justify the weight.

-- Mark

 

[williamrobinson]

Read "Ride Across America"*. Leave the cooking gear and anything else you won't use EVERY day. RAA gained a little weight eating at first but lost weight as the accumulated strain of daily riding goals were met. I ENVY YOU. GOOD LUCK.
*Mislayed my copy or I would give you the author's names.

 

[philso]

essentially, everything is a trade-off between enjoying the ride and enjoying when you're not riding. you're the only one who can know what level of comfort you need.

if you have the bucks, you can credit card it and have it both ways.

otherwise, you can bring next to nothing, bring along the proverbial kichten sink, or do something in between.

- if you've gotta have your hot joe first thing in the morning, a titanium cup and a small can of sterno will fill the bill.
- you can get an adequately warm down bag that will only weigh in at between 1 - 2 lbs. they are pricey though. http://www.featheredfriends.com/productlist.aspx?SubCatId=1&CatId=1&selection=0
- you can get a thin, 3/4 length sleeping pad for mere ounces http://www.rei.com/category/4500448.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC
- going for a month or more, you'll want somemore than sleeping under overpasses. for light wight options, check out http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/gear/mega_light.php
and their other light weight tents and shelters. with the megamids, you can actually pitch them over your bike and still have room to stretch. this comes at the expense of not being bug free though. most people opt for a small tent. you can easily find something at around 3 lbs or so. check out rei.
- one place i don't skimp on when touring is tools. a little multi-tool and a patch kit will not fill the bill unless you are unusually lucky or are going supported.
- as byfred suggests, making things do double duty saves lots of weight. another example; go with a 3/4 length pad and use your jacket under your feet.
in spite of what the copy says, the volpe is more of a light tourer but should probably do fine enough. starting off with a new bb cassette, chainrings, chain and rear cassette might be good preventive medicine

 

[biodiesel]

I've toured on that load before and it's not easy but doable.
First cut the weight of your bags and gear. A pair of panniers themselves add several pounds, you can't do without bags but work on keeping it light. Forget a trunk bag that weighs five pounds (no topeaks) Ride with small, streamlined panniers.

I'll differ on the stove. A Jet boil with fuel and a titan spork will make hot coffee, hot chocolate, boil water for noodles or pastas etc. I used one fuel cannister a week and it was my favorite piece of gear.

The biggest weight i see in most people's kits is the tent. Trying to lightweight a 5 lb tent is huge. I bivy'd at 12 oz but that was uncomfortable rough sleeping. Look at a 1 person ultralight and start trying to lighten it. Just travel with the fly and groundsheet, swap the guylines for thin floss or superlight strong string and then swap heavy stakes for thin aluminum ones. A tarp tent or lightweight should be 2-3 lbs max. Ideally your tent and sleeping bag should be about 5-6 lbs.
Of course if you plan on credit carding with rare camping just pack a bag and a sil-tarp. Tie one end of the tarp to a picnic table or trees, the other end to your bike, and guy-line from the bike to ground so it dosn't blow over onto your head. Kinda like sleeping under your horse, except the bike dosn't pss all over you when it gets nervous. (Never sleep under a horse.)

10-15 lbs is a good weight. Keep the gear about 10 lbs ish and be able to add 5 pounds of food, water and sundries like soap and TP etc...

Nice to be able to dance up the hills when the other tourers are dogging it.

 

[Nick H.]

Nice to be able to dance up the hills when the other tourers are dogging it.

Exactly! Ultralight is the way to go. Here are my tips:

- no panniers or barbag, they cause too much drag. Use a big tailpack like the Carradice SQR Tour and a frame bag - Jandd make a nice one. Damn ugly, but who wants to lose 1 mph all day for no good reason?

- cut down on your cycling clothes. You only need one jersey and 2 pairs of shorts, plus a warm jacket, leg warmers, bootees, one pair of socks and a rain jacket. Rinse all your clothes by wearing them in the shower every evening. Wrap them in a towel to wring them out. They will all dry overmight, with the possible exception of the chamois in your shorts - that's why you need 2 pairs.

- shrink your toiletries and stuff by buying sample sizes.

