DavidARayJaxNC

I know I have read that half you body weight is the ideal total weight to take with you on tour. ie if you
weigh 150 lb. you should at most take 75 lb. I weigh 235 lb. does that mean I can allow 120lb. and be
comfortable. I dont think this is logical. What really is the max that I should try. 75, 100?

The bike, with a small day load,(ie. reflective vest, jacket, and some tools in the bags) weighs 37lb. Is
this heavy for a bike?

Also my average speed through the city over 23 miles is 12 mph with the small day load. I use to average
18 mph over 20 miles on my road bike. Is this too slow? What are your average speeds?

Rowan

Weight, as shown on several other threads, is determined by your comfort levels and the gear you perceive you need to have with you on any particular ride.

I think you need to toss aerobic fitness and endurance and distance into the equation if you want to make comparisons. But then it goes into terrain and weather, how you manage your refuelling and rehydration, mechanical condition of the bike, whether you have punctures, road surfacing, tyre pressures... the list grows.

Speed is also dependent on whether you want to get from Point A to B as fast as possible as the objective of your riding, or whether you want to stop along the way for scenic and other values.

Ultimately, it comes down to what *you* are comfortable doing. The objective of the majority of touring that is done by posters here is not to races ... at least I don't think it is.

NoReg

Everyone's average varies etc... but 10 MPH is what I do. I don't hang about though That's a day long average. I think all day cycling is not all that efficient but it's what I am there to do.

I don't think body weight has anything to do with how much you carry except at the margins. Obviously larger people may need more water, or food or the XL sleeping bag, but nothing like a fixed ratio. I carry about 35-40 pounds plus water and food for summer/fall touring. If you include the weight of the bike and the food water etc... it's probably 80-100 pounds. Since I am about 220 I may be on your ratio, if it includes everything, but if I was 6'1" and 165, or 265, I don't think the load would vary all that much.

Machka 

I'm the one who is propogating the idea of carrying half your body weight. But I have never said that is the ideal amount of weight to carry ... what I have said is that it is the ideal upper limit. If a person were to carry more than that, the person might very well be struggling out there.

In my case, I weigh about 130 lbs, and so everything I bring (besides myself) weighs about 65 lbs. My bicycle, unloaded, comes in at 27 lbs, and therefore the load I carry is anywhere between 35 and 40 lbs.

If I carry more than that, which I have done on some occasions, I find the bicycle very difficult to handle and I find climbing anything larger than an overpass to be almost too much. Perhaps my new gearing might change that, but nevertheless, I'm comfortable with 35-40 lbs of gear.


I do believe, however, that larger people can handle more weight if they want to. I think of it this way ... I might be able to pick up a 25 lb box, and carry it across a room and that might be the extent of my ability - any heavier and I'd damage my back or something. But a person twice my size might cart around that 25 lb box like it was nothing, and carrying a 50 lb box across a room might be that person's limit.

Even if this is true, that doesn't mean that we have to carry our weight limits. In my case, I do carry my weight limit because I can't get my load much smaller than 35-40 lbs and still be able to tour like how I want to tour. In your case, you've got lots of leeway ... you can add all sorts of extra bits and pieces if you want.


As for speed, unless you are racing or in a timed event, I wouldn't worry about your speed at all. Go whatever speed you feel most comfortable with.

Shemp

That's one person's opinion. Others will suggest you carry no more than what you can lift (bike included). Others will often target 40lbs of gear as max. But as with so many things, it's highly personal. Load up your bike and take it for a ride and ride the same loop without the load and see how it feels then go back and decide how much weight you want versus need.

Just a hair. Mine's a bit over 30 with fenders, ESGE double kickstand, bottle cages etc.


On a loaded tour, my wife slows me a bit, and we average around 10mph, but that includes slowing down and accelerating from photos, stops and whatnot. By myself, I'm closer to 13-14mph fully loaded.

Marylandnewbie

I remember reading Machka's original thread and doing the math for myself and coming to similar conclusions as the OP. I quickly realized that half of body weight made a reasonable upper limit, but lighter was going to be easier. I too ride a heavy bike, so I think Machka's overall weight calculation method makes a lot of sense. Its easy - particularly when you are new to touring (like me) -- to get overloaded easily.

valygrl

How can the 1/2 body weight thing account for differences in strength? What is that weight: fat, bone, muscle?

There is no one right answer. Lighter is better, but you have to figure out for yourself what your personal tradeoffs are. Optimize the equation in multiple variables: comfort while riding (sort-of equals speed), comfort while not riding, spending. You may have constraints on these variables based on your personal circumstances: strength, budget, health, time available. Other factors such as weather, road conditions, distance between food/water/bike shops... those will all play into what you are carrying too.

spring in california isn't going to be the same as winter in alaska isn't going to be the same as summer in the australian outback.

DavidARayJaxNC

Thanks

eric von zipper

Sometimes the answer is "oh it's all up to you." Answers aren't always black and white...there's a lot of grey area. And I think these people are giving their opinions. Which I am grateful.

Erick L

Carry as little as you can live with.

Rowan

Actually, the unconsidered factor is the gearing of the bicycle. That's what makes the difference, irrespective of rider strength.

I was sceptical of the original assertion, too... until I did the calculations. It's quite probably that a lightweight rider of, say, 140lbs, could be pushing along more than half-bodyweight, and not really caring if they have the right gearing (they may be riding slower, but that is not the point).

