EquipmentThe bicycle
My bike is customised for me and my needs.I weigh about 100 kg and have long legs. I mostly use the bike on country roads and in easy terrain; I also take it on trips and into tough terrain. So my bike is easy to carry: it has a high frame, strong brakes, and wheels with normal-width tyres. I prefer a straight handlebar with curved handles for gears, which must be plentiful for Alpine roads. I use an ergonomically designed Nishiki with 24 gears, fenders, luggage holder, lowrider, bicycle computer, compass, GPS, and a spirit level on the frame (to find out if I’m tired or just going up hill). The frame was made in 1993; other parts are more modern. Clothing and luggageI hope this packing list will help you compose your own setup, with appropriate, light-weight luggage.Through the right combination of clothing, you get warm, wind- and water-repellent biking clothes and a reasonable amount of dress-up items. For example, shoes and shirts could be used for both. Your underwear should be able to dry over night. 
And your selection should account for good balance on the bike and a certain
degree of order within the four saddle bags:
This equipment survived 40 degree centigrade sunshine, heavy rain, light snow storms, visits to the opera, . . . Always expect punctures and broken spokes or chains. Don’t pull on the rear sprocket with tools other than those you have with you. Packing for a March-April European tour to the Alps and beachesWhen travelling, I carry 31 kg.On flights to continental Europe, the bike is packed in an approved shipping case that stays at the airport.
Ahead of car, bus, and train trips, I pack the sleeping pad and disassembled bike
in a cloth case/sack. A shoulder strip divides the weight;
see below.
I connect four saddle bags with shoulder straps. With two bags on my back and two
on my chest, and the bicycle pack hanging on one shoulder, I can run short stretches.
In total, my baggage weighs 31 kg and is transported for free on most European
trains and busses. But it takes about 45 minutes to pack and unpack the baggage.
I often travel in a warm travel outfit – in order to divide the weight. My travel outfit, which is also “dress-up” clothing, consists of a white shirt, tie, maybe a fleece shirt, wrinkle-free black trousers, totally black sport shoes or dancing shoes, and a car coat. Every day before dinner, I wash socks, undershorts, undershirts, and a shirt; if I’m tired or ill, I have an extra set of these. I used the hotel’s hand towels to roughly drive the clothes (roll in and walk on them); option two is a 150W hair dryer. 15.3 kg Bicycle (disassembled in cloth case/cover) 14.7 kg Bags (not for food and beverages) 0.8 kg Travel food 3.2 kg Travel clothes including money bag On a summer-like day, everything on the bike weighs about 36 kg.16.5 kg Bicycle including meter, filled water bottle, pump, and compass 18.5 kg Bags, including food and beverages, winter clothes, nice-to-haves, and navigation equipment 1.8 kg Biking clothes including money bag Equipment listSummary, in kilograms. Parts weights in grams. Win = winter clothes (1.3 kg), nice = nice to haves, what I have not used (1 kg). GPS = navigation equipment (0.5 kg)
0.20 kg Money bag, including
Passport, tickets
Money
MasterCard + Visa (backup)
Pens
Phone number list + notes (duplicates)
Bike key (spare)