- a stove is OK if you just have one titanium saucepan and a pocket army cooker with hexamine fuel blocks.

- I tried a bivvy bag and a tarp but I didn't like it much. So how about the Topeak Bikamper tent? It uses your bike instead of poles. It weighs 3 lbs 9 oz. You could almost halve the weight by leaving the flysheet at home if you don't plan on camping in the rain.

- if you don't want to wear cycling shoes off the bike, take some Tevas. They weigh nothing and can live on the outside of your tail pack.

Any racing bike is fine with such a small load. It just has to be reliable with a nicely adjusted riding position and a decent saddle.

You can ride all day in the rain without mudguards if you have a tailpack to keep the spray off your back and some waterproof overshoes.

 

[philso]

nick - i want to wish you the best of luck. however, after having only a very brief look at your bike, i think you're overestimating it's ability to stand up to the rigours you'll be putting it through and looks unrepairable in about 4/5 of the places you'll be heading, at least not without getting a lift to a big city and having to order parts. the rims look especially vulnerable.

i'll read a bit more of your site when i have some time.

good luck again

 

[Nick H.]

Well, lots of pros choose to use (and pay for) these wheels because they're regarded as bulletproof. Unlike other carbon rims, these ones just don't crack when you ride through a pothole. The wheels are also virtually maintenance free - the spokes are incapable of going out of true. Erik Zabel has had his for 3 years and the only maintenance they've had is adjustment of the bearings.

Have a look at my post about my route and you'll see that I hope to be on paved roads for the whole trip. Barring a big accident, I'm really hoping that no part of the bike will break. I'm going to switch the carbon bars for alloy ones - carbon bars were a mistake because they could snap even in a moderate accident. Which parts do you think are vulnerable? I have total confidence in the frame, forks, saddle and seatpost. The thing I'm most worried about is the mounting bracket for the tailpack, which will be carrying more weight than the maker says it should. Everything else ought to be able to survive 18,000 road miles - and then some..

 

[philso]

Well, lots of pros choose to use (and pay for) these wheels because they're regarded as bulletproof. Unlike other carbon rims, these ones just don't crack when you ride through a pothole. The wheels are also virtually maintenance free - the spokes are incapable of going out of true. Erik Zabel has had his for 3 years and the only maintenance they've had is adjustment of the bearings.

Have a look at my post about my route and you'll see that I hope to be on paved roads for the whole trip. Barring a big accident, I'm really hoping that no part of the bike will break. I'm going to switch the carbon bars for alloy ones - carbon bars were a mistake because they could snap even in a moderate accident. Which parts do you think are vulnerable? I have total confidence in the frame, forks, saddle and seatpost. The thing I'm most worried about is the mounting bracket for the tailpack, which will be carrying more weight than the maker says it should. Everything else ought to be able to survive 18,000 road miles - and then some..

first off, sorry nun to use your thread for nick h.

nick - up front, let me admit that i don't have the technical data on carbon strength, fatigue resistance, etc. neither do i have anymore experience riding one other than taking a friend's out for a spin, so you're personal experience quite possibly outweighs what i'm about to say. in no particular order:

one thing is that you mention stuffing that rear bag full and strapping camping gear on the outside. even ultralight, it sounds like a lot of weight, unless you you mean a 1 lb. bag, 6 oz. pad and an 8oz. siltarp. if you're planning to usually find accomodations and only fall back on these on occasion, all well and fine. but if you're planning on such a set up daily, i know from personal long distance hiking, that it becomes psychologically challenging after a week or so. (well, the up-side is that, because of the constant exposure, you find yourself getting up and moving as early as possible and putting off stopping for the night as long as possible also, which makes for covering a lot of ground.) if you're planning on using a tent and maybe cooking gear, etc., i really wonder if that bag will hold up. a traditional rear rack would inspire more confidence, but i don't see that you have any braze-ons for mounting.

so... if you're going to be carrying any appreciable weight on the rear, the small number of spokes on your rims would also appear to be a weak spot, in spite of the structurally strong cross-section design. what things can handle from time to time with only the rider's weight can be quite different from what they can handle on a daily basis for months, and with "x" number of pounds centered over the rear and can't "post" when it sees a pot hole coming up.

