Using a mountain bike for Audax events?

Yer Brick you ride out from Victoria park through Chigwell
and onto Chelmsford and back through to near the Southend Airport.
You dont go down to Blackwall Tunnel then along the A13!
Its a dam lot harder than London to Brighton

Jeez when a "which bike for audax" gets to this level of chest puffing and BS it's a sad day for stw.

Don't you mean a normal day for STW?

Pretty much

cynic-al – what makes you think that it's chest puffing and not merely statement of fact?

London to Southend isn't particularly tough, just tedious for an hour or so until you get out of the burbs. We rode out from Chiswick to Southend on a 70s time trial tandem with a 53/21 bottom. Starting from a stop was the hardest bit, although winding it up on the flats out past Wickford was fun.
Just ride your road bike, I really have to laugh at those guys that think that a mtb is more comfortable.

Jeez when a "which bike for audax" gets to this level of chest puffing and BS it's a sad day for stw.

al…managed to ride to this spot on the very same bike just on week after riding the audax.

i love to puff my chest………….you c*ck… 8)

use a roadbike, road bikes are pretty good for the road, some would say made for the job. I did a 300k audax once years ago on a normal racing set up bike. It was fine, not sure I'd have finished yet if i'd used my mtb

Ton why do you think my comment was aimed at you? Like no one else has done road rides on mtbs. Arse 😎

Jimmy "ass handed on a plate" please.

and loads of people finished this year L.E.L on slicked up mtb's.

comfort is your friend over long distance.

the timing al……….. 😉

cynic-al – admitting that you get your arse handed to you on a plate by a bunch of pensioners every time you do an audax is hardly chest puffing.

and loads of people finished this year L.E.L on slicked up mtb's.

comfort is your friend over long distance.

He was talking about 200km audax, hardly the same thing.

ton, not sure what your point is, but I'm happy to keep trading insults with smilies if that's your thing 😐

jimmyshand – Member
cynic-al – admitting bragging that you get your arse handed to you on a plate by a bunch of pensioners every time you do an audax is hardly clearly chest puffing.

Indeed!

Might have guessed that a lawyer would try and misquote everything that people say. 🙄

300k and 5k meters climbing in 13hrs … we do 2 or 300k audaxes at 20mph plus average

That's not even a 15mph average, hardly chest puffing or willy waving to admit you ride so slowly.

And whats with the mixing mph/k thing, surely you think in one or the other. Then again the 300k/200k sounds more impressive than 190/125miles I suppose.

Gary_m – some of us can cope with both metric and imperial quite easily. Event distances are given in metric, but we are used to getting speeds in imperial – whats the problem.

Personally I think 190 miles and 16500 of ascent is a bloody good distance to do, no matter what time it takes.

If you think you can go and ride faster go and give it a go.

Jeez Jimmy, hardly deceitful! My point is that you are going on about how hard audaxes are, and by association how hard those are that do it.

My point: The Audaxes that I have done have all been harder than the Marmotte. People have a totally skewed view of Audaxes. Go and try one and you will find out that they are not as easy as you think they are.

If you think you can go and ride faster go and give it a go.

Perhaps I already do, just don't have any desire to brag about it on here.

You haven't been to any of the difficult ones in Scotland in the last 3yrs . . . Small community you see.

It's a big world out there.

With a small community. Dont kid yourself.

BATTLE!!!

Audaxes are (generally) ridden by people who can pace themselves well, and who consider that kind of distance fairly normal, they're used to it. They do it for the craic and the social side of it. I suppose the nearest comparable thing is the Rough Stuff Fellowship vs "weekend warrior" MTBer.

Sportives are (generally) ridden by people who wouldn't normally consider that sort of distance, it's a challenge for them.

As a result, audax riders don't tend to brag about it, they just get on and do it. Not racing (in fact in most events you have to pace yourself between a min and max allowed average speed so if you try and average 20mph you'll be too quick). Sportive riders will post about how they achieved their goal of completing the event in a Gold standard time.

Horses for courses.
15mph average doesn't sound quick but you try doing that over 200km while mostly working out the route for yourself and taking care of your own food stops.

With a small community. Dont kid yourself.

