Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - tyres

im looking to do some audax events, the problem i have is i only have one bike which is a mountain bike. is this suitable if so what tyres do you reccomend for events like this. im only doing 100k events to start with.

If your event is on the road you might try conti town and country. I use it for commuting on my mountain bike. The level of performance is very close to my road bike and the tires are bomb proof. 2,000 miles and they still look new; I'm shocked.

Unless the event is completely off road or there is heavy gravel, knobbies would be tremendous drag on longer rides. There are a variety of much less aggressive tread patterns for ATB bikes all the way to slicks with mild road type tread in between. A fully paved course would suggest a near slick tread pattern in a 1.6-1.9" range. These can be obtained in the $15-30 range from several tire makers. Bump the tire pressures for road riding to the max the tires can handle.

Check out Schwalbe's. They make some wider cruising and street tires.

In the confusion of audax, brevet, randonneuring, alluer libre...

Are you actually doing an audax or a allure libre?

Audax is quite often used to mean the other.... In the states the term BREVET is often used to mean allure libre...

I assume a allure libre because if you are actually trying to ride an audax with a mountain bike you may have trouble maintaining your pace with your assigned audax 'flyte'.

(Audax as is perscribed by the french meaning is a organized group riding at a fixed average speed of approx 22.5kph with the goal to arrive at the destination with as many of the riders of the group intact)

If you are actually doing a BREVET (um OK I'm American) I mean an allure libre style then any stock 26-inch roady-tyre will do well... Schwalbe does make some excellent tires and that would also be at the top of my list. Though I would also consider if you plan to carry a spare tire that you make the spare a folding type.

when i say audax i mean a set distance with checkpoints,to be completed in a set time usually minimum average speed 13 kph and maximum 25kph.

A mountain bike can be suitable for long distance road rides. Tires are an obvious upgrade. I'm really pleased with the Schwalbe Marathon Racers I recently purchased. If your bike has a suspension fork you should consider replacing it with a rigid model. Handlebars are another consideration - the flat bars that come with most mtb's only offer one hand position.

Good luck!



im looking to do some audax events, the problem i have is i only have one bike which is a mountain bike. is this suitable if so what tyres do you reccomend for events like this. im only doing 100k events to start with.

True indeed.
My hybrid with 700c 23mm slicks makes for great tourer.
But replacing the forks is not simple (you have to find suspension correvcted forks to maintain geometry or else your front end will drop significantly) AND the forks out there that fit the bill for 29er hybrid frame are reall stiff and heavy (Karate Monkey for example) Weight savings negligible. And since I can lockout the travel on my fork I just kept it the way it is. Bottom line though, the bike weighs about 30+ lbs (even with upgraded titanium pieces here and there).

Changing handlebars, changing fork, tires, wheels, etc etc...you end up spending $$$ and result is franken-bike with all wrong geometery. A crappy road bike AND a crappy mountain bike, all in one bike (like a futon)

It's just cheaper to buy a road bike (even if its used, cheapo or whatever,...for the cost of a decent replacent fork you can find some nice roadbikes on craigslist)

my 2cents

It's just cheaper to buy a road bike (even if its used, cheapo or whatever,...for the cost of a decent replacent fork you can find some nice roadbikes on craigslist)

+1

I'd also say that the difference between road and mtb's is more than you might expect if you haven't ridden a roadie before. I'm assuming you haven't so forgive me if you already know this. My 2 cents is to get any road bike if you are going to be doing road rides, the difference is well worth it. Check Ebay, your LBS, local clubs, etc for second hand bikes if a new one is more than you are willing to spend.

Of course, I like to point out that the most important part of the bike is the nut on the seat. :D

Regards,
Andy

john74: Gotcha... Here in the states that is the typical format... though the riding in formation sounds neat I don't think we got enough cyclotourist to do that yet...