Hey all! I’ve been doing all of my commuting, touring, and bikepacking on a cargo bike. I wanted something I could fit on the train so I could start expanding my range, and have an easier time with my local commute (~5 miles, Seattle). Assembled this Tout Terrain back in September, and I love it. I think im just not sure how heavy is too heavy, and would be curious to know how much effort you put into cutting down on weight.
My cargo bike obviously weighs a ton, but that’s par for the course. I feel like I could put a lot of effort into cutting weight here – wald basket components are shockingly heavy, kickstand, pump, etc. Most of the additions I had already owned, so I just threw them on.
So, looking for advice: Is it worth the extra effort / money to try to save some ounces? Or should i just get used to the weight and accept it as part of riding steel frames?
by s_dandylion
8 Comments
What are you trying to do? Go to work or bikepack?
Personally i hate have accessories I’m not using always on the bike but that’s more vanity than functionality.
Bike commuting isn’t bikepacking so…
Honestly if your comfortable your probably fine… Weight will make things harder on rougher terain and probably slow you down but if you are accomplishing what you want and don’t feel like you are getting slowed down you probably are fine. But yeah as has already been saidif you’re not using it you probably don’t need it. That being said removing the kickstabd and pump are pretty functional items. Id want to keep them around.
The weight of a bike is pointless to obsess over for commuting and touring imo. Considering the weight of my body and whatever gear I’m packing, I’m more concerned about quality and reliability than grams.
It does start to matter if you have to carry the bike. I previously commuted with a bike that went up stairs with me, and there I really benefitted from a fixed gear and a lightly loaded messenger bag. While that bike was and still is a blast to ride, it isn’t really useful for much of what I now do by bike.
Slower uphill and a little faster downhill 😉
better to be stable and not as fast in your case, imo you will get used to the weight since you will passively get stronger by default, so keep at it.
Well my 200 kg Total System Weight Cargo-trekking bike is 19 kg (front suspension, 2×8 drivetrain, aluminium frame, 4 pannier bags). My other Touring bike without front suspension, 3×8 drivetrain, different aluminium alloy (lighter ), 4 pannier bags, with a Total System Weight of 150 kg is just above 15 kg.
The main reason my first bike is so heavy compared to the second is in the rims (+500g) and tyres (+800g) that are far more heavy duty, and the second reason is the suspension fork (+1000g).
And to be known I put all the effort into making my bikes heavy duty not lightweight ( both having an original weight of 12 kg), full mudguards, dynamo hub and lights adding to the list.
It really depends on where you want to ride it.
If you are sticking to asphalt and like cruisy gravel it matters less. If you want to explore rougher terrain, places you need to get your front wheel up, places you need to push or carry your bike then weight has a huge impact.
Regardless, a lighter bike is much nicer to ride! You can’t do much about your frame weight and that’s fine but it seems like you have lots of good ideas about reducing other weight.
I think lots of ideas from UL hiking are pretty easy to incorporate into biking and it’s a pretty nice feeling for me to shave weight and think about need vs want and comfort. I’m almost under 10kg, which is about twice my backpack weight but tools are heavy.
I think you need some more weight because that dog in a wald basket makes me nervous. I’d mount the basket on a rando rack to be more secure.