Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Newbie: Long Distance Riding on a Hybrid?

I might be invited for a long-distance ride soon and the distance is about 90 to 100 miles, if I'm lucky.
The bike I ride now is a GT Legato 3, a flat-bar hybrid bike I use for short distance commuting.
What I want to know is if I'd stand a chance riding a century on something like this, and if not, what my options are to make this bike better for long distance riding. I'd really love to get into long distance cycling and any advice (on bike parts, preparation, etc) would be appreciated. Money's tight so buying a new bike wouldn't be an option anytime soon.

Pic of the bike:
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/102/l_38e57b09452148af9f8fc5634c89bfbe.jpg

That will be fine. The only real issue is the flat handlebars, you only get one hand position.

if you feel comfortable, sure. agree on the handlebar issue. maybe you could get some ergonomic grips for the future if you haven't got them already (don't see on the picture). you'll find out if you need a better saddle ;)

enjoy the ride!

The bike itself looks good. Upgrading the seat, handlebar grips and tires will make the event better. Try to find a bike shop that helps long distance riders and ask if they have seats that can be fitted and demoed. Consider a strong, high pressure tire like the Continental Gatorskin in a 700 x 25 or 28 size. These resist flats and roll more easily than most tires found on hybrids. Install bar ends that provide a thumbs up hand position. your hands will thank you.

Michael

you can probably suffer through a century on just about any bike.
the bike will usually not be the limiting factor.

get comfortable, then ride.
adjust as needed.
do a shakedown - head out for 30-40-50 miles as soon as you can.
figure out what hurts.
adjust as needed.
repeat as necessary.

tires and saddle play a role in comfort - a comfortable rider can keep moving all day.
one that is in pain will not fare so well - and will most likely have to stop to stretch, etc.

wider tires can roll faster than skinny, hi pressure tires - and be more comfortable.
this is a highly personal choice - but some 28s or 30s or 32s should easily fit on that bike.
continental and pasela make tires that the rando crowd like - contis more $$ pasela's wider and cheaper.

you might also consider bar ends for an additional hand position...


and, is your front skewer facing forward? while it is questionable if a forward facing skewer could cause a wreck if you caught something - i'd get that properly placed before heading out on the road.


and the best prep you can do is ride your bike.
and then ride some more.

If you are of similar fitness and riding experience, you won't be able to keep up as easily with a group of riders who are on road bikes. But other than that, you certainly can make your hybrid more like a road bike.

You might want to start by lowering your handlebars a little, so they are at or lower than saddle height. This is because the extra air and wind resistance will take its toll on a longer ride. Also, cut your flat bars down to not much more than shoulder width (but make sure you still have enough room on the bars for the levers, etc. This also greatly helps with wind resistance. You don't want to be riding as a big braking parachute on your bike. Then, add a pair of bar ends for more riding positions... this will matter a lot on longer rides, not just for your hands, but for your whole body. You don't want to ride many miles with all your muscles stuck in the same position all the time.

Your tires don't have to be narrow, but you won't want too much obvious tread on them. Slick or slick with a bit of a pattern on them is what you want. If you stick with the wider tires, you will need to pump them up harder in order to make their rolling resistance the same as a narrower tire. Personally though, I would go with 28 mm tires, no wider.

Put toe clips or at least half toe clips on those pedals. It's on longer rides that you get the most benefit from not having to worry about where your foot is on the pedal, and you put more power down on the pedals. It also helps you to spin better, which is also beneficial on a long ride.

Some additional information:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=549374

What I want to know is if I'd stand a chance riding a century on something like this, and if not, what my options are to make this bike better for long distance riding.NO doubt you can take all day to ride the 90 or 100 miles. That doesn't mean you'll enjoy it.

And again, never assume mileage to be the only difficulty factor in a ride. If you go out to do this on a windy day, or on a route with smooth roads and big hills, the other cyclists on road bikes will be harder to keep up with.

I hope you get to do what you want, but planning to keep up with road bikers on your first longer rides - while riding a hybrid - is a big mistake. Pump up your tires, brings drugs and vasoline.

What I want to know is if I'd stand a chance riding a century on something like this, and if not, what my options are to make this bike better for long distance riding. I'd really love to get into long distance cycling and any advice (on bike parts, preparation, etc) would be appreciated. Money's tight so buying a new bike wouldn't be an option anytime soon.

Hey Scarcely -

If you're healthy and don't have knee issues and such you should be able to tackle 100 mi on your rig as is, though you'll probably feel that you tuffed out and accomplished something very significant personally. Comparatively, the 50 mi Saturday or Sunday 'recreational level' of rider can comfortably knock off a century including some decent elevation.

