Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Century Bike Recommendations

Looking to buy a new frame for long distance riding. I usually prefer steel but am open to suggestion.

I have been considering the Salsa Pistola, Salsa Casseroll, Soma Smoothie (ES?) and Jamis Quest.


Currently riding a Lemond Buenos Aires 853 steel kinesis carbon fork, mavic aksiums w/ conti gp4000s tires. Love the ride but its too big. Will probably swap the parts over unless i really love a whole bike and then i'll just sell it outright.

Probably going to switch from 700x23 to 700x25 tires.

It is my only bike. I want the most comfortable bike for putting on lots of miles. If it could handle light touring that would be a plus but not required.

What do you guys think?

P.S. another post said the B-17 imperial was not designed for road bikes but if my saddle/handlebars are the same height whats the big deal?

Thanks

Here's what we ride ...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?270172-Your-century-bicycle(s)

The Imperial works best if even with, or lower than the bars. If there's much of a drop, there's not any comfort benefit from having one.

The frame material is not real important, what is important is fit. If you are comfortable on the bike you can ride it any distance you want. Frame material comes in when you are deciding what you want the bike to do. If you are going to put a lot of racks and bags on the bike you want something with the ability to attach those accessories. Otherwise it doesn't really matter. You need to sit down, decide what you want the bike to do, what kind of accessories you want on the bike. once you decide what your own parameters are, you'll find that you've narrowed your own options down to the ones that will really fit your needs. If you ask me (or anyone on the internet) what's the best bike and you are going to hear what the best bike for me is. :) Do a little homework and you will be much happier in the end!

I like the Casseroll frame so much that I have two!

Did a century on my fixed gear Casseroll. Have another set up as a 1 X 9 commuter.

!00 miles yesterday on this. 700 X 28 tires

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/6000miSMR009.jpg

Maybe think about the Gunner Sport.

Maybe think about the Gunner Sport.
+1, I love my Gunnar Sport.

The frame material is not real important, what is important is fit. If you are comfortable on the bike you can ride it any distance you want. Frame material comes in when you are deciding what you want the bike to do. If you are going to put a lot of racks and bags on the bike you want something with the ability to attach those accessories. Otherwise it doesn't really matter. You need to sit down, decide what you want the bike to do, what kind of accessories you want on the bike. once you decide what your own parameters are, you'll find that you've narrowed your own options down to the ones that will really fit your needs. If you ask me (or anyone on the internet) what's the best bike and you are going to hear what the best bike for me is. :) Do a little homework and you will be much happier in the end!

This is great advice. Especially in long distance riding, everyone seems to be a little different, both physically and mentally. You need something that fits, and something that does what you want it too. Some want to sprint, some want to plod, and some change their minds all the time and just ride according to how they feel.

For me? I have had custom steel frames which were really good, but currently have a Giant OCR. It has lugs that I can mount a back rack and my Topeak bag. No mudguards... I'm Australian :D

I ride the Seattle, WA to Portland, OR ride each year. (206 miles) I usually do 125 miles the 1st day and 80+ the 2nd day. I have seen many many types of bikes and configurations on this ride. A few riders have done it on unicycles! Even skateboards! There does not seem to be any apparent theme or standard of bike model or components. Mountain bikes, road bikes, recumbents all complete the ride. There are usually 9000 riders. Of course there are the riders who own very expensive bikes with well thought out components. However, it seems to me most folks just ride what they have in the garage and have a lot of fun. This year I plan to ride my REI 2006 Safari (32 lb - 26" bike with disc brakes).

P.S. another post said the B-17 imperial was not designed for road bikes but if my saddle/handlebars are the same height whats the big deal?

My experience is the B-17s are a problem for any extended time in the drops. Too much nose. Since I use the drops for specific intervals, five minutes here and there at a time, not a big deal for long distance unless you have a long fight against a headwind. On my sprint bike I use a small, modern saddle.

P.S. another post said the B-17 imperial was not designed for road bikes but if my saddle/handlebars are the same height whats the big deal?

Thanks

Right there is one of the bits of nonsense that drives me buggy.

