Share your UL touring photos

[Willem Jongman]

One of the products that has only grown heavier in recent years is pannier bags. Many touring cyclists have moved over to waterproof and super sturdy rolltop Ortlieb panniers. They are great, but heavy, and have been getting heavier with frills. Thus, it was good news that Orlieb have introduced a new budget "City line" of no frills but otherwise identical bags. These are 25% cheaper and 25% lighter. If only they made these in the cordura of the Plus series, they could be another 10% lighter. I have written to Ortlieb, and they answered that these really are a budget line, ignoring my plea that less is more. But who knows? The lightest modern waterproof panniers that I know are made by a Polish company by the name of Crosso. They are apparently pretty good, and only about 65% of the weight of the Ortlieb bags. The hooks are steel ones, however, and don't look quite as safe and reliable as the Ortlieb offering with its safety catches.
Bike panniers admittedly need to be a bit sturdier than backpacking bags (they can get bruised rather badly) but I don't think they need to be close to 2 kg for a pair of 40 litre rear panniers. The Karrimor panniers of old were significantly lighter (1200 gram for some 35 litres), but they were neither waterproof nor did they fit very safely (mine often fell off).
Willem

[Inaki Diaz de Etura]

> I have become convinced that cyclists carry too much stuff with them, and can learn from UL backpackers

if lightweight backpacking is kind of alien in Europe, lightweight bicycle touring is just unimaginable. Why would they want to carry less weight is indeed beyond imagination. Lightweight is not only about less weight but also about simplicity and the cyclists I know often relish on their complex arrangements. A heavy backpack is something you feel on your bones so it's still kind of easy to state the difference with a lightweight one but the bicycle's bones don't hurt when they suffer.
Many cyclists in my environment are mostly urban people with little to no wilderness knowledge and they tend to rely heavily on that little part of the urban world they so have to carry with them. They would indeed learn a lot from UL backpackers but don't probably feel the need.

[Kari Post]

My friend and I biked across the US last summer. Each of my panniers weighed about 15lbs, plus I had about 5lb of tent, poles, tarp combo, so I'm guessing my load was about 35lbs plus water and fuel. Not bad considering I carried all my own gear, plus the shared 2 person tent, and I had running sneakers and crocs/flip flops.

[Gordon Smith]

I just did a great little three-day bikepacking trip in central Oregon last weekend. I've posted a trip report here on BPL already, but thought I'd post a few photos of my rig here.

My gear, spread out on the last day, mostly ready to pack up:

All packed up and ready to roll:

I started the trip with about 11 pounds in the day pack, including food, and 8 pounds in the trunk pack. Plus my Tarptent strapped to the handlebars. It worked out really well, I was quite pleased. I think the main thing I want to change for next time is to switch to a hydration bladder, so a new day pack is in order. Other than that, I'm jazzed and ready for the next trip!

Gordon

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