Simple Commuter CRM

Low Cost Digital Scale will Weigh Items up to 6Kg (13Lb)

Chandra is both my inspiration and my fear. In his post, here, he discussed the merits of "CRM." CRM stands for "Poop Reduction Management." He's my inspiration because there are few of us that can't find something we can do without while riding and he got a scale to help his CRM program. He's my fear because I'd hate to wind up lugging a handlebar bag weighing over 14Lb.

I travel fairly light. While I run Buddy with a trunk bag and fenders, and carry four lights for the commute (2 in front and 2 more in back), I try not to carry too much extra stuff. For example, I do not bring a lock along with me on my commute, my bike does not utilize a kickstand, and for the cool mornings, I only fill my water bottle up half way. However, inspired by Chandra, I invested in a small scale and decided to do a little impromptu CRM of my own.

Sure enough, I managed to validate a bit of past CRM and found some new items to omit.

First off, I found that carrying a CO2 pump along on my commute cost me 81g. Considering that my Topeak pump is perfectly workable, and I only get a flat every few thousand miles, it seemed worth leaving behind. Next, I've been taking the Bontrager multitool along that I got at the HH100. It is a deluxe multitool, but for commuting purposes, the Park multitool includes enough for roadside purposes. Swapping for the Park saved another 79g. Finally, I removed the valve cap and loose hardware on my spare tube for another 2g savings. It isn't much, but there seems little point to carrying around stuff that duplicates items that don't fail and aren't strictly necessary in the first place. Total savings: 162g (nearly a half pound) for a net cost of nothing, an investment of about five minutes and a net loss of no functionality. Crimeny, this is MUCH EASIER than a diet!

Hmm, this weight savings thing looks like it has promise...