Re: Rocky Mountains
Steve Fuller <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.recreation.bicycle.touring.phred |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
On Feb 10, 2011, at 12:10 PM, Wayne Estes wrote: > Steve Fuller wrote: > > There's definitely a huge difference in riding on road vs off road with a lot of weight. Two years ago I took a couple of long rides on gravel/sand roads with two small panniers, a tent and a sleeping bag and they were both a ton of work. Last summer I spent 3 days riding across pavement, gravel, single track and grass two track in Wisconsin with what I considered (at the time) a light load (18 lbs of gear split between a backpack, a dry sack and a frame bag). > > Wayne replies: > > If your unloaded bike+body weighs more than 180 pounds, 18 pounds of cargo adds less than 10% to the total weight. That's not a huge difference to me. > > If your bike isn't designed for touring and the cargo is behind the rear axle, adding 18 pounds might make a huge difference in the handling characteristics. I can tell you that my bike and I combined were well over 180 lbs, Probably pushing 235, 200 me and 35 of bike. 18 lbs of gear wasn't really that noticeable to me on that trip, due to how it was setting on me and the bike. If I had 50 lbs of gear on that ride, I would have definitely felt it. A photo of my bike and gear for the Wisconsin trip is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenbiking/4707089685/in/set-72157624291217792/ Steve