Introduction

Mr. Iik & bike
If you followed reports from the ultralight cycle-touring page, than you know a certain Mr. Iik - a man with two distinctive features: he rides bicycles and has a charming, irresistible smile. After touring for two consecutive years in a civilized manner in France, this year Mr. Iik opted for a more exotic ground: Vietnam and China. What was the motivation for such a tour, he now cannot fully recall, but the highly probable guess is that it was not to lose touch with "true" cycle touring - means adventure, cultural shock, cheap accommodation and food, stealth camping, self-sufficiency, suffering and that sort of thing. As a certified guru of ultralight cycling, he felt compelled to make another weight record for a camping tour: 3.9 kg of luggage, and 13.8 kg including the bike. Here's what he had (weight in grams):

Bicycle 9824 g:
bike 9300
1 bottle cage 26
rear rack 364
lock 44
mirror 30
computer 60
Carriers        256 g:
front bag on the handlebar (a camera bag) 40
small dry-bag for a tent 26
compression bag on the rear rack 82
water bottle 42
bungee strap 66
Wearing 674 g:
cap 30
glasses 20
cycling gloves 30
jersey 138
cycling shorts 166
socks 22
crocs with rain foil 268
Other clothes 1072 g:
wind jacket 136
shorts 188
undershirt 56
leg warmers 104
arm warmers 62
waterproof socks 80
light fleece top 186
gilet 144
nylon socks 10
bandana/towel 26
rain shell gloves x 2 8
warm gloves 38
bathing trunks 34
Night riding 36 g:
front light 18
rear light 18
Photography 142 g:
camera 118
battery charger (USB cable) 24

Tools & spares 254 g:
2 x pump 80
2 minitools (allen keys, screwdriver, chain tool, hex keys, spoke key) 84
duct tape, patch kit 20
spare tube+2 tire levers 70
Camping 1262 g:
tent (without the storage bag) 770
sleeping bag 480
plastic cover (piece of bubble wrap or palstic bag) 12
Cooking 0 g:
plastic spoon 0
plastic toothpick 0
Medical, hygienic & sewing kit 32 g:
tooth brush 6
razor 4
skin ointment 10
white medical tape 10
needle with thread 2
Miscellaneous 216 g:
spare glasses 40
cue sheets 6
pen water filter 20
compass 2
notes, pencil 24
lighter 12
ID, phone card, credit card 64
keys 48
Total 13768 g
Total, without bike 3944 g

Iik's Navigation App for this tour.
Note some minor, ingenious upgrades to his cue-sheet concept,
like color-coded items and top-left notch for quick card orientation
(which might also be used as bottle opener). 

Posted by

4 comments:

  1. Mathieu22 July 2014 at 06:13

    Hello IIk,
    1) Your rain pants are quite light: may we know brand and model? Are they breathable?
    2) Why don't you use your lighter bike in tour like these? Is it because of wheels? Or lack of rack eyelets?

    ReplyDelete
  2. iik30 July 2014 at 06:35

    Hi Mathieu,

    1) I didn't have rain pants on this tour.
    2) Youre're right. Primarily because of the lack of rack eyelets - the stuff on this tour was just a bit too big to fit it on a bike without the rack. But also because of Ksyrium wheels on the light bike which have very specific spokes, a big problem if you break some in Vietnam or China.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mathieu6 August 2014 at 09:12

    Hi Iik,
    1) Sorry, this is the wrong gear list, but I've read on other ones you've got a pair of 136 g rain pants and I was asking the model.
    2) About the lack of rack eyelets (don't want to teach you anything of course, you're the Guru, just for general knowledge): I had the Tubus adapter, good but heavy. So I left out the two heavy steel brackets and I simply let the (longer) Tubus skewer pass through the carrier holes. I had to make by hand two spacers out of cheap aluminium tubes. The linkage may be less robust, but this is not a concern for a light tourer. On a road bike with panniers you also may have some heel clearance issues to take into account. Just to let people know that, in spite of mainstream beliefs, a light tourer can use a road bike without eyelets and be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. iik14 August 2014 at 04:27

    Hi Mathieu,
    1) The 132g rain pants are very old, dating from 1992 on my first tour in Iceland. I don't know the brand, they are basic plastic, unbreathable. I now have a 112g basic rain pants (I'll try to find out the brand), which are very thin and not much waterproof, but I'd use them as additional protective layer (over leg warmers). In general I don't have good experience with rain pants, I end up wet eventually.
    2) I know it's possible to put a rack on a bike witghout eyelets (i've seen a few), but I don't have first hand experience. Thanks for your explanation.
    3) I forgot to mention the third reason for not using light bike in China: I like to use cheaper bikes for such tours where there is a possibility to return without the bike.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)