Emily "Sixteen, err, pounds, and whaddaya get?" O'Brien
>
> I'm curious: What do people's various rigs weigh in at?
My Bob Jackson in post-weekend-joyride configuration (empty bottles,
Carradice Nelson saddlebag with tools, spares, rainjacket, fenders,
lights and rear rack) comes in at 40lb (18kg) exactly. In full dress
1200k configuration, with handlebar bag, three full bottles, fenders,
lights, rear rack, Carradice Longflap Camper with tools, spares, full
rain gear (jacket and pants), and emergency rations, it probably
comes close to 50lb (23kg). When I rode it across the US in 2001,
with a full set of front and rear panniers and camping gear, it was
over 100lbs (45kg).
> Meaning that with two bottles and a longer-distance loading it
> would go over 40.
Weight weenie.
Chip
--
Charles M. Coldwell, W1CMC
"Turn on, log in, tune out"
Somerville, Massachusetts, New England (FN42kj)
GPG ID: 852E052F
GPG FPR: 77E5 2B51 4907 F08A 7E92 DE80 AFA9 9A8F 852E 052F
> I'm simply curious how that compares to others' rigs.
>
Around 45lbs from what I can tell. I carry lots of food in my pockets
but I would be surprised if that added more then 1/2 a pound at the start.
According to BQ I could go a whole lot faster if I cut some of the fat
from the bike, though the heavy things are hard to loose and keep the
same level of comfort and convenience.
I've considered going without water bottles. Not only would the bike be
much lighter, I'd be much faster as I raced to the next control to get a
drink.
Jake
Somehow, despite all the extra gear, I had one of my fastest times on
the 600 km due to the favorable tailwinds on Sunday. IIt could have
been that I am in decent shape (1,900 km in brevets in 15 days) but it
is really hard to tell.
If I had not been prepared for the worst, I would have been many of
the people who would have not attempted the ride. I have read that
over 50% of the challenge with brevets is getting to the starting
line. The extra gear helped Danny and I make it to the start and
finish together. How the Myers' couple did it on their tandem with
far less gear is amazing.
Regards,
Spencer
St Joseph, MO
Scott P
Current rig is probably ~20-21 lb but should be much more comfortable --
big tires, 531 frame with long stays, leather saddle, fenders, etc.
- Bruce
People who have seen some of Bruce's bikes know you need to ask these
questions very carefully! ;)
Dave
>From: Jan H
>To: ran...@googlegroups.com
>Subject: [Randon] Purely for my curiosity..
>"The only tools I carry are three puny Mafac wrenches..."
Brings back memories of that old Mafac toolkit. Nice. :-)
>"...a heavy 6 mm wrench"
= 1 ounce. :-)
Regards!
Mike
>
> Bruce, how many gears did the BMB 2002 bike have? And were any of them fixed?
>
> People who have seen some of Bruce's bikes know you need to ask these
> questions very carefully! ;)
Indeed, you well might also ask, "How many chains?"
> As you mentioned it is the whole package that matters but to get the
> whole package down you have to look at the individual pieces.
Indeed. Of course, "the whole package" includes the person sitting on the
bicycle. In fact, that is the heaviest single component in the package by
a large margin. Personally, I'm not going to leave my spoke wrench behind
and risk a mechanical DNF to save a few ounces while I could still stand
to lose 15 pounds myself. It's sort of like insulating your walls but
leaving the windows open.
My Bob Jackson weighs in at 53 lbs. "soaking wet" The difference must be that mine is a 25 1/2 in frame - and the bottom bracket tool (and spokes and wrench) that I carry - and YES I know where EVERY one of the 53 pounds come from - right down to the 800 gram Brooks Sprung saddle.
"Weight Weenie Willie"
--- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Coldwell" <cold...@gmail.com>
To: "Dark Horse" <flyin...@gmail.com>
Cc: "randon" <ran...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 4:19:41 PM (GMT-0500) America/New_York
Subject: [Randon] Re: Purely for my curiosity..
I suggest that if you think carrying a spoke wrench or
not makes any difference in your ride experience to
you, ask a friend or family member to flip a coin and
stick the wrench in you pocket or bag (or not) and see
if you can really tell the difference.
I'm glad you've gotten through so many rides without a
wheel problem, but there's always a first time.
-Paul
I've typically put on about 3 pounds the day before any of the long
rides I've done this year. I'm sure it weighs me down on the hills, but
probably not as much as an empty tank would. :)
- Bruce
9 speed derailleur gearing, 42x11-34 with 170mm cranks and 700x23 tires.
Current derailleur gearing is 9sp 53x11-34 with 170mm cranks and a
700x30 rear tire.
I determined on Saturday I'd be just as happy with 53x12-18-34 and it
would have a better chainline, so I'm in the process of revising the
drivetrain. I hope to have this finished for pre-riding the 400 on June
5.
> Indeed, you well might also ask, "How many chains?"
One chain. The bichain is best left for slower rides where efficiency
isn't as relevant.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bichain-fixed-free.html
- Bruce
Harry Spatz
-----Original Message-----
From: ran...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ran...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of
Homey
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 6:09 PM
To: randon
Subject: [Randon] Re: Purely for my curiosity..
Well, let's suppose that the whole package consists of you and a 25lb
(11kg) bicycle. That's 250lbs (114kg) total. According to
http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=16&item=SW%2D0
the standard spoke wrench weighs 0.06lbs (27g), so thats 0.024% of the
total weight. The risk would have to be awfully low to justify a
benefit that small.
