Afternoon all.

I’ve signed up to do Manchester – London ride in 24 hours in June this year and now looking for a suitable bike. (http://www.rideuk24.com/)

Recently moved from Swinley area to Norfolk, always been a MTBer but recently have been doing most of my miles riding a Croix De Fer with 28c road tyres, so not the lightest of bikes, but comfortable for someone that doesn’t race and I can change to CX tyres when roads have been horrid.

Looking now to buy a road bike to train on and do the 250 mile ride along with a few 100 mile sportives.

I don’t care about the name on the frame, so have been looking at Ribble Gran Fondo + Planet X Gran Fondo (can you see a pattern??), any other bikes that I should be looking at, I want something that is going to be comfortable for the long distances, not so bothered about all out speed.?

Also can anyone recommend some good 46cm compact carbon road bars?

Recommendations for comfortable road saddles also?

Thanks all.

In a similar position, I’m looking at a Specialized Roubaix

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/roubaix-elite-compact-2012-road-bike-ec030133

I’ve just bought a planet X RT57 SRAM rival bike for £999 – £1300 gets you the SRAM red version. To make it a bit less racy, I went for a L with a short stem instead of the M which was more my size. This will make you slightly more upright for the same reach.

For a long distance ride, if you have a favourite Mtb saddle, I’d be tempted to stick with that, as comfort is key!!

go to a shop have a look, get someone to give you advice in person on the correct size.

250miles in one hit is 15ish hours, think about it 90 pedal turns a minute, over 80000 pedal revs. Getting something that fits will reduce the chance of injury, make it slightly less painful an experience.

To be brutally honest do you need a new bike? just use what you have as you say your not racing it, get a set of decent tyres, a good saddle (whatever that might be), double wrap bars if you want, etc.

Thanks mrmo, I think i was looking at a new bike as I was also thinking or joining road club here and a series of local sportives (norwich 100 etc).

The Croix De Fer is a great bike and comfortable, but with the standard wheels it is near 26ibs, I felt (and i am really no expert) that a lighter bike has got to make a difference in the long haul in the amount of effort you use and my chance of actually finishing the 250 miles!

Equilibrium.

But I noticed when I broke the clamps on my titanium seatpost and changed it to carbon that most of the ride quality was coming from my seatpost and a gel flow flite saddle

I would second the suggestion about using the Croix de Fer. It is not light by road race standards, but unless you are riding a particularly hilly route, the extra weight is unlikely to be a huge problem. Fit some fast rolling road tyres, pump them up properly, and I’ll bet the Croix de Fer will roll along quite happily. On a route of that length, you need to be comfortable, so having a bike that you are happy with is important. If you are unlucky enough to get bad weather, a bike you can fit proper mudguards to could also make life a lot more pleasant.
It might be worth trying some of your local sportives to see if the Croix de Fer actually does the job for you before shelling out for something new.

A road racing bike is not necessarily the answer for all road riding. A lot of Audax riders, who know a thing or two about long distance riding, still opt for “fast tourers” rather than full on race machines.

Monksie did London to Manchester this year on a Super Six. I’ve done numerous centuries on a CAAD.

I’d stick with what you know. A race bike with more bells and whistles will (possibly) be slightly faster, but if it rains on the day you’ll be bringing out the CDF with guards!

If I was planning on doing that distance and couldn’t gaurentee the weather I’d definatley be riding something with full guards. And big (well, 28-32) tyres make things more comfortable.

And 46cm compact drops? Unless you have the shoulders of a silverback and hamstrings tighter than gnats chuff I’d get something more normal (speeking as someone who bought some thinking they’d be better at handling my moutainbiker awesumness, I’m much happier on some 42cm WCS evo-curves).

Is 26lbs really that heavy for doing long distance riding? over the last 2 year, I’ve been doing audax rides on 2 different bikes, a Planet X Ti Sportive unloaded 24lbs, and a Salsa Vaya unloaded 32lbs, unless Im looking at doing a really hilly ride, there isn’t much between them, the Vaya is heavier, but is just as comfortable.

There is a thread about bike weights on YACFat the moment, which could be worth a read.

What tires do you currently have, as this can make a huge difference to the ride / speed of a bike, also getting 46cm handlebars may be an issue, as not many make them over 44mm, one brand who does is Deda

Few good offers on last years Giants if you look around (lifetime warranty on the frame as well i think?)
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p3604

But yeah, as eveyrone else has said your existing bike would be ok and losing 2-3kg off your total weight won’t make much difference to speed. I wouldn’t want to do 250 miles in the rain without ‘guards.

Recommendations for comfortable road saddles also?

Brooks, if you happen to suit them. Mine is incredibly comfortable. I’ve done some 100+ milers on it and not even thought about it.

