How heavy is your commute?

[anth73]

How heavy is your commute? My bike with rack, panniers and associated gear is 20kg. wondering if this is the norm or on the heavy-ish side?

[KenGS]

I'm getting deja vu all over again - oh yeah that was the other forum
My clunky old bike is about 17.5kg with all accessories, food and water and I carry about 7.5kg of laptop and full change of clothes since I only commute a couple of days a week. So all up that's 25kg. Add my svelte 72kg makes 97kg (very) gross.
Love hauling it up the 7% grade to my house at the top of the hill at the end of a days work.

[anth73]

Love hauling it up the 7% grade to my house at the top of the hill at the end of a days work.

You too! Saw your in Rosanna...I'm in Heidelberg and share your pain. Nomatter which way you go there is either the Ivanhoe hill, Heidelberg hill, or both. And then there's the Hawdon St hill to top it off!

[KenGS]

For me its St James Rd - western end. Don't think I could make it up Hawdon fully loaded - not yet anyway. Climbed it the other day unladen and had to get into the granny gear. OTOH used to need 28/28 to get up St James with the commuting load but now can make it in 28/21. All these nor'-westerly winds don't help.

[ad91on]

Bike is pretty light, I only carry lights if i know i will be riding in the dark so usually its only about 10kgs of bike.

Bag varies but generally jsut a shirt, shorts and underwear (work is fairly clothes-light and i leave shoes there) plus lunch but i try and buy that there to cut back on weight. Also includes spares/co2/paraphenalia/raincoat/shoe covers/arm and leg warmers (i like to be prepared). I'd say between 3 and 7 kgs depending on what needs taking.

Plus the rider who is between 77-81 kgs depending on how much cycling he has been doing...

Lets say about 15kgs of stuff including bike plus 80kgs of me equaling 95kg.

[beauyboy]

Mine comes in at 16kgs before you include what I carry in the backpack

Donald

[gavinr]

Me - 77.7kg
Bike - 12.8kg
Bike plus childseat - 16.6kg
Bike plus childseat plus child (aka '18kg of ballast') - 34.6kg

I drop the boy off at daycare about 2km into my 10km route, but that 2k does include the steepest hill in the entire journey The childseat goes all the way there and back.

[kiso]

My bike weighs 12kg, without panniers. I just take one pannier with clothes and a snack - wouldn't be more than 4kg extra.

My previous ride, a steel-framed mountain bike, was 16kg. The difference is noticeable, particularly going up the 8% grade halfway to work.

[kiso]

Me - 77.7kg
Bike - 12.8kg
Bike plus childseat - 16.6kg
Bike plus childseat plus child (aka '18kg of ballast') - 34.6kg

I drop the boy off at daycare about 2km into my 10km route, but that 2k does include the steepest hill in the entire journey The childseat goes all the way there and back.

Sounds similar to my commute 15 years ago, right down to the steep hill! A wriggling toddler makes balancing fun, doesn't it?

[hasimir]

How heavy is your commute? My bike with rack, panniers and associated gear is 20kg. wondering if this is the norm or on the heavy-ish side?

Mine seems to vary depending on what my commute is. The heaviest is probably when shopping and filling the backpack with heavier things.

Bike = approx. 20kg
Me = 47kg
Backpack = let's say 2-15kg

Obviously I'm not doing this to lose weight, I'm doing this because I don't drive.

[Chris249]

Both commutes weigh less than 10kg with saddle packs on. Add a bumbag (it looks crappy, but it keeps the back cooler than a backpack and I had enough of courier bags when I was a courier) and load of wallet/keys/phone/locks etc adds a couple of kg. Work clothes are taken in on public transport on Monday, which gives the legs a chance to recover from the weekend long ride or race.

I have to admit that I enjoy my rides much more on the roadie or TT bikes than I ever did on the MTBs or courier bikes. I also find that I get to work a lot less sweaty on the faster bikes, which is important when you have no shower and just have to have a bird bath (for which little sports towels work well).

[martinjs]

My bike started off at about 11k's but I've had a heavy duty rear wheel, pack rack, topbag with fold out sides, saddle bag with spare repair kit and some basic tool, Air Zound horn, pump, MTB pedals and bar ends. The topbag always has wet weather gear, rear light and some more tools in it so I don't really know how heavy it is. I'm guessing around the 20kilo that's without my usually lunch and work gear on my way to and from work. Oh and of course at least 94 kilos of me.

Martin

[Fletcher]

I'm trying to keep it light. No rack, panniers, baskets or stand on the bike, just a small seat wedge.I leave work shoes, pants, towel, soap, deodorant at the office. I wear a messenger bag on my back with my daily essentials , lunch, ironed & folded shirt and whatever bike stuff I cant fit in the seat wedge(2nd spare tube,mini pump, spray jacket). I haven't weighed it but I'm glad I've gone this way rather than going down the pedal-powered Gold Wing path. That's no stab at panniers or bike utes etc, I'm just not fit enough yet to haul that much weight around.

[Kalgrm]

Mine is 18kg, but it makes up for the weight in aerodynamics, which is extremely important for me. Most afternoons, I face a 30-50km/h headwind called the Freo Doctor.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Tale]

I've got a very heavy old steel touring bike with heavy everything (steel/leather Brooks saddle, big heavy pedals, racks all over, etc). I also have a ridiculously light road bike (nice new Fulcrum wheels, carbon drink cages, etc). Never weighed either of them, but the tourer is seriously heavy.

I do my hilly commute on both, using panniers on the tourer or a backpack on the road bike. There is really not much difference - pedalling in the right gear requires similar effort. The tourer is wonderfully comfortable to ride, but I prefer commuting on the road bike because it has better brakes, not because it is lighter. If I got better brakes, I would commute on the heavy bike.

[waynohh]

My mtb is 11kg with pedals. I have a multitool which I don't use in my saddle bag and stopped carrying a spare tube a while ago. There's probably less than 1kg of extras - lights, camera, tools, etc - on the bike so 12kg total. My backpack weighs next to nothing, but my jeans are quite heavy on a monday morning and friday afternoon. I'm 80kg so between 95kg and 100kg total.

The new mtb commuter will be 9.5kg.

[martinjs]

Confirmed my standard setup as at 19kilos.

[Fletcher]

Mine is 18kg, but it makes up for the weight in aerodynamics, which is extremely important for me. Most afternoons, I face a 30-50km/h headwind called the Freo Doctor.

Cheers,
Graeme

I'll refrain from complaining about the breezes I occasionally contend with.