Two years on Open Pros on my Roadrat without issue, mostly on with some offroad.

I'd go for the Edge deep-profile carbon tubulars if I was you, to compliment the incredibly lightweight roadrat frame and fork. :wink:

I think you're rigt the top end weight weenies will stick with the lighter Cantis, but every amateur will switch to discs. The longevity of parts and ease of use will mean a massive new market for lightweight dropbar hydraulics et voila the big manufacturers convince us its essential and cantis become extinct.

As someone who rips through Open Pros on my audax bike I can't wait for more choice of disc forks / lightweight road discs and all the other stuff that'll come with mass marketing. I already run a Roadrat as a commuter because I can have a cable BB7 disc on the front so no rim wear in the winter.

Surely the 'what saddle' question always leads to a list of saddles that other people like? What's the point? :roll:

Saddles are one of those things I can justify having a selection of, stashed away for whatever I build up next, as I can like a saddle on one bike, but hate it on another eg Brooks B17 = great on the audax road bike, pointless on the SS MTB.

Best advice I got was just ebay a load of saddles then sell the ones you don't get on with (or keep 'em for the next build if you're like me).

Right, gotcha. Ta anyway.

Spud: Are these for the weekend? If so, Endura are doing MT500 spray shorts for half price (£32.50) with a trade-in of a battered pair.

where did you hear this? Got a link / email / contact at endura that knows about the offer?

Any except cola.

However, they all remind me of the soluable painkiller I occasionally had as a kid, hence I can't stand them when on the bike. I chuck one in whatever water I have when I stop (ie at the pub) then neck it down in one. Does the job.

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.

Not until next August (and there's some serious miles to do to qualify), but for the discerning roadie Paris-Brest-Paris is one to do before you die just for the atmosphere.

http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp2011/index2.php?lang=en&cat=accueil&page=edito