Commuting kit weight

il_principe

I happened to weigh myself this morning whilst wearing full commuting kit, loaded bag and D-lock. In other words with all the clobber I commute with every day. Turns out there's 11 kg of the stuff. How much weight are other people carting about?

rick_chasey

Il Principe wrote:

I happened to weigh myself this morning whilst wearing full commuting kit, loaded bag and D-lock. In other words with all the clobber I commute with every day. Turns out there's 11 kg of the stuff. How much weight are other people carting about?

Cancellara just before Harelbeke last year was weighed fully kitted out, and he topped out the scales at 92kg, which is a good 10-12 kilos lighter than his official weight. Given he was pretty near top form, you can safely say that winter kit + shoes, helmet, food in pockets etc was what made the difference.

http://www.bodegasmasalta.com/files/cms ... eegt...pdf

CiB

I'm carting about 2 stone of blubber about my person, entirely involuntary. I ride naked to compensate.

MonkeyMonster

CiB wrote:

I'm carting about 2 stone of blubber about my person, entirely involuntary. I ride naked to compensate.

Do you also have a fetish for keirans seals?

PedalPedant

I shudder to think how much the stuff in my panniers weighs. We have nasty wheelbender racks at work that are elevated by about 20cm*. Some mornings I can barely lift the back wheel into them

Still, my commute is short and pretty flat so I don't worry about it.

PP

* a bit like this http://www.shelters4less.co.uk/system/cache/traffic-line-hoop-bike-rack_cms_site_products_images_293-1-832_300_300_False.jpg

Greg T

Whoa Carbon Wheels!

gtvlusso

Generally - about 5KG in my courier bag, unless I have my laptop and then I go up to about 10kg....

Gets painful at around 10 miles, but I soldier on like a true hero.

cjcp

Hmmm. Varies depending on the amount of paperwork in the bag.

welkman

A full set of books, jumper, shirt, water (because there is no drinking water in my section), tools, spare tube etc. I reckon that is getting on for 15kgs. This is why I have to run 32mm Marathon plus tyres and use heavyweight touring wheels!

CiB

MonkeyMonster wrote:

CiB wrote:

I'm carting about 2 stone of blubber about my person, entirely involuntary. I ride naked to compensate.

Do you also have a fetish for keirans seals?

Depends where personal preference oversteps the mark to become a fetish I suppose.

Clothes are the biggest additional weight IME. All I carry is a couple of sandwiches & a bit of fruit + phone, door pass & small bunch of keys, and half a bottle of squash in the bottle holder. A base layer, warm-enough top, leggings, overshoes & full gloves adds to the total. And the two pairs of lights front & back. When we had that mild weather back in Jan I went out with no lights, shorts & single layer top + mitts and the bike felt like a lightweight carbon racer, which it is for 8 months of the year & at this time of year, that's the incentive & the motivation. It won't always be this bad, cold grey dank gloomy weather every morning & night.

Applespider

Yeah - definitely heavier in the winter since even light-weight waterproofs add something - and heavier clothes/shoes than summer - plus a spare light/batteries as well as usual repair stuff and it just adds up. A couple of times a week, I add some gym kit which burdens it even more - and I've got a few stairs when I get home just to lug the bike up. I took the road bike out a few weeks ago to the gym one Saturday and woah... I'd forgotten how lovely and free it was!

Topaxci

Keep most of my clothes and office bits at work. Commuting rucksack weighs in at 2.5kg this morning, though will be lighter on the way home as I will have eaten my lunch by then.
Small saddle bag on bike always carried for essential repairs - spare tube, levers and multi-tool but that doesn't add up to much.
Still feels like I've forgotten something when I head out on weekend rides without it though.

Headhuunter

When I do the weekly shop I carry a 30kg rucksack of food up Lewisham Way (on top of my weight, 80kg, so a total of 110kg)

optimisticbiker

On the scales this morning unencumbered 67.9kg, fully loaded, ready to roll, 75.1kg, so 7.2kg the bulk of which is toolkit/clothes/tablet.

chris_bass

Il Principe wrote:

I happened to weigh myself this morning whilst wearing full commuting kit, loaded bag and D-lock. In other words with all the clobber I commute with every day. Turns out there's 11 kg of the stuff. How much weight are other people carting about?

cant help but notice you said you weighed yourself and all your kit and it came to 11KG? either you are about 6 inches tall or you might need to eat a bit more

il_principe

Chris Bass wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

I happened to weigh myself this morning whilst wearing full commuting kit, loaded bag and D-lock. In other words with all the clobber I commute with every day. Turns out there's 11 kg of the stuff. How much weight are other people carting about?

cant help but notice you said you weighed yourself and all your kit and it came to 11KG? either you are about 6 inches tall or you might need to eat a bit more

No I didn't. I said that there's 11kg of clobber...

