How Much Should Your Touring Bike and Gear Weigh In Total?
When I started bicycle touring I always wondered how much all my gear plus my bike should roughly weigh as a gage to how much I should pack. I never wanted to over pack and take much more things then I really needed.
From our surveys for bicycle touring 49 Kg or 110 pounds and Bikepacking 23 Kg or 50 pounds is about average.
Jacobs Setup – 30 KG 
Johannes Setup – 28 KG 
Murdocs Setup – 60 KG 
Nathan’s Setup – 40 KG 
James Setup – 19 KG 
Romano’s Setup – 38 KG
So I asked 70 bike travellers how much their setup weighs including all their gear and the weight of their bikes. The results will be separated into bikepacking and bicycle touring setups. As bikepacking is often a lighter way to travel.
So how much should your full loaded touring bicycle weigh? After asking 48 bicycle tourers I came to the conclusion on average that you are looking at around 49 Kg or 110 pounds. But it seems anywhere between 25 to 50 kg is about standard for bike touring. I know my gear and bike setup weight is almost always around 30 Kg in total.
The range in weights from everyone in the survey was 25 kg to 116 kg (55 to 255 pounds.)
As I mentioned before bikepacking is growing in popularity and focuses more on cutting weight and being much lighter then traditional fully loaded bicycle touring. From our survey of 22 different bikepacking setups. The average weight was 23 kg or 50 pounds, with a range from 17 kg to 35 kg (37 to 77 pounds).
Now since sharing this data it is important to understand that everyone is different and it does not really matter how light or heavy your cycle travel setup is. As long as it works for you and the type and style of travel you wish to do.
It was just a fun process in asking fellow bike travellers there bike and gear weight to see how everyone differed, because we are all different.
The Duration Of Your Trip
How long will you be on the road? This is one of the main considerations when it comes to how much gear you can expect to pack on your bike, it comes down to how long you will be on the road for.
Generally the longer you are on the road the more gear you will need to carry. If you are travelling around the world for 2 years on your bike. You may want to be as comfortable as it is possible to be on a bike. And this will result in you bring things that you may not need for a week long bike trip.
Where Will You Be Riding?
This is another aspect of your trip that will also determine how much stuff you pack on your bike. If you are touring in Europe you may not need as much gear. But not only gear, food and water too. If you are cycling in the most remote corners of the world. Where there is often up to 10 days between locations to stock up on food and supplies. You may need to pack food to last you for the entire 10 days. Some of the people I surveyed packed food on their bikes for this length of time. And as a result they were the ones with the heavier bikes.
My personal experience riding in the remote outback of Australia. You need to pack much more supplies then you would otherwise. And this is the current struggle I am faced with. I really like the idea of bikepacking but as it is very restrictive in the amount of gear and supplies you can carry. It makes it difficult to figure out a system where I can carry enough on a bikepacking setup, as I love travelling across some of the most remote corners of the earth.
Packing Tips For Bicycle Touring
- When packing your gear on your bike make sure to distribute the weight evenly between the front, mid-section and rear of your bike. This will ensure a more comfortable, controllable and easier ride. Having all the weight at the rear of the bike, can wear down the back tyres much quicker. Consider getting a frame bag and handlebar bag.
- If you get a frame bag for your touring bike, use this as the bag to pack the heavier items. This will make your bike more stable and improve its centra of gravity.
- DON’T pack too much! I made this mistake on my very first bike tour. Packing probably twice as much gear as I needed. Can can be hard to know how much and what you will need for your own personal situation while on the road. However it is important to remember to only pack that absolute essentials for your trip. As you will be riding with extra gear, using more energy and not using any of it. If you pack too much and you are already on your trip. You could post it home or give it away.
- When packing your clothing try rolling them. This compacts the clothes allowing for more space to pack gear.
- Compression Sacks are a great way to reduce the initial packing volume be up to 75%.
- Leave some extra room in your panniers and/or bike bags. So you can pack food and other supplies that you will restock as you go.
- The clothing you should choose for your tour. Should be lightweight, easily packable and not bulky. Versatile, and appropriate for your expected weather conditions.
What Bicycle Touring Gear Should You Take?
Below is a video I filmed of my minimalist approach to bicycle touring gear and what are my essential items for when touring anywhere around the world.
Bike Tour Packing List
Bike
- A TOURING BIKE
- Handlebar Bag AND MOUNTING BRACKET
- Front Panniers:
- Rear Panniers:
- Saddle Bag (for tools) or other small frame bag
- OTHER FRAME BAGS AND HANDLEBAR BAG POUCHES (GOOD FOR EXTRA STORAGE SOLUTIONS)
- TUBUS FRONT AND REAR RACKS
- COMFORTABLE SADDLE
- Water bottles and cages
- Cycling computer (or can use your phone. But not essential)
- LED flashing front and rear bicycle lights
- Head-torch
- Mirror
- Bell
- Bar accessory extender
- Front and rear fenders
- Bungee cord (for securing tent and other items on the rear)
- PVC Dry Bag (for keeping things outside of bags dry)
- Bike tour mascot
Camping
- Tent Or Hammock + tarp
- Sleeping Bag
- Sleeping bag liner
- Sleeping Mat
- Travel Pillow:
- Nylon Stuff Sacks (for storing all items organised in bags)
Electronics
- Phone
- Phone Bike Mount
- Camera
- Spare Camera Batteries
- Tripod
- Headphones
- Travel Power Adapter
- Multi – Power Adapter
- Drone
- Drone controller
- Laptop
- Hard drives (for storing data)
Cooking
- Camp Stove : Trangia or Backpacking Stove + cook pot
- Fuel Bottle: Trangia branded
- Insulated coffee travel mug
- Coffee Maker: Airspresso
- Coffee Grinder
- Chopping Board
- Tea Towel
- Water Filter
- Scourer
- Dish Cloth
- Cigarette Lighter or Matches
- Small sharp Knife
- Fork, spoon, knives
Other
- Wallet
- Credit Cards
- Keys
- Passport
- Passport Photocopy
- Vaccination Certificates
- Sunglasses
- Washing Line
- Hand Sanitiser
- Superglue
- Electric Tape
- Tap Key
Bike Gear
- Spare Tubes
- Patch Kit
- Spare Tyre
- Spare Spokes
- Brake Inner Cable
- Bike Lock
- Chain lube
Tools
- Allen Keys
- Adjustable Spanner
- Spoke Key
- Tyre Levers
- Pump
Clothing
- Helmet
- Long sleeve synthetic button front shirt (rayon material is great)
- Casual breathable Shorts
- Padded Cycling under shorts
- Cycling Gloves
- Cycling Socks (Synthetic)
- Clipless Cycling Shoes or Sandals (like Birkenstock) or just thongs
- Waterproof Booties if cycling in clipped shoes
- Shirts and more shorts (for off bike)
- Arm sleeves (for wearing to cover arms from sun if wearing t shirt)
- Comfortable tracksuit pants
- Warm Fleece jacket
- Underwear
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