.33 oz is fine, I made dry bags out of it, don't sew it to increase the tarp size use the proper tape and double up with glue, I use aquaseal, tape line, glue line, second tape line works fine. For tie out points a couple of extra tabs stuck on and minimal stitching for small tie out loop.

Look on Suluk46 for some ideas

out of interest has any one got a parts list and cost for a sub 17lb single speed build?

I had a spreadsheet on my phone with every last dot itemized. I did however delete it as I had that horrible / wonderful feeling I might do something about it.

In essence nothing hard to source:

3.5lb ti frame
1300g handbuilt wheels
600g full carbon fork
160g, 90g, 140g, 120g Seatpin/stem/bars/saddle
450g tyres
Sub 300g brakes
175g pedals.......


We're talking £3-4k, which for a bike with limited use, was daft.

I did think it would be a few grand plus. Just had me wondering as I have an ibis tranny, the frame on its own is about 1400g so a good start to a light build. I had ideas of building it up as a light single speed for next summer.

If you have not picked a head lamp yet I use a photon micro with elastic cord. It's only 6 lumen but also just 6g. I then use an inova xs bar mounted , it's 27g for 53 lumen with a lithium battery and runs for about two hours. I prefer to have two lights just in case.

Amendments so far. With required pump to take into account the Klymit mat is still under consideration.

Theoretical 17lb Rigid Singlespeed - 7711g
PHD Minim Ultra +8' sleeping bag - 360g
Rutalocura Wasatch bivvybag - 105g
Cuben 5'x8' rectangular tarp with lines - 145g
Pegs for above (reliable), 6x Ti 4x Y - 90g
PHD Wafer vest (custom- no pockets, 1/4zip) - 110g
Down Beanie 25g
Cuben drybag for bar harness 4L 20g
20mm webbing bar harness 65g
Exped UL Pillow 42g
Klymit Inertia XLite 3/4 sleeping mat 155g
Foam earplugs 1pr 1g
Skeleton first-aid 50g
Photon Micro Torch 6g

In the interests of science etc, I'll omit to pack a sleeping mat on my next bivvy and try and pick somewhere soft. We'll see how it goes. I know a couple of people who do this, so provided you get the right spot it can't be too bad?

Depends on heat loss to the ground too I guess. I'd be worried that most nice soft areas will be a swamp if its been binning it down for 2 days.

The lightest kit is the stuff you leave behind mind!

What's the weight of the Wildcat 1/2 frame bag, the long thin one?

I've accidentally slept on the ground after taking old balloons for a balloon bed and most of them popping. I picked some mole hill soil and it was actually very comfortable. However I woke up in the night very cold. The temperature was around freezing. I think you might get away with it in summer.

Has anyone tried sleeping on bubble wrap? I've got a piece approx 90cm long by 40cm that weighs around 60 grams.

For 60g personally I'd prefer the tiny packsize of a balloon bed over a roll of bubblewrap.

I'm talking myself into a Cuben balloon bed for the list here!

Cuben balloon bed sounds good, where from and how much are they? I can add it to my list of kit I want but really don't need!

I spotted terra novas 50g ultra bivy and 88g ultra tarp, problem is its the better part of 250 quid for each of them!

I spotted terra novas 50g ultra bivy

I thought part of the idea was to be comfy ... ultra bivvy doesn't breath, might as well save 50g and just sleep out in the rain

Yep non breathable bivvybag a def no!

Cuben balloon beds are a diy item....

I could be wrong but I recall Ian had a dabble with a cuben balloon bed ?

Ian wrote:In the interests of science etc, I'll omit to pack a sleeping mat on my next bivvy and try and pick somewhere soft. We'll see how it goes. I know a couple of people who do this, so provided you get the right spot it can't be too bad?

I've tried that once in the interests of science. I woke up a couple of hours later and inflated the rollmat I had brought along

I've slept on bare ground and improvised "soft surfaces" a few times. They've all been cr*p, but that might just be me. Falling asleep has usually been aided by knackered-ness/alcohol but it's often a short, uncomfortable and therefore fitfull sleep.

This might not be an issue for a bloke who does long stretches of riding / discomfort as evidenced by recent Highland riding but to me it can take a trip from being fun (or at least tolerable) to being bog-awful.

Like so much in life, it's a subjective experience 8-)

Yep Ian did make a Cuben balloon bed, iirc his angst was old knackered balloons. I wonder how well the balloons slid into the Cuben thin tubular pockets.