Exactly what is a "road bike"?

Why does something have to fit a certain mold to be a "road bike"?

Any bike is a road bike - period. There are a bunch of twits that hang out in places like the Road Cycling forum who believe that a "road bike" is 15 pounds, carbon and has 12 inches of drop from saddle to bars.

Utter nonsense.

As to Brooks saddles - I own ( I am ashamed to admit this) 11 bikes - 9 of them have Brooks saddles and they range from touring bikes to CX bikes to racing bikes.

I am 50 this year, I have been turning pedals since was 6.

A road bike is any bike you ride and a Brooks saddle will be fine on it.

TMB - I have had to concede that when many people refer to a road bike they are referring to whatever folks in the Pro Peleton are riding but we know different... they should call them road racing bikes to differentiate them from touring and cyclocross bicycles.

We have all these different classifications of bicycles and although any bike could be ridden on the road and therefore be called a road bike, there are some that are better suited for urban commuting or utilitarian riding than they are for long distance riding.

I have done many centuries in my life and have ridden geared road (racing bikes), touring bikes (both fixed gear and geared), used my hybrid tourer, and plan to do a century on my folder at some point.

My 1955 Raleigh Lenton is a much beloved distance bike as it is just so comfortable.

I have done a century on my mountain bike although a good percentage of that was done off road and made 100 feel like 200 and it woujd not top my list as a century bike since I have bikes that are better suited for the open road.

The commonality between all my preferred distance bikes is a relaxed (touring) geometry, higher volume tyres, and a capacity to carry panniers to keep weight off my back.

You want reliable parts and top level racing parts are both expensive and not as durable as mid level parts... in many cases mtb drives are used on touring bikes (as they evolved from touring bikes) as they are far more robust and XT level parts are very popular.

My "new" tourer is a 1987 Kuwahara Cascade with 26 inch wheels, classic touring geometry, and could be likened to the Surly LHT as both are expedition worthy bikes... I plan to take it on little 1000 mile ride this summer and it is fitted with a B17 Imperial and find this saddle to be nicer with drops than the stock B17 as you can adopt a more aggressive position with it.

PS - I have 13 bikes and 10 are fitted with leather saddles.

Have you ridden any of those bikes? How are you going to know what's comfortable for you if you don't ride it? One person says it's comfortable so your going to buy it? RIDE THEM. Or if these are mail order bikes (which I would never buy a bike this way because I want to ride it), then get a bike that has a similar geometry your use to currently, just get the right size this time, which you probably bought by mail or used or the LBS sales rep was a big jerk for not getting you bike you would fit on.

And a B17 is not comfortable in the drops, you need a Brooks Swift.

After having owned many wonderful steel bikes it was hard to make the switch but I ended up buying a Specialized Roubaix.

The ride quality is truly wonderful.

My B-17 Imperial is doing well but i'm having some minor issues with the cutout chaffing me and I only occasionally ride in the drops. My bars are slightly higher than my saddle. Saddle is completely level.
Any recommendations? *note* this problem went away when i dropped my seatpost a bit but i can't ride that way for long, i just wanted to test it. I'm at around 500 miles on the saddle and i love everything about it except for this occasional irritation.

I have a B-17 Special on my 2009 Specialized Allez that is my longer distance bike. No issues with the saddle. The handlebar is usually below the saddle height on these type of bikes, so you do need to make sure, like with any other saddle, that the saddle angle is optimum so you can go from the hoods to the drops without discomfort.

After having owned many wonderful steel bikes it was hard to make the switch but I ended up buying a Specialized Roubaix.

The ride quality is truly wonderful.

My B-17 Imperial is doing well but i'm having some minor issues with the cutout chaffing me and I only occasionally ride in the drops. My bars are slightly higher than my saddle. Saddle is completely level.
Any recommendations? *note* this problem went away when i dropped my seatpost a bit but i can't ride that way for long, i just wanted to test it. I'm at around 500 miles on the saddle and i love everything about it except for this occasional irritation.

Try dropping the nose of the saddle by maybe 1/8" or less?