On both my bike trips to NW Africa I've carried Lonely Planet's Africa on a Shoestring.
On both occasions I rarely if ever used it to find accommodation.
I've little experience of East Africa.
On balance, for my next bike trip to Africa, I probably won't take any guide book.
IMHO I find guide books more useful for pre-trip research rather than on the road.
If you're concerned about the weight, you could always tear out the relevant pages and just carry them. ALso, torn out pages are more discreet when navigating round big cities where you may not want to stand around looking through a whole guide book.
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