So when and where did I say I'd ridden an audax?

15mph over 125 miles really isn't a big deal no mater what name you give it. I get why people do it, but it's just not particularly impressive. I apologise for not being in awe of your achievements.

lister to red dwarf – we have an utter smeg head in our midst.

reads half a thread and then makes sarcastic comments

your right 15mph is not impressive over 125 miles …but then i gave an arbitrary sample to try and show that audaxing is not all stiffs and slow folk out for a pootle. perhaps next time ill say "a mate does" instead …. or "i saw someone who did"

you must be great company down the pub – least i know cynic-als just having a laugh 😉

I am deadly serious 😡 and dull 😐

Seriously though I must try some Audaxing, it does appeal.

least i know cynic-als just having a laugh

I'm having a laugh too, just at you rather than with you.

trail_rat you are amazing. Does that make you happier?

And as for 'reading half a thread' perhaps you should pay more attention at the back.

well if your up for a 300 i highly reccomend the durness duress – worst weather ive seen on a bike BUT the best ride ive done in a long time !

gary-m – if you havent ridden an audax then how come you are such an expert on them? May I suggest that you sign up for the Snow Roads 300k event next year and see how you get on.

I know the snow roads route well having lived in Aberdeen for quite some time, I am planning on riding the route with a mate later in the summer but setting off from Aberdeen city centre as I have a property there. I have no desire to 'sign up' to ride it.

How about Trail_rat and Gary_M have a race round the Snow Roads route?

Well put Crazy-legs.

My palmeres: probably a hundred 200km audaxes since 2005. SR (200, 300, 400 and 600k) every year since 2006. PBP. LEL. Blah blah blah.

I would happily ride 200k on my hardtail MTB with slicks on, but that's because I'm well adapted to riding those distances – both physically and mentally. Don't underestimate the mental challenge of being on the bike for 8 hours, potentially on your own.

The point is for the OP it'll be a trade-off: potentially more comfort on the MTB but slower so you'll spend longer on the bike. This probably means at the end of the day you'll finish in similar comfort on the road bike. If it was me I'd definately take the road bike as long as it was a nice day – audaxers are a funny bunch if you don't fall in line with a few of their rules, mudguards on wet days being one of them.

If you've never done 100km on a bike then I wouldn't leap straight into a 200. 100s can be much more social than 200s, and probably will have a larger number of entrants hence people to ride with.

gary-m – if you havent ridden an audax then how come you are such an expert on them?

Yeah, gary, don't try and out-expert Smee/jimmyshand/Goan, the oracle on all things cycling or he'll make you eat his dust…

😉

How about Trail_rat and Gary_M have a race round the Snow Roads route?

Then that wouldn't be an audax…

I know I'm treading on dangerous ground crazy-legs but I don't worship false gods. And it's been a while since smee got would up.

How about Trail_rat and Gary_M have a race round the Snow Roads route?

Would we need to use full guards? And jimmyshand I guess you're suggesting you're too slow to take part.

hey have a go at me if you want – but continuing to promote audaxes as events only folk in there 60s with beards do is wrong – they are not. They represent a great way to get value for money road miles with plenty of other folk over routes you may not have thought about doing – generally on safe roads.

**** it – when i did my last audax it was at 12 mph with a bunch of stuffy old men with beards and brooks and caradice bags with panniers and we went really slowely and it was shit on shit roads with shit people …. or was that luptons ride round the radar sportive last year with folk on this thread im getting confused with ?

Do you need some help picking your toys up trail_rat?

crazy-legs – I am of the opinion that Gary_m is an asshat anyway. I met him once.

We started at the same time in a sportive last year. I boosted it off the start line so that I could get out of the ferocious and chilling wind then slowed down once I was into a more sheltered part of the valley. Gary_m came past and hurled a pile of abuse at me. Nice guy or complete and utter bell end – you make your mind up.

I appreciate the input from those who clearly know what they're talking about. I'm going to replace one of my regular mid-week early morning mtb rides with a road ride on the TCR for a while & see how I get on with it. I was donated the latest copy of Arrivée yesterday, which looks like it should help me get to sleep for a few nights :-).