2026 Weights and Measures: Bikepacking Gear Weight

nocellajoe
Jan 4
2 min read

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Bikepacking Gear Weight:

I get asked about bikepacking gear weight all the time, and I've never really cared that much. "It is what it is", I would say. In 2025, 3 things caused me to want top actually take a look.

I was running a rear-heavy pannier setup, and was wearing our my rear tire at a very fast rate. I also felt I was getting some unnatural "shimmy" (is there a such this as natural shimmy?) at higher speeds, and I felt this was also due to uneven weight distribution
On our Finger Lakes Tour, I usually hang with the bikes when we visit Watkins Glen Gorge Park while the crew goes off on a hike. I lifted everyone's bike to test relative weights, and was surprised at the spectrum of weights. I wanted to be able to be more of a resource for my riders.
I like spreadsheets

Overalls:

Click image for Full Google Sheet

So, I just dove in (image above), and weighed everything while I was talking my bike apart for it's offseason overhaul. I didn't (but should have) get a baseline from my previous season's setups. This is as it is moving forward.

Primarily, I wanted to get an understanding of gear and bag weight distribution. There are things that will change as I move through the winter with testing. For instance, I think I will forgo my Swift Industries Zeitgeist Bag and just strap things to my front Jack-the-Rack....that will save 1.3 lbs. alone!

Distribution:

When all is said and done, this is the part of the spreadsheet I was really interested in. I am not a "weight weenie", and don't chase gram reduction. Whereas is 2024/2025, I would say my Rear% / Mid% / Front% weight distribution ration was 65% / 14% / 21%, for 2026 I am looking at a more balanced 48% / 15% / 37%

What is pretty facilitating about these final numbers is that bike with accessories and the overall gear load is only 98 grams (3.4 oz) apart (15502g to 15404g).

This will change as I work through all of this in the lead up to our first trips this Spring. I will be updated above Google Sheet.

Final Note:

For better or worse, I do not use AI to create my posts. This is all me, with my misspellings, questionable grammar and tangential thoughts. I didn't get into this line of work to hand over my thoughts, expertise and experience to AI to spit out blog posts.