Long Distance Cycling - Your Brevet or Double Century Bike

I’m searching for a long-distance bike, and find it more instructive and interesting to see what others use rather than just ask for advice. There’s already a sticky for century bikes. It nicely documents what’s possible. Many are not the ideal century bike, but have made it at least once. Many were probably not bought for long distance riding, and their owners may have selected otherwise if centuries were it’s primary mission. And on the Touring forum there’s a sticky for fully-loaded touring bikes. What I’d like to know is the type of bikes folks chose for themselves who regularly ride long distances where touring isn’t a factor. My road bike is 29 years old, and though still serviceable, I’d like to replace it with something suitable for regular long rides. I’ve got a few candidates, but would love to see what others use. So, I can’t show you mine, but would love for you to show me yours. ;) No need to post a picture if you don’t have one handy. Even reading about it has much value.

I ride a corsa (hi-racer recumbent) for long distance riding. I love my bike, I went with a recumbent for comfort and speed. With that said, check out this site which has the choices of many recumbents used in long distance riding and the rides they have done, along with the choices they made and why http://longdistancebents.blogspot.com/

It is a very nice set of write-ups.

Mine are basically the same as what I posted here on the Your Century Bicycle thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=270172

I've done double centuries and brevets on these three:

3) Mongoose - a steel department store mtn bike
4) Giant OCR3 - an aluminum racing bicycle (actually, I've had two of these, and have done long rides on both)
5) Marinoni Ciclo - a steel sport touring bicycle

My brevet bikes are:

Marinoni Ciclo (http://www.veloweb.ca/mybikepages/randononi.html) (custom)
Marinoni Sportivo Ti "Randonee" (http://www.veloweb.ca/mybikepages/sportivo.html) (custom/modified)
Rivendell Bleriot (http://www.veloweb.ca/mybikepages/blerioso.html)(w/ custom build)

All were chosen specifically for marathon cycling.

I do 200 to 300 km rides on my Specialized Roubaix Expert. Very comfortable ride with relaxed geometry.

I also have a Marinoni Fango (cyclo cross) that I can attach a seat post bag and frame bag to to carry 5 to 10 lbs of gear. Again, relaxed geometry and comfprtable steel frame.

I ride a corsa (hi-racer recumbent) for long distance riding. I love my bike, I went with a recumbent for comfort and speed. With that said, check out this site which has the choices of many recumbents used in long distance riding and the rides they have done, along with the choices they made and why http://longdistancebents.blogspot.com/

It is a very nice set of write-ups.

+1 on riding a 'bent for ultra-distance. I've been riding a "classic" RANS Force 5 highracer for literally everything (commuting, training and brevets) since early this year, and wouldn't go back to an upright if you paid me. The Rocky Mtn 1200 this July was my first 1200k ever. I finished middle of the pack (right where I always was on my upright), and my only physical complaint was general fatigue and sore legs. Judging from the gyrations they were going through (shaking out their hands, standing up to get off the saddle, etc) I doubt many of the upright riders could say the same.

BTW, I've got a really nice 62cm Gunnar Crosshairs rando bike, full Campy 10-speed ergo, complete with hammered Honjo fenders, a Berthoud (French for "that'll be $200 please") handlebar bag, and Brooks B17 saddle. Only used for one season (2007). Anybody interested?

SP
Bend, OR

My X-Check is my do-everything bike. I did the STP double on it this year, and I recently got my membership packet for RUSA so it will be my brevet bike, too.

Modifications from stock X-Check Complete:
- B-17 Imperial saddle
- SKS P-45 fenders
- 28mm Gatorskin tires
- 34t inner ring
- 11-32 PG970 cassette
- Tektro CR720 wide cantis
- SON28/DT RR1.1 front wheel and E3 light

^^ Any idea what your X-Check weighs? Before and after your upgrades? Thanks!

^^ Any idea what your X-Check weighs? Before and after your upgrades? Thanks!

I'll be honest. It's a tank.

The saddle added weight.
The fenders added weight.
The 34t ring dropped weight.
The MTB cassette added weight.
The tires dropped weight.
The wheel/light added weight (compared to my old battery setup, but I gained runtime).
The brakes dropped weight.

Overall, I probably added an extra 1.5 - 2 pounds. I can double check it, but before I put my bags and water on the bike, it's around 27 or 28 pounds. I know that my start-line weight for STP (water and loaded h'bar bag included) was 35 pounds.
Part of that weight is just the sheer size of the bike. It's a 62cm 4130 frame, so it's heavy to begin with. In all seriousness, I weigh 250 pounds so it's not like I'm going to benefit from a couple grams shaved off the bike here and there.

I ride a Trek 520. I'm very happy with it.

Modifications:
- Brooks B17 saddle
- SON 28 Dynohub & eDelux light
- 28mm tires (came with 35)
- 11-34 cassette (gives me 30 x 34 on the big hills)
- 80mm stem (came with 100mm )
- Caradice Pendle seat bag and support
- Full fenders during the rainy months here in the SF Bay Area
(I need mud flaps but haven't added them yet)
- 2 x Cateye five LED tail lights