my longest tour ever was about 2 months, of which about 3 weeks or so were spent riding in mexico. all kinds of things can (will?) happen. it's quite different from a week-end jaunt. washed out sections of roads, deep gravel instead of paved shoulders , big trucks on small roads forcing you onto non-existent shoulders, to mention only a few from personal experience. a bent derailleur hanger, having some of your strapped on camping gear get caught up in your spokes or something of that magnitude is not unlikely in a trip of the length you're planning. how would something like that affect your attempt?

i guess what i'm saying is that i personally wouldn't decide for the milage gained by a titanium/carbon bike over the many more miles lost when something goes wrong.

while i may not be that much of a gambler though, i can understand that in making record attempts, a gamble that pays off may be the only way to go.

best of luck!

 

[nun]

first off, sorry nun to use your thread for nick h.

nick - up front, let me admit that i don't have the technical data on carbon strength, fatigue resistance, etc. neither do i have anymore experience riding one other than taking a friend's out for a spin, so you're personal experience quite possibly outweighs what i'm about to say. in no particular order:

one thing is that you mention stuffing that rear bag full and strapping camping gear on the outside. even ultralight, it sounds like a lot of weight, unless you you mean a 1 lb. bag, 6 oz. pad and an 8oz. siltarp. if you're planning to usually find accomodations and only fall back on these on occasion, all well and fine. but if you're planning on such a set up daily, i know from personal long distance hiking, that it becomes psychologically challenging after a week or so. (well, the up-side is that, because of the constant exposure, you find yourself getting up and moving as early as possible and putting off stopping for the night as long as possible also, which makes for covering a lot of ground.) if you're planning on using a tent and maybe cooking gear, etc., i really wonder if that bag will hold up. a traditional rear rack would inspire more confidence, but i don't see that you have any braze-ons for mounting.

so... if you're going to be carrying any appreciable weight on the rear, the small number of spokes on your rims would also appear to be a weak spot, in spite of the structurally strong cross-section design. what things can handle from time to time with only the rider's weight can be quite different from what they can handle on a daily basis for months, and with "x" number of pounds centered over the rear and can't "post" when it sees a pot hole coming up.

my longest tour ever was about 2 months, of which about 3 weeks or so were spent riding in mexico. all kinds of things can (will?) happen. it's quite different from a week-end jaunt. washed out sections of roads, deep gravel instead of paved shoulders , big trucks on small roads forcing you onto non-existent shoulders, to mention only a few from personal experience. a bent derailleur hanger, having some of your strapped on camping gear get caught up in your spokes or something of that magnitude is not unlikely in a trip of the length you're planning. how would something like that affect your attempt?

i guess what i'm saying is that i personally wouldn't decide for the milage gained by a titanium/carbon bike over the many more miles lost when something goes wrong.

while i may not be that much of a gambler though, i can understand that in making record attempts, a gamble that pays off may be the only way to go.

best of luck!

No apologies required the thread is now more interesting that when I started it. I've just looked at Nick H. bike and I agree that there are some potential issues. I like the "less is more attitude" regarding the bike and amount carried, but Nick may be taking it to extremes. I think the frame is probably ok but the wheels look to have way too few spokes. I'd ditch all the carbon and go with something less exotic like Open Pros. Also the gearing seems a bit high for all the climbing. I don't know how good a cyclist Nick H is and he is carrying less than just about every other tourist I've seen, but I'd get a 32 sprocket on the back.

I'm getting a new bike that will be very traditional and I'm choosing parts that are easily available anywhere, so basically its steel with Shimano on it. Gears will be 46-36-26, 11-32 on the back. I'm even thinking of going with a double chain ring at the front 36-26 to reduce a bit of weight as on a tour I have no need to pedal above 25 mph.

I like Nick's use of Carradice, it works well and I've looked at the weight of their bags vs bags using more modern materials and there's not much difference. I can live out of a Longflap Camper indefinitely as long as I stay in motels.

I think the most extreme I've seen is a website (that I carn't find now) that has pictures from a cross country trip on a single speed. Of course that's how everyone used to ride before all these gears.