I have a 2012 Spesh Roubaix. I totes love it. Haven’t ridden a 250 miler on it but would definitely feel more than happy if I was going to. Lovely bike. 🙂

Thanks for all the replies. Must admit not what i expected, I thought the STW proverb was “always N+1, especially if it’s shiny!”

I had 46cm bars before, i loved the width but not the shape, and unfortunately thisisnotaspoon I am blessed with shoulders just slightly less wide than a 787’s wingspan due to years as a prop forward.

Currently ride the Croix De Fer with either Racing Ralph 33c or with Gatorskins 28c.

I currently have a Thomson post on there and the standard alu forks. Would I be better spending some money on carbon forks and post to make it more comfortable and if any pennies left over to look at the wheels?

Being an MTB’r with 780mm bars when I gt my first road bike this summer a Defy carbon Advanced, I instantly wanted wider bars than the 42 that came on it. Afte rriding it properly for a few months, I realised my LBS were right and that proportionally, 42’s were bang on. Decent tyres make a huge difference as well to speeds and effort.

Forks, bars (and dont underestimate comfort from the stem, and it’s an excuse for matching kit), seatpost, saddle.

I went for ritchey WCS evocurve bars, WCS stem, Canyon VCLS seatpost and selle italia saddle. With bar’s bear in mind some measure outside to outside, other center to center, so some 44’s are 46cm etc.

comfort trumps weight at that distance to an extent.

Id lighten the wheels and fit low rolling resistance tires

thomson is a terrible post for a road bike its jarring and stiff

Id fit a carbon fork as alu forks are a terrible invention.

probably get it down to low 20s by that anyway.

i had fancy race bikes but for 300km audaxes my bike of choice was always the giant OCR because i knew it , i knew it was comfy and it handled predictably which is a big concern when tired and everythings sharpened up on the race bike and gets twitchy on highspeed descents 😉

As said above, I think the most important thing for a long ride is a bike you know and have ridden lots so know it works. Also mudguards! (as we do live in England)

If you’re gonna use the Croix De Fer and want to spend some money I would get a carbon post (easton EC70 is reasonably priced/light), carbon forks (i use Kinesis Pure CX on my cx/audax bike), some full length mudguards and a set of good road wheels. Either something like the Shimano RS80 or handbuilt Velocity A23s on Novatech hubs.

I rode Reigate to Lincoln on a Croix de Fer a year or so ago (176 miles) and it was fine, just put some 23mm tyres on it.

Thanks all.

Much good advice (and my wallet thanks you)

Vin Cox rode round the world (in record time) on a Croix de Fer so it should be ok for Manchester to London.
I’d be more concerned about testing saddles and getting the miles in.

Cannondale Synapse. Carbon. 105 groupset. Stays and seatpost are a bit more flexy than normal. Really comfy bike compared to my Fuji. Under budget online (about 1375)

I would get a carbon post

titanium post…

i would stick with what i know +10
carbon post/bars/fork are all good for comfort.
go with a saddle you know to be comfy for you.
get any changes done to the bike early so that you dont need to touch it in the last couple of weeks, 250 miles is a pretty long way to go with something niggling away at you.
comfort is the most important thing for a long day in the saddle.
i have very broad shoulders also, i can thoroughly recommend deda rhm-02 bars, mine are 46cm outside to outside, they have a semi flat top, and they are shallow drop.

I’ve had a look at the massive and confusing range of forks on the Kinesis website. What would fit best on the Croix de Fer? DC39?

A lot will come down to the seatpost regarding comfort.

You may be quite heavy if you were a prop, and so would get more movment out of an alu seatpost, but bear in mind that the thinner the diameter the more movement, so you could use a shim and have a thinner diameter post. Also carbon can be quite comfy, but is not always – check for comfort before you buy. The more post exposed, the more movment and thus comfort too.

If you have a relatively big bike with little seatpost exposed, specialized and a few others do carbon seatposts designed for comfort using compression areas which work even if there is little seatpost showing.

You can get a Van Nicholas Mistral for £1500 or less, and it’s the only Ti bike mentioned thus far. I did a LeJog on one, they’re really comfy but are great for long rides too.

What tyres do you have on it?

Scud I have a Giant Defy you are welcome to borrow for a bit to try out 😀

Use the Croix de Fer. As has been said up there on long rides like what you plan to do comfort is paramount. Have a look around any audax and you’ll see mostly bikes with relaxed geometry. I wouldnt go for 23mm tyres though – 25mm for a decent amount of comfort.

You don’t need to go heavy to get comfort. There are plenty of light bikes that’ll handle big miles.

I bought my brother a Trek 3.5 last year, discounted to 1600 ish IIRC. Latest version is the Madone 3.1 I think. Nice bike. Good geo, comfy. Not a high spec as,say, a Ribble or Canyon et al but a good buy overall.

Giant Defy must be a candidate too.