I'm thinking the difference between the two is conditioning and hardware. With conditioning we are talking about getting your body used to pedaling efficiently for several hours under differing loads (cruising vs. climbing) fed by a sensible hydration and nutrition regimen. With hardware we're concerned with performance and most importantly, fit.

For the conditioning part, you just gotta get in the riding. Work yourself up to the '50 on Saturday is easy' level. Then figure out how to pace yourself and your ride time drinks and eats needs to extend your distance to 100.

To your bike if it were mine and keeping a budget in mind, I'd craigslist or eBay in the following order of priority: SPD pedals, MTB shoes, a Syntace C2 clip on aerobar, a zero setback seatpost, a shorter stem, and most likely a better saddle. I’d also consider splurging on some good folding tires and ultralite tubes to get the weight of my wheels down. Meanwhile I’d keep my eyes peeled for a sweet deal on a set of Mavic Open Pro wheels with Ultegra or better hubs. You can do each of these a little at a time.

You gotta get the pedals and shoes which will connect you solidly to the drivetrain. Right now you are floating on the drivetrain. Just get em and start using em. The advantages are huge.

I’d set up the bar/seat geometry with the seat positioned all the way forward and use a stem short enough to bring my biceps nearly perpendicular to level. I’d narrow the distance between the levers and cut down excess handlebar length like mentioned above. After I acclimate to the aerobar position I would have the stem flipped to the down position and remove steerer spacers to lower the whole setup. Fit is very very important. Aside from some conditioning (getting used to folding your beer belly) or shoulder injury (too much mousing?), if the aerobar is uncomfortable then it doesn’t fit. Bars are too short/long, stem too short/long - Simple as that.

What this does is give you the aero position which in my opinion is more aero and more comfortable and relaxed than riding in the drops. It has you riding in a more forward position, using your glutes more allowing you to put your ass into it. I like climbing in the aerobar with my ass off of and forward of the seat, kind of an inbetween of the sit and spin and stand up and hammer. If you want to take advantage of a full powered spin, then just sit upright and grab the grips, or the pads or the midsection of the aeros. Now you have several hand positions to cycle through.

The wheel/tire upgrades give your bike a performance boost. They will be way lighter, roll better, and most likely be less ‘squishy’ than the stock wheels. There’s a Giant hybrid in our group that came stock with some wheels meant to survive goofing around on fire trails. We replaced them with a set of Open Pro’s on Dura Ace hubs that I got for $120. Very big difference. Also think about saving more weight by eventually replacing the stock cassette with an Ultegra or better 11-23. You have a triple on up front and don’t need a 32t boat anchor if your’e not scratching your way up a steep slippery dirt single track.

Now of course, all that might cost you around $300, but you don’t have to do it all at once and that still works out well less than finding a used $700 Ultegra level bike that would need some spending on and you do need those shoes no matter what.

Or you could just get on your bike and ride. I saw a guy 150 miles into the STP last year riding one of these:
http://www.erikjheels.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/2008-04-26_11-15-13-schwinn-typhoon.jpg

...and he was smiling. Made me smile too.

...and he was smiling. Made me smile too.
Hear hear! It's always been in good form to tuff it out and smile at the folk riding thier bling factor 'Cheaterbike$'. :p

Here's what I rode on my first century:

108113

I recommend the bar ends ( I wrapped mine in gel handlebar tape ) and a comfy saddle. You should be fine if you just ride your ride at your own pace and don't try to keep up with the fast guys.

While a hybrid isn't the "ideal" long-distance bike (http://www.veloweb.ca/randopages/randovelos.html), no reason you can't do 100 miles on that. People have used every HPV known to complete events 8-times longer.

Fit becomes more of an issue on longer rides, but longer rides are where you discover the issues you need to address.

Some one asks for advice - and the thread fills up with non-sense and a challenge to "do any ride" on "any" bike - no matter how silly or ultimately uncomfortable - good going guys.

I would add bar ends for hand comfort, as mentioned, and a frame pack, for tubes and tools. They are both relatively cheap, maybe $25. I rode a SR series on a flat-bar mountain bike. If it fits, go for it.

Hi Scarcely,
I see you, like me, are in Los Angeles. I have a pair of barely used aerobars I no longer have any use for. They are yours if you want them. PM me if you are interested.
Nerdanel

A friend of mine swapped out his straight flat bar for a Misfit FU Bar a few weeks ago and we just did a 200k over the weekend. Yeah, it's a more upright bar than most of us would want for ld riding; but the increased sweep lets you keep you hands/wrists at a releaxed, more natural angle. If you ride a flat bar bike and you're sitting more upright to begin with, it's something to consider.