 

[philso]

I'm getting a new bike that will be very traditional and I'm choosing parts that are easily available anywhere, so basically its steel with Shimano on it. Gears will be 46-36-26, 11-32 on the back. I'm even thinking of going with a double chain ring at the front 36-26 to reduce a bit of weight as on a tour I have no need to pedal above 25 mph.

nun - if i recall, you're planning on going from west to east, right? in that case, i think you'd be doing yourself a disservice going to a double up front. sure you've got plenty of hills to climb, but you've also got a thousand or so (give or take) across the plains of pretty much flat open road where the wind will mostly be at your back. (i think the prevailing winds are from the west or northwest, but maybe someone from around there can correct me or you can check a weather chart) even with the 11t in the rear, i think you'll find yourself wishing for 52t or so up front too. i'd say keep your gearing options more open.

 

[nun]

nun - if i recall, you're planning on going from west to east, right? in that case, i think you'd be doing yourself a disservice going to a double up front. sure you've got plenty of hills to climb, but you've also got a thousand or so (give or take) across the plains of pretty much flat open road where the wind will mostly be at your back. (i think the prevailing winds are from the west or northwest, but maybe someone from around there can correct me or you can check a weather chart) even with the 11t in the rear, i think you'll find yourself wishing for 52t or so up front too. i'd say keep your gearing options more open.

I'm not sure I'd ever use a 52t except going downhill, and to be honest I generally coast. My top speed on the flat is 25 mph and that's pretty rare. A good pace for me is 18 mph and I'm comfortable doing that on 36t and 11t
at around 70 rpm. My approach to touring is to enjoy the scenery and take it easy. I'll probably go with the triple 46-36-26, but I doubt I'll spend too much time on the 46.

 

[Nick H.]

Hi guys.

I'm not concerned about my wheels because, to be fair to the guys at Lightweight, their spokes are just not comparable to regular spokes. They claim on their site that their 12 spoke wheel is stiffer than a normal 32 spoker - and I believe them. Have a look at carbonsports.com. (By the way, my web pages don't have pics of my bike with the Lightweights on yet - the ones in the pics are Rolf Primas).

As for gearing, I have a 26 tooth ring tucked in there behind the 53 and the 39 - so my bottom gear is 26 x 27 which is surely a granny gear, fit for climbing the side of a house! On my last bike I toured with 39 x 26 but I heaved myself up a few Alps and Pyrenees. The nearest I came to walking was on crazy 20% stretches in places like Seattle and San Francisco - but my 26 x 27 should be adequate even for San Francisco's 30% gradients, don't you think? Plus, the Rotor Cranks lower the gearing by a significant amount at the hardest part of the pedal stroke.

But my views of what gear is really low enough are very much coloured by the fact that I never carry a heavy load. Even if you have 26 x 32, dragging 65 lbs of baggage over a big mountain is never any fun. If you can cut the baggage right down it transforms the whole experience. It's also very liberating psychologically - fewer possessions seems to take the weight off one's shoulders in more ways than one.

I thought of another baggage-shrinking tip last night - no sleeping bag! On warm nights, just use a silk sleeping bag liner. If it gets a bit cooler, put on your warm cycling clothes and use a space blanket for insulation. And on REALLY cold nights, go to a hotel , or stay at home. (N.B. I only tour in the summer!)

 

[nun]

Hi guys.

I'm not concerned about my wheels because, to be fair to the guys at Lightweight, their spokes are just not comparable to regular spokes. They claim on their site that their 12 spoke wheel is stiffer than a normal 32 spoker - and I believe them. Have a look at carbonsports.com. (By the way, my web pages don't have pics of my bike with the Lightweights on yet - the ones in the pics are Rolf Primas).

As for gearing, I have a 26 tooth ring tucked in there behind the 53 and the 39 - so my bottom gear is 26 x 27 which is surely a granny gear, fit for climbing the side of a house! On my last bike I toured with 39 x 26 but I heaved myself up a few Alps and Pyrenees. The nearest I came to walking was on crazy 20% stretches in places like Seattle and San Francisco - but my 26 x 27 should be adequate even for San Francisco's 30% gradients, don't you think? Plus, the Rotor Cranks lower the gearing by a significant amount at the hardest part of the pedal stroke.

