Double Centuries

I've gone that far on 300 km brevets since I ride to and from the start / finish point. I've used both my touring and road bike and had no problem on either. But my road bike is a Giant Defy, which is not at all aggressive.

Are you planning on doing it solo or with a group? My personal best solo ride is around 230 km. If you want to do long rides look at joining a randonneur club. The club I'm with is small and we usually ride as a group, so there are opportunities to draft and take it easy for a while.

Whichever bike you choose make sure it has GOOD tires and it fits you like a glove, your body will thank you
Longest I've ridden has been like 200km and I was aching all over for the next couple of days

I did one on a caad10 with 25mm tyres

Pretty aggressive geo but was riding with a fast bunch so it was appreciated.

The one thing I can recommend is ensuring you have a wide range of gears, preferably a compact crank and 28 or more teeth on the cassette. I rode standard to 28 and it was horrible, grinding up/putting in extra watts up climbs fatigues you too much for that sort of distance and you will bonk early.

>>1011551
>Whichever bike you choose make sure it has GOOD tires and it fits you like a glove, your body will thank you
>Longest I've ridden has been like 200km and I was aching all over for the next couple of days

I've got a touring bike with 35c marathon supremes and a Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle. It's comfy for 100 miles. I'm 6'4 but have been trying out 165 and 175mm cranks

The shorter cranks seem to save your knees, less taint grinding

If you couple them with a set-forward seatpost you can get a more open hip angle. Triathlon people do this. I haven't tested on a long ride year

My roadie bike is not comfy and probably never will be at the 100 mile point

>>1011575

Thanks for the advice. My roadie is a CAAD5. But I don't think I can set it up comfy enough to do 200 on

I will keep banging at it

>>1011547

Solo preferred. I like to set my own pace and biking is a way to get away from people for a while

I've done it twice on a CAAD9 with skinny tires. The second time was fairly successful. Just make sure that you have A LOT of hours in your legs and in the riding position you intend to use.

Aggressive road bike is fine if you have the core strength to support your weight in that position for that long without getting too sore.

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>>1011647
>marathon supremes

>>1011653
>I've done it twice on a CAAD9 with skinny tires. The second time was fairly successful. Just make sure that you have A LOT of hours in your legs and in the riding position you intend to use.
>Aggressive road bike is fine if you have the core strength to support your weight in that position for that long without getting too sore.

I need to do core exercises. I think you have the right idea. I'll start at 4am and just force myself to do 200 miles, even if I ride until midnight. Then the next goal is progressively cutting down my time until I can maintain something like 18-20 mph the whole ride

then? RAAM at age 40. I want to RAAM so bad

>>1011662

They really are the greatest tire of all time. Have you read this site?

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-2016

>>1011691
>>
>They really are the greatest tire of all time. Have you read this site?

yeah the vittoria voyager hypers beat them

>>1011662
I hate my supremes, horribly harsh ride.

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>>1011723
>yeah the vittoria voyager hypers beat them

They roll really fast but have roadie-level puncture protection. For a touring tire they are no good. If you want a fat roadie tire for some reason they're fast I guess

>>1011725

What size and inflation level are you running? I have them in 35, 32, and 2.0". I'd say 32c were the only ones I didn't love

>>1011727
>>1011723

Here's the source

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/vittoria-voyager-hyper-2016

> The Vittoria Voyager Hyper is pretty much a big road bike tire disguised as a touring bike tire. Rolling resistance at an air pressure of 90 psi is comparable to all-round road bike tires pumped up to 120 psi. When compared to other touring bike tires, the low rolling resistance does come at the cost of a low total tire thickness (less rubber to wear down) and low puncture resistance.

> I rate the Voyager Hyper 5/5 because it sits at the top of the touring bike category for now and rolling resistance is still the most important factor here. I must add that the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme (read review) is probably the better all-round tire when you look at the big picture and consider other things like the amount of rubber to wear down and puncture resistance. If you want the absolute lowest rolling resistance, the Voyager Hyper is the tire to get.

>>1011727
>For a touring tire they are no good

Tell that to Jan Heine with his Compass™ ultra-supple tyres.

>>1011727
32, started at 90 psi and kept lowering them from there.

>>1011738

I can only guess about why, but the 35c seems almost 10+ mm wider than the 32's on the same rims

If you have a touring frame I'd give 35 or 40 a try. But if I owned the 32s first I probably wouldn't buy any more of them either

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>>1011729

le "front bags make you aero" meme - singlehandedly selling thousands of ex-fixie hipsters on le giant front bag

2004:

If your fixie isn't lugged you are a FOOL riding GARBAGE

2008:

If your q-factor is over 150mm your legs will expllode!!!