And yes, destinations all have their own unique conditions. A bit of research helps, but it's only after experiencing them first hand that you can decide what's need and not for the next trip there.

DavidARayJaxNC

Well, how do I know what the best gearing is for me? (OHH Its whatever works out good for you) No, how do I find out what gearing is best outside of changing all my gearing out 4or 5 times.

Machka 

You go on a weekend test tour (such as the type I've mentioned in my new "Short Tours" post) on a variety of terrain. If you have to get off the bicycle and walk a lot, you need different gearing ... or less gear.

The Human Car

Weight is weight whether it’s on your person or in your panniers and takes work to get it up hills. How much you can carry is up to your athletic ability, your (low) gearing, what kind of grades you’ll be riding over and how slow you are willing to go. The following site is for cargo bikes but the weight calculator at the bottom seems to be close to my experiences.
https://bikesatwork.com/hauling-cargo...-capacity.html

For example entering a speed of 15mph, my weight of 180 and the bikes weight of 35, going on the level with some exertion, says I can carry 125lbs which is close to what I can do. To double check to make sure I can handle some hills, enter a speed of 4 miles an hour (your gearing should allow you to maintain 60-80 cadence) and enter in a moderate grade and you get 139 lbs. I can handle steeper hills by exerting more force. The problem with this calculator is I think most people power is somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2hp and it would be nice to be able to dial that in.

I will note that most of my tours are with 60lb loads and I average about 12mph over varied terrain.

When my son was training for touring we would load up his trailer with soda bottles filled with water and if he got tired he would dump the water out and finish the ride with no weight.

DavidARayJaxNC

I tried it and it kept saying that it is not possible for me to travel with a 35 pound bike and I weigh 240 at 10 mph. The calculator is a great effort though, but what do I do?

Is there a good almost accurate calorie calculator for touring?

GiantDave

Sorry, but the only way to find the gearing you need and the weight of the gear and supplies you carry is to experiment. We can give guidelines but everyone is different. I had to take my cassette apart 4 or 5 times to find the gearing I wanted (and needed). I hate hills and where I live theres lots of them. I tinkered around till I found a ratio that let me spin up at a comfortable rate and still be able to hammer the flats and downhills.

Take a few "test" tours like Machka suggests. You'll find out pretty fast what suits you. When I tour my average speed always comes to 10 to 12 mph--no matter how fast I try to go. I Keep my gear around 35-40lbs--thats not including water. Carry what your comfortable with and only carry what you need.

wahoonc

+1
Sounds about average to me! My lightest load ever was an all up bike weight of about 40#, it was in the summer an I was traveling fast and light. Heaviest was over 200# when on a tour and we had someone get sick and barely able to ride, so we split the gear up and I ended up with a trailer and the lion's share of the gear (teach me to ride a steel frame bike when everybody else had carbon stays ) My daily average is 60 miles which works out to around 12 mph. Best day ever was 122 miles screaming across the plains with a 30+mph tailwind. I think the average that day was round 21 mph For planning purposes I shoot for 50-60 miles a day.

Gearing is personal and will have to be dialed in, I used to use the half-step gearing that was popular back in the 70's with touring riders, currently I use a MTB type gearing with a high gear of around 98" and low gear around 20"

Aaron

Rowan

Neat idea! People forget 1 litre=1kg. Is it 1 pint = 1 lb? Anyway, it's easy to forget the versality of water in weighing things, and how much weight it actually does add to the load.

wahoonc

Pretty close Rowan...close enough for gov'mint work anyway

Aaron

GiantDave

Yeah--my longest day was 111 miles (11 hour day) and the shortest 23 miles (40mph headwind). Heaviest load was about 90lbs-Bob trailer and bags. My gearing now on my much loved LHT is 26-36-46 with a custom 13-34 cassette which gives me 20.9 to 96.7 gear inches. Took me a few weeks to get the cassette the way I needed. Now I can crawl up 10% grades and I can still hammer down long descents. Daily I like about 60-70 miles. Here in the mid west theres not alot to look at besides corn and soybean fields so its easier to do higher milage!

Machka 

With all cycling, count on approx. 500 calories per hour.

DavidARayJaxNC

is that true for racing? I heard that you can burn over 2000 caloires an hour is you move at an average of 20 mph

Machka 

1) I think people wish they could burn over 2000 calories an hour!!

2) I think people over-exaggerate the speeds they are actually moving (although 20 mph is actually reasonable for a racer) partly because I think some people aren't sure how to use their computers, and partly because people don't take into consideration all the time spent slowing down and speeding up for traffic lights, etc., and partly because the only time a lot of people look at their computers is when they feel like they are going fast.

3) If you are aiming to lose weight, here's how to use the calculators .....

Assuming you are currently not losing weight .....

1) Go to as many calorie calculators as you can find to determine the number of calories you burn while you exercise. Be honest about the speeds you move (if you are going to use anything in the calculations, use the average speed on your computer, even if it looks a bit low) and the time you spend.

2) When you enter your weight into the calculator, remember to enter your goal weight, not your current weight.

3) Average the numbers between all the calculators because they will all tell you something different.



Here's are a couple calculators to get you started:
https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
https://www.caloriesperhour.com/

DavidARayJaxNC

I said average... that mean when you lok at the average part of the computer it is over 20. of course this mean you have to move faster than that ofter because of stopping

eric von zipper

Is this similar to your cassette?
https://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails...ogId=39&id=730