A 250g short inflatable mat seems like it might be the ideal trade off, certainly for trips of more than one night where sleep is a necessity.

Is the short neoair XLite the best of the bunch?

here is my sons set up :D


Untitled by MM-on-POINT, on Flickr


Untitled by MM-on-POINT, on Flickr

being the slim bean he is i think him and the bike might be sub 25lbs

My cuben balloon bed weighed something like 45g with balloons for two nights. I did have a problem with old balloons popping, but haven't tried it since. Heat loss shouldn't be an issue in summer either?

@ cheeky - it's amazing how quickly sleep comes after 21 hrs of riding. The hard path outside the Camban bothy was barely noticeable

Edit: @ Anthony - a small Wildcat Clouded Leopard made out of VX07 and no padding against the frame would probably be about 120g. I have one with padding at 170g. A Mountain Lion "SL" designed to hold a 4 litre dry bag is 85g

Gone for socks to sleep in as the balloon bed is short and not especially warm! Toilet roll allows one 'movement' per day

Theoretical 17lb Rigid Singlespeed - 7711g
PHD Minim Ultra +8' sleeping bag - 360g
Rutalocura Wasatch bivvybag - 105g
Cuben 5'x8' rectangular tarp with lines - 145g
Pegs for above (reliable), 6x Ti 4x Y - 90g
PHD Wafer vest (custom- no pockets, 1/4zip) - 110g
Down Beanie 25g
Cuben drybag for bar harness 4L 20g
20mm webbing bar harness 65g
Exped UL Pillow 42g
DIY Cuben balloon bed inc pump and balloons 60g
Foam earplugs 1pr 1g
Skeleton first-aid 50g
Photon micro torch 6g
Wildcat Clouded Leopard frame bag 120g
Sleep/spare socks 32g
Montane Minimus waterproof smock 142g (m)
Toilet roll 22g
Blackburn micro pump inc. 2' rolled up gaffatape 67g
Continental Supersonic tube 98g

should it include a multi tool of some kind? toolmanator 1 covers the basics and is 42g, if you want to add a chain tool birzman damselfly is lightest at 37g

Yup list far from complete.

I've had one Birzman tool and I'm never buying another I'm afraid. Great looks, lovely and light but it was the worst actual 'tool' I've had the misfortune to own. All but 8 of the 11 tools were undersized, mis-shaped or made of Philadelphia cheese. For chain tool I usually use a Topeak head (26g), that uses your existing M6 headset bolt as a handle and a 5mm allenkey to operate.

I'll google toolmanator cheers

Anthony wrote:Gone for socks to sleep in as the balloon bed is short and not especially warm! Toilet roll allows one 'movement' per day

Theoretical 17lb Rigid Singlespeed - 7711g
PHD Minim Ultra +8' sleeping bag - 360g
Rutalocura Wasatch bivvybag - 105g
Cuben 5'x8' rectangular tarp with lines - 145g
Pegs for above (reliable), 6x Ti 4x Y - 90g
PHD Wafer vest (custom- no pockets, 1/4zip) - 110g
Down Beanie 25g
Cuben drybag for bar harness 4L 20g
20mm webbing bar harness 65g
Exped UL Pillow 42g
DIY Cuben balloon bed inc pump and balloons 60g
Foam earplugs 1pr 1g
Skeleton first-aid 50g
Photon micro torch 6g
Wildcat Clouded Leopard frame bag 120g
Sleep/spare socks 32g
Montane Minimus waterproof smock 142g (m)
Toilet roll 22g
Blackburn micro pump inc. 2' rolled up gaffatape 67g
Continental Supersonic tube 98g

How many sheets of toilet paper is that? Sure you could go double-sided and lose a few sheets

alansmout wrote:should it include a multi tool of some kind? toolmanator 1 covers the basics and is 42g, if you want to add a chain tool birzman damselfly is lightest at 37g

Mt Zoom multi tool is 87gms on my scales and includes chain tool, 4, 5, 6 allen keys, Phillips screw driver, two spanner notches and 4 spoke keys.

http://www.xcracer.com/shop/viewproduct ... ductid=269

@johnnystorm - thanks had not seen that one before. I do prefer to have one bit of kit do multiple things but couldn't find a combined tool under 100g. Thats another thing to add to my list!

DIY Cuben balloon bed inc pump and balloons 60g

Technically, the 60g doesn't include the pump. I use my bike pump, a Lezyne one with a flexible hose.
Dual purpose, see 8-)