2012:

If your bike aren't all fit tire CX you are an idiot FRED


2016:

If your fork trail is over 40mm you are a slow steering LOSER riding a dinosaur bike

>>1011766
>If your fork trail is over 40mm

u wot m8? dont the 2016 bikes have rake around 43mm?

>>1012197
Not sure what exactly they're referring to by "fork trail", but fork offset (rake) and steering trail are two completely different things.

Rake = the distance the axle is offset from the steering axis, measured perpendicular to the steering axis.

Trail = the distance that the contact patch of the tire is behind the point that the steering axis pierces the ground, measured horizontally.

Higher fork rake = lower trail. Slacker head tube angle = higher trail

High trail generally results in a slower steering/more stable bike. But high trail results in more wheel flop, which is undesirable with a front-loaded bike.

The reason this comes up is the fashion shift in touring bikes. A front-loaded French-style tourer needs very different steering geometry to feel right.

Classic Anglo touring bikes are intended to be rear-loaded - main load in big panniers on the rear, stuff strapped on top of them, and maybe some small panniers up front and a small handlebar bag. Compared to a normal road bike, they have long chainstays to minimize heels trikes on the big bags, and a slightly slacker headtube with a low rake fork. So high trail, and long wheelbase. You can carry a big load, but they're not exactly "sprightly" or fun to ride unloaded.

Contrast with the classic French-style touring bike, which is intended to be front loaded: big handlebar bag, big panniers up front, and the rear rack is for overflow. Shorter chainstays since heelstrikes aren't as much of a worry. You need to minimize wheel flop to be able to manhandle the front end around with all of that shit, so steeper head tube and high rake for lower trail is the name of the game.

A front-loaded tourer can't carry as much as a rear-loaded one, but their proponents claim that with a medium-sized load, they're a lot nicer to ride

>>1012202
>Not sure what exactly they're referring to by "fork trail", but fork offset (rake) and steering trail are two completely different things.

should have been more precise, I was reffering to rake/offset which is almost a 43mm standard on modern road bikes, but not all manufacturerers show trail measure

>>1011530
>Has anybody done a double century? (200 miles / 322 km)
To get back on track:

I've never done an organized double century, but my longest ride ever was 203.8 miles (328km).
Took about 16 hours.

I used my regular road bike, but then again I routinely do 100 -140 mile rides with it anyway.

Key points are:
>ride in late June/early July (longer days)
>pick someplace FLAT
>pavement (not gravel)

I learned this last one the hard way.
I tried to do a test ride on the C&O Canal tow path.
It's flat, and there are no cars.
I did 180 miles in one day, but it was exhausting.
Not only does the gravel add a lot of friction, the vibration is really hard on the arms.
.

>>1011530
Nope. But I plan on taking a relatively lax tour of 315 miles. On a mtb no less.

>>1012223

What bike/tires for the canal? That's on my list. I'm in pa

I've done it on an aluminium road bike with a relatively low riding position (because the frame was a bit too small for me).

Do not recommend it, if all you want to do is eat the miles and don't want to set any record, get a comfy, yet reasonably fast bike rather than an aggressive road bike. It'll make you fast for the first couple hours but after that it slows you down because discomfort can seriously impact your performance.

Also, why torture yourself when it's not necessary. Even in professional road racing there's a clear trend towards more comfortable bikes.

A long time people believed in the dogma "the more uncomfortable and unforgiving your bike is, the faster you are" but it's just not true unless you're riding TT maybe and just mashing it for an hour. If you ride for hours and hours comfort is so important.

>>1012392
>What bike/tires for the canal? That's on my list. I'm in pa
I've done long rides on the Canal with both my road bike and my hybrid.
I use generic 25's on my road bike, and Nashbar (I know, I know) 1 3/4" slicks on the hybrid.

Both work OK, except neither has a front suspension, and that would probably help with the arm fatigue.

I did have some trouble with the road bike where mud would build up under the front brakes, but that only happened on my 180 miler day, for about half the day.

If you're going to ride after dark, get a serious light.
I used 3 generic led "headlights", and it was still nerve-wracking.

califag here. did the carmel double century a few weeks ago. most common noob mistakes are riding too fast early on and not staying ahead of nutrition/hydration. I train for pacing by doing hill repeats, making sure my last climb is as fast or faster than my first.

also -- most ultracyclists are assholes. I have some theories if anyone is interested