Hey Scarcely -

If you're healthy and don't have knee issues and such you should be able to tackle 100 mi on your rig as is, though you'll probably feel that you tuffed out and accomplished something very significant personally. Comparatively, the 50 mi Saturday or Sunday 'recreational level' of rider can comfortably knock off a century including some decent elevation.

I'm thinking the difference between the two is conditioning and hardware. With conditioning we are talking about getting your body used to pedaling efficiently for several hours under differing loads (cruising vs. climbing) fed by a sensible hydration and nutrition regimen. With hardware we're concerned with performance and most importantly, fit.

For the conditioning part, you just gotta get in the riding. Work yourself up to the '50 on Saturday is easy' level. Then figure out how to pace yourself and your ride time drinks and eats needs to extend your distance to 100.

To your bike if it were mine and keeping a budget in mind, I'd craigslist or eBay in the following order of priority: SPD pedals, MTB shoes, a Syntace C2 clip on aerobar, a zero setback seatpost, a shorter stem, and most likely a better saddle. I’d also consider splurging on some good folding tires and ultralite tubes to get the weight of my wheels down. Meanwhile I’d keep my eyes peeled for a sweet deal on a set of Mavic Open Pro wheels with Ultegra or better hubs. You can do each of these a little at a time.

You gotta get the pedals and shoes which will connect you solidly to the drivetrain. Right now you are floating on the drivetrain. Just get em and start using em. The advantages are huge.

I’d set up the bar/seat geometry with the seat positioned all the way forward and use a stem short enough to bring my biceps nearly perpendicular to level. I’d narrow the distance between the levers and cut down excess handlebar length like mentioned above. After I acclimate to the aerobar position I would have the stem flipped to the down position and remove steerer spacers to lower the whole setup. Fit is very very important. Aside from some conditioning (getting used to folding your beer belly) or shoulder injury (too much mousing?), if the aerobar is uncomfortable then it doesn’t fit. Bars are too short/long, stem too short/long - Simple as that.

What this does is give you the aero position which in my opinion is more aero and more comfortable and relaxed than riding in the drops. It has you riding in a more forward position, using your glutes more allowing you to put your ass into it. I like climbing in the aerobar with my ass off of and forward of the seat, kind of an inbetween of the sit and spin and stand up and hammer. If you want to take advantage of a full powered spin, then just sit upright and grab the grips, or the pads or the midsection of the aeros. Now you have several hand positions to cycle through.

The wheel/tire upgrades give your bike a performance boost. They will be way lighter, roll better, and most likely be less ‘squishy’ than the stock wheels. There’s a Giant hybrid in our group that came stock with some wheels meant to survive goofing around on fire trails. We replaced them with a set of Open Pro’s on Dura Ace hubs that I got for $120. Very big difference. Also think about saving more weight by eventually replacing the stock cassette with an Ultegra or better 11-23. You have a triple on up front and don’t need a 32t boat anchor if your’e not scratching your way up a steep slippery dirt single track.

Now of course, all that might cost you around $300, but you don’t have to do it all at once and that still works out well less than finding a used $700 Ultegra level bike that would need some spending on and you do need those shoes no matter what.

Thank you, Xyrlicious. This was exactly what I was looking for. :]
I might end up, in the long run, setting up this bike for drop bars if it doesn't come out to be as expensive, but aerobars are sounding really nice. The clip-on ones can go on both flat bars and drop in case I ever do decide to convert to drops.


Thanks to everyone else for your input. The "any bike" posts remind me of my band teacher from high school who used to cycle. He would tell me that he'd see guys on BMX and freestyle bikes completing centuries. :] My issue wasn't whether I'd complete it, but if I'd stand a chance keeping up. From what Longfemur said though, it won't be as easy as if I were on a road bike, but I'm up to the challenge.

Thanks Nerdanel. I'll get in touch with you.

Some one asks for advice - and the thread fills up with non-sense and a challenge to "do any ride" on "any" bike - no matter how silly or ultimately uncomfortable - good going guys.

Heh heh.

Looky you, policing sillyness and truth on the Internets.

It's a thankless and unappreciated task, but somebody gots to do it.

You da Man!
:thumb:

heres my $0.02. The bike looks good to go. Enjoy the ride.

heres my $0.02. The bike looks good to go. Enjoy the ride.

I forgot to add: you dont need to wait for an invite to ride long distances. All you really need is a day off and a pair of padded shorts.