But my views of what gear is really low enough are very much coloured by the fact that I never carry a heavy load. Even if you have 26 x 32, dragging 65 lbs of baggage over a big mountain is never any fun. If you can cut the baggage right down it transforms the whole experience. It's also very liberating psychologically - fewer possessions seems to take the weight off one's shoulders in more ways than one.

I thought of another baggage-shrinking tip last night - no sleeping bag! On warm nights, just use a silk sleeping bag liner. If it gets a bit cooler, put on your warm cycling clothes and use a space blanket for insulation. And on REALLY cold nights, go to a hotel , or stay at home. (N.B. I only tour in the summer!)

Nick,
Remember that there will be times in the western US when you won't be able to get to a hotel. I'm all for lightweight, but safety also needs to be considered. Even in the summer it can get really cold in the mountains.

My issue with your wheels is not how strong they are, but the possibility of catastrophic failure (however remote). With Al rims you can carry spare spokes and if you bend a rim you can probably bang it back into shape and ride to a bike shop. I think a tourer should be strong and supple not super rigid, so steel, Al and with readily available components.

Gears are very personal and you do have low gearing for a normal road bike or light tourer so I'm sure you'll be able to spin through the Rockies.

 

[craigeckhoff]

Well then I guess it's time to post. I bike about 10,000 miles a year, say about 7 or 8 monthes out of 12. My line of work in the frozen north where winter lasts 6 monthes plus the rainy monthes. If you want to go ultra light take a change of underware and socks plus a dozen credit cards. As for me, average 40 lbs of gear including tools and cookware. I've gotten to reduce it to 25 lbs this past year as I replace worn out stuff with the new lighter stuff. Of course I am self contained and stealth camp as I ride till nightfall. About once a week I check into a hotel for clean up, laundry, repairs, and cable tv. A typical trip may be south from MN to TX then east to FL.

 

[nun]

Well then I guess it's time to post. I bike about 10,000 miles a year, say about 7 or 8 monthes out of 12. My line of work in the frozen north where winter lasts 6 monthes plus the rainy monthes. If you want to go ultra light take a change of underware and socks plus a dozen credit cards. As for me, average 40 lbs of gear including tools and cookware. I've gotten to reduce it to 25 lbs this past year as I replace worn out stuff with the new lighter stuff. Of course I am self contained and stealth camp as I ride till nightfall. About once a week I check into a hotel for clean up, laundry, repairs, and cable tv. A typical trip may be south from MN to TX then east to FL.

I'd be interested to hear a bit more about your gear and bike recommendations as you obviously have a great deal of experience. The last time I went loaded touring was back in the UK about 20 years ago. The equipment was a bit heavier then, but I went with a group of friends so we shared the load. From all of my research riding in the US is very different from Europe because of the greater distances between towns and the low population density in many places. My approach to touring the US is to do it as much by credit card as possible as at 44 I need a warm shower and a comfortable bed after a days ride . There will be times when distances and my endurance will require me to camp so I'll take enough gear to get me through a couple of cold wet nights - probably a tarptent and a 3 season sleeping bag. As I plan to keep the kit to around 30lbs I want to use an audux/randonneur style bike rather than a really long wheel base tourer.

 

[philso]

well, i guess this is turning into nick's thread. maybe at some point he can start his own thread on this board. in the meanwhile...

nick - your carbon fiber rims and spokes are perfect for the world of racing, where they 1) deliver somewhat more energy to the tire and 2) reduce drag by needing fewer spokes.

unfortunately, i think you are confusing rigidity (or stiffness) with strength. the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other. to provide a couple of examples: in the world of climbing there are 2 types of ropes: static and dynamic. while you can hang a car off of either one, static ropes can support larger loads (are stronger) than dynamic ropes given similar construction. however, they are only used in raising or lowering operations. no one actually climbs using them, because they snap relatively easily under the sudden stress of a fall. dynamic ropes are actually "stronger" because they stretch, absorbing much of the impact. someone who didn't know what they were doing and only looked at strength specs, would probably choose the wrong rope and end up in big trouble (hospitalized or dead).

