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I'm planning in the far future to do a long ride of around 3000km (~1864mi). As I just have a single speed, I've been looking at what is in the market "designed" for that purpose in the price range 1000-2000€/$ and everything is around 14-15kg (30-33lb).

Is that normal for such a bike, or is it too much, considering that you still have to carry some luggage?

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    For a 3000km tour you want something that is reasonably robust. If you'll be carrying luggage, even more so. Full camping gear is a minimum of about 20kg, and possibly as much as 50. And then there's that pesky rider -- another 100kg right there. +/- 10kg or so on the bike itself is not a big deal, in the grand scheme of things.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Apr 22 '18 at 21:35
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    In relation to a question at travel.se I was reading about a ride of Québec's trans-taiga route (1500km of almost deserted gravel) Getting the bike weight down to ~100lb (nearly 50kg) meant not carrying enough food, and that was with relying on finding plenty of water en route
    – Chris H
    Apr 27 '18 at 16:08
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I've been looking at what is in the market "designed" for that purpose in the price range 1000-2000€/$ and everything is around 14-15kg (30-33lb) [...] Is that normal for such a bike

Most touring specific bikes will weigh more compared to similar none touring bikes for a number of reasons:

  1. Frames and wheels are stronger and heavier. This is by design to ensure the bike remains predictable and stable under load. As you add weight the frame will become more prone to flexing, which can result in undesirable behaviors such as speed wobbles or tail wagging. As such, touring bikes tend to be built with stronger/heavier wheels and frames to reduce flexing under load. The stiffer frame can also lead to the bikes feel “less lively” when ridden without a load. Stronger frame and wheels are also less likely to fail under extreme abuse (e.g., rough dirt roads) as compared to a bike with a lighter build quality.
  2. Components are usually stronger and heavier. Similar to the frame and wheels other components are often selected for strength and durability over weight, which further adds to the heavier weight relative to a comparable non-touring bike.
  3. Extra components. Most touring bikes will come with more add-ons such as fenders, racks and lights. All of these add to the weight of the bike.

Given items 1-3, the 30-33 lbs weight is generally reasonable.

is it too much, considering that you still have to carry some luggage?

Not at all. As other answers point out, a couple extra pounds is small compared to your total weight of bike + gear + rider. Unless you are doing some some kind of self-supported ultra endurance race (e.g., Transcontinental Race) this really won't matter.

Finally, I just wanted to point out that most bikes are over engineered to accommodate a range of rider weights and as such will do fine with a light load even though they are not designated as a “touring” bike.

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People tour on everything -- 's , specialized touring bikes, mountain bikes, etc.

Find something that works for you and is within your budget. Unless you have a decent amount of experience with touring, I wouldn't worry about something that does 3000 km tours without breaking a sweat. You need a lot of planning to do something like that, which will affect what you carry (e.g. are you camping, staying in hotels, etc.), and you need that information and experience to choose the right bike for you.

For reference, a standard touring bike (like the Trek 520) is 13 kg in disc form for a 57 cm. Note that the weight isn't that big of a deal; how it handles long rides carrying loads and how tough it is (e.g. are the wheels going to break in a little pot hole) is far more important.

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    From experience a touring wheel should stay true after the biggest pothole that allows you to stay on the bike, even if you didn't have time to unweight the saddle (nearly run off a narrow road by an oncoming car with its full beams on in pitch darkness). Steel forks help in this case, by being both tough and slightly springy.
    – Chris H
    Apr 23 '18 at 10:45
  • Touring bikes also flex less under heavy loads. Speed wobbles and tail wags are no fun at speed!
    – Rider_X
    May 1 '18 at 4:23
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That seems reasonable.

I've got an extra large Genesis Tour de Fer, and I've just weighed it. With front and rear racks, full mudguards, a D lock (itself 1.3 kg), etc. it comes in at around 17 kg. That's set up for commuting, plus the front rack but minus the toolkit. This was a £1000 bike so in the range you're looking at, and all the comparable bikes I considered were similar.

I can ride it up 25%+ slopes in that state, though slowly and not for long, and have done a flattish 100 km in 3:38. With the 35mm tyres it also handles rough tracks pretty well. My first touring trips (camping) are coming up soon, and I've test ridden with the bike loaded to about 40--45kg. It handles just the same as it does stripped down. I had thought I'd tour more and do fewer long day rides. I may consider a lighter wheelset for unloaded riding when I feel like spending the money, but I'm expecting to take it up the Col d'Izoard just stripping off the racks and mudguards.

Compare to a hypothetical 10 kg tourer, assuming a rider weight of 80 kg you have ~5% more weight, so that much less acceleration and extra climbing effort. You will be slower uphill than on a lighter machine, but you'll have the gears for it and you'll be able to keep going all day once the bike is set up to fit you properly.

If you're doing very light touring ("credit-card touring") and only need to carry your stuff for the day and a small overnight bag, you have much lighter options, like frame bags or a rack that fits any round seatpost but only carries up to around 10 kg. You could put these on a <10 kg aluminium road bike, for example.

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    I like the "credit-card touring". You exchange heavy gear against light money ;-).
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Apr 22 '18 at 22:07
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    @PeterA.Schneider Ultralight trekking gear costs around 1€ for every two grams saved. Assuming touring is similar, spending money as you go instead of on equipment beforehand is a completely relevant option.
    – JollyJoker
    Apr 23 '18 at 10:19
  • @PeterA.Schneider the term isn't original, but sums it up nicely
    – Chris H
    Apr 23 '18 at 10:36
  • You could save the best part of 1kg with a bivvy instead of a decent 1 person tent, at a similar cost, so to some extent you can spent comfort rather than money. I'm planning to tour with much of the same gear I trekked with 20 years ago, when we considered ~20kg+food&water a reasonable pack weight.
    – Chris H
    Apr 23 '18 at 10:39
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    Minor update after 200km of loaded riding over the weekend: big panniers are a massive drag into a headwind. This is more noticeable than the extra weight on all but the steepest climbs and wouldn't be any better on a lighter frame
    – Chris H
    Apr 30 '18 at 6:17
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This is normal. On sale there are lightweight models of bicycles with reinforced main parts. Watching what kind of luggage you take with you. I take only the most necessary things.

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    Hello, and welcome to bicycles.se. There are many unanswered questions, maybe you would like to answer them instead of bringing up old questions that already have good answers.
    – ojs
    Apr 27 '18 at 16:50
  • @ojs While this answer could certainly be improved, the question is hardly old! It is still a "hot question"!
    – Michael Hampton
    Apr 28 '18 at 1:15
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    Welcome to Bicycles! Our goal as a Q/A site (rather than an typical forum) is to have detailed and relevant answers to fairly specific questions. Your answer has been flagged as "Not an Answer" or is getting downvoted by the community because it either doesn't answer the question, or doesn't add valuable information given the answers that already exist. Answers like this will often be deleted or converted to comments. Please see the Tour for an overview of how this and other Stack Exchange sites work.
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