Are these things really that fast? Its only 66 miles, what sort of pace will the average middle of the pack guys be doing? I should I buy a road bike?
folk do Sportives on all sorts of stuff. Mid pack depends more on your ability rather than your bike per se IMO. Get some thin slicks on the mtb and you'll be fine.
That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I wont be going fast just didn't want to be the only one without drop bars.
a road bike will be XX% quicker than a mtb even with slicks on.
however, if you are in the middle of a bunch you will be saving about 30% of your energy due to being sheltered from the wind.
mtb will be fine imo.
cp speaks sense^^
there was someone on a brompton when I did the Dartmoor Classic earlier in the year.
Don't buy a bike for 1 event, but if you like it consider it. Or see if you can borrow one.
Use a MTB you'll be fine, and as other have said if you like it buy a road bike.
When I finished for the Etape I was just collecting myself, when my dad came over, congratulating me. Then said a girl on a MTB had just come in 5 mins before me 😆
Pace wise depends so much on the route, but for an average hill ride of 4,000ft of climbing over 66 miles you'd probably be looking around 17mph. That's very rough, knowing nothing about the event!
Wouldnt buy a bike for one event. I would use it to ride to work on as well. I currently have a 22 mile commute pretty sure I can manage 66 without much training. Have had road bikes before so know how much faster they are.
All kinds of bikes on the Tour of Flanders Sportive at the start of this year and riders on Bromptons finished ahead of me when we rode the Dunwich Dynamo.
What ride is it? You might stick out a bit in the Marmotte or the Etape but the majority of sportives and charity rides in this country have a pretty wide variety of bike and rider types so you'll be fine.
Its the Wiggle New Forest one in October. A friend is doing it so I said I would tag along...
I did 3 days of 100 miles on an MTB with slicks but at a lower pace.
I put a medium road block on the back 12-27 I think but regret not getting a bigger big ring. I did not actually run out of gears but with a tailwind I got more tired than the road bikes as I had to spin the gear when I just wanted to gently lean on a big gear.
a 48 tooth would have fixed it I think
I've ridden a few sportives on my MTB before I bought a road bike. I just fitted Schwalbe Kojaks onto the existing rims.
The only issue is gearing as Doh1Nut mentioned. This is only worsened by the fitting of the skinny tyres.
With 26" wheels & 44x11 you soon run out of gears particularly when sitting with a big group.
Learn to spin and you'll be fine.
I've not seen many groups in the sportives I've done so it's more down to whether or not your overall time bothers you. I think you'll struggle to maintain 17mph+ average on 26" slicks, even 1" ones whilst on a road bike you'd probably do so relatively easily.
You'll almost certainly overtake some carbon exotica on the short steep climbs in the New Forest.. it's all about the pilot in the end.
If you're buying to commute on (and don't want a proper road bike) maybe a flat bar 700c or a 29er with CX tyres is an option? Would be a little faster I'd have thought.
i'd stick a rigid fork on. Preferably carbon.
oh and can you borrow some 29er wheels with slicks? Would help with the gearing issue.
I'd be totally happy with it, except for the lack of riding positions... I'm not really a drops fan but over a decent length of ride being able to shift from hoods to flats to various drops positions is a big help for comfort. So I'd fire bar ends on your bike at least.
26 inch slicks tend to be a bit oriented towards commuting, my Marathons are spot on for that but they're not fast at all. So choose the right slicks!
can you borrow some 29er wheels with slicks?
+1 for that idea (assuming you've got disks on the mtb).
And you'll feel smug too when you use the mountainbike gears to climb up all those steep climbs whilst the 'men' get off and push because they listened to poeple who told them a road bike should not have less then 39t front chainring and a 11-25 cassette.....
I did a few reliability trials and used to train with a road club on a slicked up Klein Rascal years ago. It was o.k. most of the time, although I had to spin like buggery, as I couldn't seem to honk out of the saddle in a big enough gear, as I would on a road bike.
I'd give it a go. 😀
I've occasionally time trialled on a MTB and do them deliberately with knobblies, fuss suss set to bounce etc etc. I can generally average 20mph.
Skinny tyres will help but for me the biggest killer is lack of hand positions. Tucking in to get more aero kills my triceps and elbows so I would actually suggest getting a cheap set of clip on aero bars.
Yes it'll look noddy but being able to ride in another position will help no end. - You might also find you'll overtake people 😉
I've seen some people on 26" wheels hammering it and keeping up with some fast paced roadies. It's not liked it would seem! You can ride on anything so long it's safe
Used to regularly do sub-30 min 10 mile TTs on my old Nail Trail with slicks on.
It was slow to get rolling (compared to a road bike) but it had momentum and once wound up in the 48T it used to fly
I did the Wiggle Jurassic Classic (100k) last Saturday on my Cube Ltd running Schwalbe city jets (1.5")and stock 44 / 11 gearing - I wound the forks down to 100mm (figured 140mm of travel was a bit excessive for the road) and left them locked most of the time.
I was chuffed to finish in 4.56:31 but I'm not particularly fit, and have post-viral reactive arthritis at the moment. I reckon I'd have been a bit quicker on a road bike, but there were folks (probably quicker than me) on all sorts of tackle. I got passed by a tandem at one point..! All money for a good cause though eh? 🙂
Lock out suspension, pump slicks up hard, enjoy. I did a hilly 110 mile charity ride once using this method. I appear to have survived...
My wife did the Jurassic Classic this weekend, (whilst I waited for her at the finish on crutches!)
I saw finishers on alsorts including hybrids and 26" mountain bikes (even an Apollo with what looked like original tyres)
I did notice most people seemed to finish individually or in groups of 2-3 people so certinaly for the 6hr+ riders not many seemed to cycle in groups of any size.
I did an overnight 200km audax style ride on my slicked-up MTB years ago. Not my bike of choice for such events but it worked.
You'll see people at Sportives on all sorts of kit, everything from top end carbon bling down to hybrids. Just go out and enjoy it. Slicks, locked out/pumped up suspension, you'll be fine. 🙂
Years ago I rode a 100km Test Valley Tour bike event on an old skool geometry hardtail with slicks and a flat bar. To say I suffered was an understatement - neck and shoulders were so sore.
Cinamon_girl this would be on an old steel kona with steel forks and long stem. So very similar. I will not be averaging 17MPH 14 will be my cruising speed at that sort of distance!
Rich - steel would be comfy and good idea about the long stem! Have fun. 🙂
And you'll feel smug too when you use the mountainbike gears to climb up all those steep climbs whilst the 'men' get off and push because they listened to poeple who told them a road bike should not have less then 39t front chainring and a 11-25 cassette.....
I did my first sportive on a 39-25 lowest gear, the fatties were still pushing their compacts up the hill. It's not the gears it's the pilot.
Then again I was pretty fit back then, I was mid pack as a result of starting 2 hours late!
Done loads of sportives on mtb even without slicks, like Fred Whit, etc. You just won't be in with the fast fellas. Remember we do this for fun 🙂
rich you can borrow my road bike if you want. email in profile.
Thanks for the very kind offer thomthumb. riding my mountain bike gives me a nice excuse to ride slower than everyone else 🙂 I just hope im not last!
fit some bar ends,you could even fit some inboard of the shifters.
looks a bit like antlers,but works quite well