one more example: consider plaster of paris. amazingly stiff stuff. strong???

i think you've bought in to the advertisement copy about stiffness and not needing to maintain or repair them but may have missed the smaller print at the bottom of the page, where they talk about the embedded magnetic chips to provide better customer support and (cough,cough) "repair service".

if they're indestructable, why need a repair service at all? the fact is that they are well designed for racing but will never survive a significant crash. what you are intending to use are the "static ropes" of the bicycle wheel world.

as has been said before, simple aluminum rims with steel spokes will: prevent damage or considerably lessen damage in the first place and; allow you to get back on the road in relatively no time at all in most cases with only a spare spoke or two, spoke wrench and perhaps a little brute force.

about your milage:

- i noticed on your homepage that the current record was set by someone doing about 60 miles (100 k's) per day. why do you feel you need to do 150+ miles per day? tour de france riders don't come anywhere near that daily milage, and they only ride for 3 weeks, not 3 months. totally unrealistic even for riders like lance armstrong, pettachi, etc.

however, 100 miles per day average is well within reason. especially with long summertime daylight hours. i've topped 100 miles per day average for over 2 months easily. most days i did over 120. go a piddling 10 miles per hour and put 10 or 12 hours of saddletime in,and there you are. of course, i was a skinny 18 year old at the time. these days at 50, my tours seldom last much longer than a week or 10 days. still, 100 per day with a full load of camping gear is no problem at all for that length of time, even during short winter days.
- rest days: well, this is really a personal call that no one is qualified to call except yourself. but, i think a day off after 4 days riding sounds not only unnecessary, but more like a luxury vacation than a world record attempt. of course if you're determined to maintain an average of nearly 160 miles per day, especially at the beginning of the trip until you get into shape(what's your training regimen like?) and towards the end when your physical & mental reserves are depleted you might find you need check into a hospital every 5th day instead of a hotel.

-it was mentioned on your homepage that this attempt was much closer to the raam than a tour. not at all. the raam is a race where the 1st person there wins, so they deny themselves sleep and break time about as much as humanly possible. after a bit over a week to a week and a half, they are woobley on they're feet, and frequently need help off or back on their bikes. there's absolutely no reason for you not to get a perfectly restful sleep each night and take several fairly long breaks each day.

- you mentioned not being too good at bicycle repair work and i got the impression that you're not bringing much along in the line of tools, so i guess you're pretty confident at getting on your cell phone and using your conversational spanish, turkish or arabic to find a bike shop that can help you out if you should break down somewhere.

- i know you're bringing along both a credit card and some camping gear, but it all sounds a bit fuzzy and maybe not quite thought through yet. do you actually have a complete list of what you're bringing along and how much these items each weigh?

- i would hope that the fact that pretty much everyone who has done long tours before is giving you pretty much the same advice about what kind of frame and components will work best would start bells ringing. the bike shop where you've already spent what amounts to a second mortgage on your house and the wheel manufacturer who's wheels cost more than a very fine bike obviously have a vested interest in nay saying the the people with experience.

 

[craigeckhoff]

If you choose credit card touring with minimum weight, tour the Eastern half of the U.S.A. Towns are much closer. If you tour only states bordering the Atlantic Ocean (ie: South Carolina) any town is within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of another town (or closer). I tour with a now 12 year old modified mountain bike. No shocks, made of CroMolly (a steel alloy), with 1.5 inch (32? mm) width tires. If you are worried about being stuck in cold weather, heres a suggestion. I carry a tent, tarp, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and blanket, all in a compression style bag. All bought at giant discount malls which are every few miles apart in the US
it seems. Total cost was less than $120, total weight 12 lbs (5 kilos). YOU MUST HAVE A REALLY STRONG BIKE LOCK SYSTEM. Good Americans are very good, and, unfortunately, bad Americans are very bad. I carry a 4 foot log chain with a massive padlock, and never leave my bike unlocked even for a minute. I also spray painted my rather expensive bike badly with a ugly color. Looks at first glance like yard sale junk.