Hi, I'm a cyclist born to tour. I just registered and I want to say I love this place! I, shamelessly, gather gear ideas to use for my long summer bicycle trips. Bicycling and ULB seem to be cousins at heart so I read and heed. I have to say, I have reduced frame weight down to about 15 pounds and I manage with two small packs over rear tire, not including spare parts for the bike.
One question I have is: How many bicycle tourists are the same as me? How many of you are two wheelers that know a hidden gem when they find one? I have found ULB indespensible for my sport.

Thanks

What I use (DIY)
Little dandy wood stove
Tarp tent (camo) great for gorrila camp
poncho modified for bike
Wal~Mart pot

There are quite a number of cyclists here. Did you notice the Bicycle Touring forum?

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/display_forum.html?forum=63

Edited by kthompson on 01/02/2012 06:53:28 MST.

Bicycle traveler here, long before I was a backpacker. Done some epic tours, too.

Have you ever seen this site?

http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.com/

He's quite amazing, even for us UL'ers here.

No Miguel, I didn't know about that spot. I'll have tocheck it out. Thanks

And I ride about 6,000 miles a year...but not with a pack. THose are day rides.

If I tour, it's with a credit card in my pocket, not a lot of gear on my bike

Ha ha! That's the ulimate ultralight biking: build a light bike and bring a credit card! Give me my singlespeed, camelbak and a sag wagon full of steaks!

Cyclists have been UL'ers for years and there's a lot of crossover in the concepts and ...religion, as it were.

Road cyclist here. Rode professionally in my late teens and now ride for pleasure to stay in shape

Mountain biker here; haven't thought about a touring bike but have thought about adapting my backpacking gear to a mountain bike tour of Arizona's Patagonia region ("Kentucky Camp Loop") after hunting season. Might need a small rack over my rear wheel for camping supplies but panniers are out of the question off road.

Another road-biker here. I like to ride remote roads to a campground and back. It makes for a great winter/spring weekend trip if the weather is sunny. More interesting for me, for some reason, than winter backpacking where I live (Bay Area).

People like me, who have a roadbike but not a touring bike or a pannier setup, can just wear a lightweight pack or fanny pack. I find I need to keep pack weight under 10 pounds, otherwise my hips/back start to hurt and the extra weight throws me off both uphill and downhill. It helps to leave the tent and stove behind, and to attach weightier stuff, such as food, to the bike somehow, in an under-seat bag or bento box.

- Elizabeth

Long time road and mtb cyclist here. Haven't done any touring though - I use cycling as a relatively enjoyable means to maintain fitness.

Look for a three-part series here on ultralight "bikepacking" in a few months. I'm a mountain biker so the series will be dirt focused, but the ideas of modern rackless carry systems apply just fine to pavement.

The big-three makers of custom bikepacking gear are amongst the highest quality cottage gear companies around today.

Boy, am I looking forward to your ideas and report on UL MTBikepacking! I really want to do this with Scouts, but I can't figure the smart way to get our weights and volumes down where I want them.

The big-three makers of custom bikepacking gear are amongst the highest quality cottage gear companies around today.

I know Revelate and Carousel, but may I ask what the third one is?

"The big-three makers of custom bikepacking gear are amongst the highest quality cottage gear companies around today.

I know Revelate and Carousel, but may I ask what the third one is?"

+1 :-)

You should check out Porcelain Rocket.

Porcelain Rocket Bikepacking Gear.

lightpack.blogspot.com.

Cyclist long before I became a backpacker, not lightweight though (that part is new). Toured a number of countries(Scotland, Ireland, France, New Zealand, East Germany) with a 7-pound tent (for just me) and other heavyweight accessories. Just a friend and I (except East Germany, that was solo). Loved every tour though! Did a week in Germany this past summer with much lighter weight kit (including custom cuben panniers), but ended up towing a 4-year-old pretty much the entire time (so much for the weight savings!). Had a wonderful time. Love me some bike touring.

All my touring have been on roads, no off road/trail touring.

It has been a while since I toured self supported but was CAT 2 through the eighties with a brief run at MTB racing. My longest tour was U.S. 1 from Port Angeles Wa. To San Diego Ca. I have always been in awe of the RAAM and would like to give that a try.... Albeit at a slower pace.

Currently I am the typical middle age recreation cyclist that rides a bike much better than I am. I used to love going out looking for those guys on my MTB and drop them. Now I am one of them.

Porcelain Rocket is the "other" established bike-bag maker. Mr. Felter didn't invent and define the genre in the way Carousel and then Epic/Revelate did, but he's been in the game long enough to have a solid record.

I've been cycling and backpacking since I was a kid and starting combining the two after a few friends invited me on a self supported tour of the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands 15 years ago. I've been exploring Colorado and Utah as much as possible since then and have lightened and refined my gear substantially. While not one of the "big three", I make lightweight gear which has been used in the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, Paris Brest Paris, and numerous other backcountry adventures.
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,2427.0.html

I bike tour. I try to do a month long or longer tour once a year if I can manage it. I am doing my second coast top coast tour in a few weeks.