For what it's worth, I carry the Alien multi-tool plus an additional, longer 6mm allen wrench for my Phil hub bolts (until I get around to picking up the qr conversion kit for my hub). Yes, it's pretty heavy as such things go, and I could save some of that weight by paring it down to just the tools that go to stuff that's actually on my bike. For example, I don't need the Torx wrench, only need one size of open end wrench, don't need the smaller allen wrenches, don't need the chain tool (I don't think I'm ever going to break a 1/8" BMX chain on a ride, and I won't ever need to break my chain to do the ol' busted-derailleur-work-around), only need the size of spoke wrench that actually fits my spokes, only need one tire lever if any, and so on. The weight difference between what I actually need to carry and that alien is not insubstantial. But the alien is still small and not THAT heavy, and if it means that I can help someone I'm with get back on the road when something happens, it's worth it as far as I'm concerned. I've probably used it on the road on other people's bikes more times as I've used it on my own, and that's worth the small weight penalty of carrying it.
If I were trying to go as fast as possible, I could definitely pare down what I carry. But since I'm not, I'd rather have that one more dry piece of clothing in reserve, or that ziploc bag full of pickles, or the capability to fix someone else's bike than worry about how much it weighs. But to each his own.
> -------Original Message-------
> From: Charles Coldwell <cold...@gmail.com>
> Subject: [Randon] Re: Purely for my curiosity..
http://home.earthlink.net/~lmtierstein/stories/tools.htm
Which "type" are you?
Leslie
In 1987, I was riding along with a friend, Bob, about 50km from Paris, a
positively heartbreaking place to end one's PBP, most would agree.
We came upon a sad sight. There was an obviously sleep deprived and
disoriented Frenchman standing next to his bike. And there was a bicycle
chain on the ground. He was looking back and forth between his bike chain
and his chainless bicycle, as if somehow by willing it, the chain would
magically jump back onto the bike, and he could finish PBP successfully.
Along came two Americans, (Bob and me), who quickly determine that more than
willpower will be required to get this fellow home. I'm not sure he had time
to walk to the finish, nor the wits to try.
Anyway, we stopped. Bob is fluent in French, and he explained that we have a
chain tool (well two actually, since we each had one). We got his chain back
on his bike, and got everything working. I pulled out a film canister with
some hand cleaner, and we cleaned the grease off our hands and headed onto
the finish. The fellow with the formerly broken chain was very appreciative,
but did comment that Americans carry everything in their enormous bags -
almost in a derogatory sort of way, according to Bob (the one fluent in
French). So my chain tool contributed to the global good by not adding one
more DNF to the pile.
pamela blalock pgb at blayleys.com
care-free in watertown, ma http://www.blayleys.com
You could either tape em' to the outside (if you have a long post and
small wheels) or you could take the seatpost out and stick some spare
spokes in the bottom of the tube.
Lots of people over the years have used this empty space. I believe that
some Moultons fit a pump into the this tube. People have used this space
to put ownership documents, electronics, etc.
Not a bad storage place for infrequently used things.
Jake
>
> Yes, how does one secure spare spokes into the seatpost?
Wrap them with an old inner tube, take out the seat and post, then
drop them down the seat *tube* in the frame.
Might want to mark your seat post so you can return it to the same
position.
punctured tube
sliced tire
broken spoke
broken chain
The Blackburn Mtn multitool I use also has small 3,4,5,6 mm Allen keys
that can be used in a pinch, I have some tiny lights that will get me by
if the big ones fail in the dark, and I usually carry zipties and duck
tape as well.
The broken chain has had the lowest frequency -- two that I can recall
in over 100,000 miles. One was improperly riveted, the other was a
broken side plate of a 1/8" master link on a hub-geared bike (which was
major surgery to repair because I only had a 3/32" link available).
The bigger stuff isn't worth it, IMO. I've had far more stripped
freewheel threads and failed freehub bodies than broken chains, but
those are a lot tougher to fix on the road. The zipties are often
enough to limp along.
- Bruce
>
>Carrying weight on the body is a good fix. Time Krabbé wrote this:
>
> "Jaques Anquetil, five-time winner of the Tour de France, used to
>take his water bottle out of its holder before every climb and stick
>it in the back pocket of his jersey. Ab Geldermans, his Dutch
>Lieutenant, watched him do that for years, until finally he couldn't
>stand it any more and asked him why. And Anquetil explained.
>
>A rider, said Anquetil, is made up of two parts, a person and a bike.
>The bike, of course, is the instrument the person uses to go faster,
>but its weight also slows him down. That really counts when the going
>gets tough, and in climbing the thing is to make sure the bike is as
>light as possible. A good way to do that is: take the bidon out of
>its holder.
>
>So at the start of every climb, Anquetil moved his water bottle from
>its holder to to his back pocket. Clear enough."
>
Racers often have strange ideas about what
matters in equipment, but Anquetil does not
appear to have been as stupid as the urban myth
proposes.
A quick review of historic photos - for example,
in Brett Horton's "Cycling's Golden Age" and in
Ollivier's "Jacques Anquetil, La Veridique
Histoire" - shows many photos of Anquetil
climbing all-out with a bottle stuck in his
bottle cage. One photo shows him from behind on a
climb. His jersey pockets are bulging with small
items, but there is no water bottle in there. In
some photos at or near the finish, his bottle
cage is empty, but I suspect he just threw his
bottle away on the last climb.
Of course, this does not prove that Anquetil
_never_ did this, but the original story alleged
that he did this on _every_ climb, which is easy
enough to disprove.
Nice story, though.