Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Road bike or touring bike? - 600K in the mountains

I'm hoping to complete a 600K this year in mountainous terrain. My bike options include a carbon road bike, and a touring bike (Surly LHT). I just got the touring bike this past summer, so I rode all my shorter brevets last year on the road bike. Both are well fitted to me, but I consider the touring bike a little more "road worthy" with the big, heavy Schwalbe Marathon tires 36 spoke wheels. Part of me wants to ride the touring bike, but another part of me says that this is my first 600K, and I should make it as easy as possible with the lighter bike. The Surly is more than 10 lbs heavier.

Any suggestions on which to ride on my first 600K, and in the mountains nonetheless?

I'm hoping to complete a 600K this year in mountainous terrain. My bike options include a carbon road bike, and a touring bike (Surly LHT). I just got the touring bike this past summer, so I rode all my shorter brevets last year on the road bike. Both are well fitted to me, but I consider the touring bike a little more "road worthy" with the big, heavy Schwalbe Marathon tires 36 spoke wheels. Part of me wants to ride the touring bike, but another part of me says that this is my first 600K, and I should make it as easy as possible with the lighter bike. The Surly is more than 10 lbs heavier.

Any suggestions on which to ride on my first 600K, and in the mountains nonetheless?

ride the bike you are comfortable on.
will you be able to use drop bags?
can you get all your gear on the road bike? (esp if it is raining, cold, etc. etc.)

if you ride the lht i'd ditch the marathons - i had a pair on my brevet bike and they felt like wagon wheels. great for a commute or maybe serious trekking - but i wouldn't ride them on a brevet bike - you need a blend of durability and speed.

10 pound difference will change a bit when you swap those tires. how much gear do you carry? how is the bike geared - is it set up for mountainous terrain? will you want the lower gearing on day 2? what %% is the weight difference when you add up gear, rider, bike?

ride the bike you are comfortable on.
will you be able to use drop bags?
can you get all your gear on the road bike? (esp if it is raining, cold, etc. etc.)

Not sure yet about drop bags, but it should not be cold. It will be Memorial Day weekend. The season starts in early January, so I want to start on the bike I'll ride also on the 600K. I will have a rear rack and trunk bag on either bike, so what I can carry shouldn't be a problem.



if you ride the lht i'd ditch the marathons - i had a pair on my brevet bike and they felt like wagon wheels. great for a commute or maybe serious trekking - but i wouldn't ride them on a brevet bike - you need a blend of durability and speed.

Yes, I love the Marathons for commuting. You probably have a good point about changing the tires. I might look for a new set for brevet season, or at least before the 600K. It should be time to change them if I wait until then.



10 pound difference will change a bit when you swap those tires. how much gear do you carry? how is the bike geared - is it set up for mountainous terrain? will you want the lower gearing on day 2? what %% is the weight difference when you add up gear, rider, bike?
The road bike is a triple, and I have a 26 front/27 rear for the mountain rides. The LHT is 26 front/34 rear, so is a little better geared especially for the second day. I hadn't really thought about the need for lower gearing on the second day. The longest brevet I rode last year was 300K, and it was not in the mountains.

Yeah gearing may make a bigger difference than weight. Also fenders can be nice if there's rain.

If you weigh 160 lbs and the bike weighs either 17 or 27 lbs, it's a 5.3% difference in weight overall.

I would probably take the lightest bike, depending on what mountain range you'll be riding. In the rockies many of the climbs will be over 15 miles long.

check out analytic cycling (http://www.analyticcycling.com/QCHome_Page.html).

play with the static forces on rider. depending on how much you weigh the weight of the bike can be significant or not so significant.

It sounds like the "road bike" would be more pleasant to ride over the long haul, so to speak:)

The gearing seems fine. 26X27 gives you 25 gear inches. My main brevet bikes are geared as low as Campag goes (30X29 = 27 gear inches) and I find that sufficient on the hilly terrain I ride.

I have another bike with lower gears (24X30) and need that low for "late brevet" climbing, because the bike weighs 30lbs (23% of my weight!) I haven't used it on anything longer than a 300, but that 300 included 3900 metres (12,795 ft.) of climbing.

There are a couple of provisos that would make or break the decision for me: Can you fit fenders with reasonably wide tyres? The second I think you answered, and that is can you fit a rack? Though there's always a seatpost rack. Last but not least, is it comfortable over distance?

Definitely, get rid of the slow Schwalbes, if you use the LHT.

You can find my opinions on rando bikes at the link below.

As others have said, the road bike may be more pleasant to ride, at least at first. Long term comfort would favor the LHT, tho. Also, do you have a means of attaching lights to the road bike, along with some way to carry everything you'll need? On the 600's I've done, there's been an overnight control w/drop bag service at km350 or so, so I haven't had to carry food, clothing, etc for the whole enchilada. And keep in mind you'll probably need more cold weather gear riding in the mountains than on a flatland ride, especially if you're doing any big descents after dark. It can get frigging COLD! I speak from experience. Sorry, I'm starting to ramble...

In your situation, I'd see about putting lighter tires (and wheels?) on the LHT, and use that. But I've seen others do 600-1200k randonnees on full-on racing bikes too. Just depends on how fast and how comfortable you want to be.

Bon route et bon courage. Let us know how it goes (and post lots of pics!)

SP
Bend, OR

I suspect your touring bike would be the better choice. A set of Grand Bois 700x30mm tires inflated per the chart available on bicyclequarterly.com will go a long way toward reducing hand numbness on a long ride. The fewer aches and pains you have, the less time you will waste in controls. This will be especially important on the second day.

Comfort is a much bigger factor on a 600K than bike weight. Very few riders DNF due to missing control times so speed is really not an issue. Fatigue and aches and pains are the leading cause of DNF.

While I agree weight isn't the #1 factor determining if you'll finish a long brevet, 10lbs is a lot of weight difference, more than all the gear you'd need to carry for a mountainous/cold weather ride.

Tyres have a huge influence on comfort (next to proper bike fit) so I concur with running something like the Grand Bois.

The LHT is not the most comfortable bike ever built. Notwithstanding the fact that it has been a good bike at a reasonable price, the frames are quite harsh riding, comparitively speaking (and I've sold a good many).

Thanks to all. I do have adequate lighting for both bikes. Both have Brooks saddles, and are similarly fitted with the handlebars on the road bike a couple inches lower. I have clip-on fenders I can add to the road bike and full fenders on the LHT. The road bike has 700x23c tires and 25mm might fit but 28mm will not. The LHT can accommodate tires of any reasonable size, and if I ride it I'll go for lighter and faster tires; the wider tires with lower pressure certainly give a nicer ride on rough roads.

I ride the LHT just about everyday for commuting. I also take it on short camping tours. If I were to not have a drop and need to carry more than what will fit in my trunk rack, I have small panniers that I could add to the LHT.

BTW, I'm about 175 lbs. The road bike weighs 23 lbs and the touring bike 33 lbs, each with their racks mounted. That's still without full water bottles, tools, tubes, etc.