samid
Guru
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
If you can fit all your stuff in a saddle and a bar bag I would suggest that as a "sportier" way to go. And a bar bag is handy for often used items (camera etc).
oh come on, extra light inner tubes are gonna make a noticable difference?!
How about pumping the tubes up with helium and wearing flip-flops instead of shoes, that should loose another few grams...
Mark.
Good ideas re the flip flops and helium but it's not just about weight.How about pumping the tubes up with helium and wearing flip-flops instead of shoes, that should loose another few grams...
Good ideas re the flip flops and helium but it's not just about weight.
You'll notice that Willem's suggesting wider rather than narrower tyres - wider tyres are heavier, not lighter, but are argued by some to be easier rolling. It's all about the rolling resistance. When he mentions light inner tubes, it's about rolling resistance primarily, I believe, not weight.
It is both about weight and about flexibility. Weight saving is some 50-100 gram per tyre, depending on the size (it is 95 grams in 26x2.0). On longer and more remote trips I always take two spares, so in my case it is 4x95 grams = 380 grams. The greater flexibility is what reduces rolling resistance. The difference is measurable. It is the same as with the tyres themselves: stiff casings are what slows you down. The weight reduction comes form tighter production tolerances rather than from more fragility. Even the xxlight have been very reliable in my experience, including rough trips such as loaded off road touring in Norway. Whether you want to bother is entirely up to you, of course.
Willem
On the flexibility bit would you also opt for folding as opposed to rigid tyres? If so do you also carry a spare folding tyre and have you found you can fit it immediately or do you have to leave it unfolded for a while first?