3.03 kg Travel clothes
480 Nice shirt
580 Nice jacket
670 Nice trousers
60 Slips
270 Nice shirt
110 Undershorts (also biking clothes)
50 Socks (also biking clothes)
810 Sports shoes (also biking clothes)
1.60 kg Light biking clothes
250 Helmut
50 Biking gloves
200 Biking shirt
130 Biking pants
110 Undershorts (also travel clothes)
50 Socks (also travel clothes)
810 Sports shoes (also travel clothes)
2.50 kg Packing
1 010 Saddle bags, 2 back
1 340 Saddle bags, 2 front
150 Plastic bags
0.64 kg On the luggage holder
330 Locking wire
290 Sleeping pad
20 Map case
3.55 kg Handbag, thief attraction, in right-front saddle bag
270 GPS GPS device with holder on the handlebar
100 GPS Extra batteries (also for the light)
150 GPS Battery charger
400 Phone including charger
80 Radio
350 Maps (sent home via the postal service)
400 Info hostel, hotel, worth seeing . . .
60 Calendar, pencil and eraser
260 Dictionary
80 Extra pair of glasses
40 Sun glasses
190 Binoculars
290 Camera + film
50 Swim trunks
50 Cap
60 Magnifying glass in outer pockets
40 Extra water bottle (1 litre water/milk)
530 Tools including extra tube
150 Knife with corkscrew, beer bottle opener . . .
2.56 kg Bad weather: front-left bag
800 Win Set (winter, top and bottom)
230 Rain set
410 Boots (covers)
290 Long-sleeved shirt
510 Bicycle case + 3+1 sport straps in outer pockets
40 Extra water bottle (1 litre water/wine)
180 nice First-aid kit
20 nice Reflecting strip
80 nice Rescue blanket
2.17 kg Food bag, back-right bag
30 Food bag (1.5 kg food)
900 Overall + braces/suspenders
320 Win Warm long underwear (HH)
170 T-shirt
80 nice Hand towel
400 Travel sheet
60 nice Knee support (in outer pocket)
30 Win Thin biking hood
90 Win Winter gloves (HH)
90 Win Turtleneck
4.35 kg Night-time bag: back-left bag
80 Toilet case (Total 1.11 kg)
100 Tooth: brush, paste, floss, picks
280 Shaver
100 Salve
20 String (clothes line)
20 Clothes pins
50 Toilet paper
50 Plastic hanger
70 Shampoo
60 Deodorant
20 Soap + hand cleaner
10 Comb
10 Sunscreen
20 Washstand plug
20 nice Needles, thread, scissors
70 Nail: scissors and file
60 Alarm clock
30 nice Medication
20 Nail brush (for shoes, bicycle, etc.)
10 nice Ear plugs
10 nice Matches
-----(end toilet case)
240 Hair dryer (for clothes and warming room)
100 Socks 2 pairs
220 Undershorts 2 pairs
480 Nice shirt (travel clothes)
580 Nice jacket (travel clothes)
670 Nice trousers (travel clothes)
60 Tie (travel clothes)
270 Dress shirts (travel clothes)
270 good, dress shirts 2 (in outer pocket)
320 Dancing shoes
Packaging details
Two strong leather straps with sewed-on rings are attached to the fastening loops
on the saddle bags. I lightly clean the wheel side of these bags and create a unit
of four bags that I slip over my head – two in front, two in back.
(The bottom-back bag swings easily and tries to rotate when I’m running, but
this isn’t a problem when walking.)
The bike case/cover is made of light fabric. The upper edge has holes for hand
and shoulder straps. It is opened with overlapping straps on one side of the
bottom edge and has five pair of thin, sewn-in cloth straps used to knot (close)
the case again. (I sometimes use the bike case as a blanket for my legs.)
For a shoulder strap, I use a long sport strap with a little leather shoulder pad.
I also need three short sport straps to wrap around various parts of the disassembled bike.
Remove the computer and other things from the steering/handlebar, take off the
pedals, empty the water bottle, and fasten the pump with insulating tape.
Loosen the baggage holder, lowrider, fenders/mud guards, and wheels.
(I keep the screws in their respective positions so that I can find them again.)
Lower the saddle and handlebar, loosen the computer and light holder, draw out
the handlebar stem and fold them down toward the frame.
Fasten the mud guards on one of the wheels. Place a wheel on each side of the frame,
with the chain wheel on the inside. Wrap the wheels and stem in the upper
frame with a short strap.
Slip the baggage holder and lowrider over the wheels and wrap them with a short strap.
Roll the map case into the pad and wrap the pad and wheel with a strap.
Fasten the long strap around the upper frame and out through the handlebars’
hole in the bike case. Pull the case over the bike and close it by tying up
its five sewn-in straps.
It takes about 45 minutes to pack the bike and just as long to reassemble it; the fenders take the most time. 
Before the case is pulled over the bike; the blue object is the pad.
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