MonkeyMonster

Il Principe wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

I happened to weigh myself this morning whilst wearing full commuting kit, loaded bag and D-lock. In other words with all the clobber I commute with every day. Turns out there's 11 kg of the stuff. How much weight are other people carting about?

cant help but notice you said you weighed yourself and all your kit and it came to 11KG? either you are about 6 inches tall or you might need to eat a bit more

No I didn't. I said that there's 11kg of clobber...

tbh he aint that porky though. Not quite slimjimmcgingethin but certain barmaids certainly thought he was the right shape...

Mr Plum

I leave as much at work as possible. D Lock is locked to the bike rack, shower gel/shampoo/hair wax etc and shoes in my drawer, and I hang my towel and trousers up on one of the coat racks that we've got. I probably carry about 1kg of stuff after that.

Fireblade96

Most days I carry very little, clean shirt/socks/underwear, D-lock, pump and sandwiches. I try to leave the laptop in work (thankyou smartphone). Tools/p* kit lives in the little seat pack, the rest fits in a 15l rucsack which can't weigh more than 1-2 kg.

That said, I'm looking for a new, bigger rucksack so will have to be disciplined so that I don't end up carrying loads of crap I don't need.

Joffff

Sometimes I scarily manage to fill two panniers but I'm also on the chunky side so go by the principle that if there was every any weight saving to be had it should be off me before the bike!

bails87

Also worth considering the aero effects of your commuting kit....

I went to Cannock Chase the other day, on the drive there, heading into Cannock I saw a flash of neon yellow up ahead. "Cyclist" I thought, so backed off from the car in front and got ready to overtake him/her.

As I got closer I saw a flourescent parachute jacket billowing away, but as I passed the rider, I noticed he was on what looked like a Planet X Stealth carbon TT bike.....I wonder how much extra money he spend to get that? Granted, an aero bike with an parachute jacket is marginally quicker than a 'non-aero' bike with a parachute jacket, but if you're going to spend hundreds of pounds more than a normal road bike to get aero benefits you'd surely make the effort to buy a jacket that's not 4 sizes too big!

fossyant

Nekkid the commuter is about 8kg's. Lights and rack tip it to 9kg and a bit. Fully loaded pannier (with locks) and full civvy clothing (if on another site) probably tip the total weight over 30kg's. My poor bike ! :shock:

roger_merriman

have a SS road bike, by time paniers/mudguards etc. it's 34lb or 15KG before I stick anything else in.

a fairly normal load would be 7lb/3KG so around the 40lb mark (18KG) with the odd much higher loads, which make for very slow pulling away from the lights!

notsoblue

I don't carry much at all most days. Just a tube, tiny repair kit, minitool, CO2, tyre levers that all go into a freezer bag which fits into my jersey pocket. Wallet/ID, Keys and Phone fit in my other jersey pockets. Bit of a bump under my jacket but its more comfy than a rucksack/courier bag, which I only really need if I need to take work to/from home.

Ben6899

Rick Chasey wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Cancellara just before Harelbeke last year was weighed fully kitted out, and he topped out the scales at 92kg, which is a good 10-12 kilos lighter than his official weight. Given he was pretty near top form, you can safely say that winter kit + shoes, helmet, food in pockets etc was what made the difference.

http://www.bodegasmasalta.com/files/cms ... eegt...pdf

Rick, you mean he was 10-12kg heavier, right, with all the winter kit? Otherwise Cancellara's race weight is ~100kg and that would make him the chunkiest pro-cyclist I'm aware of!



But yeh, winter and commuting kit is like a training aid.

richVSrich

i weighed myself this morning - around 4kgs of clothing (im cold in the morning and takes me ages to warm up...) and about an 8kg backpack... :shock:

is there an fcn modifier for riding naked? -5 ?

welkman

Did some weighing today and was quite surprised :


Kona Jake: 15Kgs with lights, racks and bottle.

Kona Jake as ridden in daily with panniers, books, laptop etc. 25kgs!

Im about 2 mph slower on the Jake compared to the Ribble.

itboffin

Digital scales purchased, I see a dangerous spree of weight saving shopping in my future.

Initialised

I've taken to making Monday Cargo Day basically upto a weeks worth of food. The rest of the week I don't need a backpack and I can keep the bike in work so have no need of a heavy duty lock. So not much more than me and the bike.