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Reducing the weight of my Thorn Sherpa...how did you do yours?

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Vintagetourer:
My trusty Thorn Sherpa has proved itself durable on some exceedingly rough outback Australian roads, however in November I will be riding from Canberra to Adelaide on roads which will not be exceedingly rough.
Hence I am wanting to prepared the bike to be a bit lighter and faster for this trip, and am prepared to spend a bit to do this.

The question is, has anybody else lightened their Thorn Sherpa for less expeditionary tours, and if so what modifications did you make? 
What changes did you make to bits and pieces to trim the total unloaded weight of your bare Thorn Sherpa?
(and yes ...I am trying to take some weight off myself as well as the luggage:)

regards
Graham Smith
Canberra Australia

mickeg:
I try to lighten my camping gear list and load, I leave my Sherpa alone.  If I had managed to trim some weight off of it, that probably would not be as much weight savings as a full 1 liter water bottle, so I focus my weight savings where it is easier.

But I did trim some weight several years ago, I used to use Surly racks front and rear.  But now use a Tubus Logo rear and Tubus Ergo on the front. 

In the first photo, you will see a small platform rack that is mounted on my front brake mounts, that is in addition to the Ergo that is hidden behind the panniers.  The second photo is five years old and shows the Tubus racks more clearly, I changed handlebars after that photo was taken, the first photo shows the current bike configuration with newer handlebars. The handlebar change was for ergonomics, not for weight savings.

Vintagetourer:
Thanks. Weight unladen of mine is 15.5kg including accessories and various attachments e.g. racks, lights, GPS, bottles (empty) before the loaded panniers and bags are attached. This is with 2.1"Smart Sam tyres.
I'll try to take weight off with lighter wheels and tyres, but also a Ti rear rack.

martinf:
Different tyres would make the most difference. Smart Sam are already fairly light, but on tarmac, 2" Schwalbe Supreme should roll better, mainly because they are more or less slick tyres. Dureme should be in between Supreme and Smart Sam for performance on tarmac. Going down to the slimmer 1.6" Supreme would reduce weight a bit more at the expense of less comfort and less protection of the rims.

Building a pair of lightweight wheels might be worthwhile if you have very heavy rims. But lightweight rims are more fragile and wear quicker.

Personally, I wouldn't bother changing the rear rack, this is static weight and IMO better to try and reduce the amount of stuff carried. Or, if you can, reduce luggage to the point where it will fit in a large saddlebag and eliminate the rear rack altogether for this trip.

Vintagetourer:
Also good tips. Thanks.
One other thing on my hitlist is the hefty Ortlieb handlebar bag and attachment. I'll either go without one, or replace it with one of those bikepacker type models.
I've toured on good dirt roads with the 1.6" Supremes and they worked well.

I'll need to stay with the rear panniers. Some stages of the ride will need extra food and especially water to be carried.

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