Barrettscv 

I enjoy riding vintage bikes for fitness and century rides.

The Serotta Nova Special X was built in Columbus SPX during the 1980's. The geometry is great fit with a 64cm C-to-T seat-tube and a 60 C-to-C toptube. I'm using a 32 spoke wheelset featuring Shimano 600 tri-color hubs and Mavic Open Pro rims. The rear wheel was rebuilt and a Shimano Deore XTR eight-speed 12-28 cassette was installed. The Crankset is a Suntour Superbe with 52, 42 & 30 chainrings, the pedals also are Suntour Superbe. The rear derailleur is a Shimano long arm 6207 GS 600 series, the front derailleur is a Campagnolo for triple. Shifters are NOS Shimano eight-speed 600. The Brakes are now Shimano Dura Ace and the levers are NOS Shimano 600. Currently I'm using new 700x23 Vittoria Rubino Pro tires. The cables and guides are new. The headset is a rebuilt Dura Ace and the BB is rebuilt Shimano.

Here I completed a 95 mile event with 9000 ft of climbing: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/356683768

Wildwood 

Mine is not geared for hills, either. It is now fendered and serves as the wet weather bike, a prominent position in my small stable - given that this is turning into a typical PNW Fall riding season.
Tubulars vs 27" would make it a different animal, I'm guessing.

non-fixie 

I've found that supple, lightweight tires make a big difference on any bike, so I did fit a 700c wheel set at first, as 27" is pretty rare here in Europe, and the only 27" tires my LBS has weigh more than a pound each, but it just did not look right.

Your Olympian looks nice. Where did that sit in the line-up, compared to the Inter 10?

catgita

I have always dreamed of long rides, like 200k+, but sadly my 6'6" body is not meant for that. The distances I could cover on racing style bikes with (what was considered wide at the time) 23mm tires and stiff frames slowly dwindled to 10 miles or so. Recumbents kept me riding, but I missed the lively feel of my old steel bike from the 70s. Fortunately, after much research and testing, I found solutions.

Compass tires, ISM saddle, rando bars double wrapped in cork. My fit was already perfect. 32mm Compass tires punctured too often, so my latest creation uses 42s. 200k is still not doable, but weekend rides of 50-80 miles are routine.

bikemig 

Very clever post. And kudos to you for liking that saddle.

Spaghetti Legs 

For long rides (> 40 miles) I go with my modern bikes and my Colnago E1 is my go to for distance as well as for climbing. My vintage bikes are limited by having bosses for one bottle cage. I don't like Camelbacks or carrying bottles in my pockets. My Eddy has 2 bottle cages though and it will be going into the long ride rotation.

Another thing limiting my long distance riding on my older bikes is the 42 tooth chainring. I don't mind using it with a 24 or 26 tooth cog on the hills around here for a few miles but once I get up above 30 miles, the legs would not be happy with me. I'll be working on upping the miles on my Merckx over the next few months.

RobbieTunes

My favorite bike for long rides?

Whatever gets me to this.....the bike doesn't much matter. I'll muddle through.

Chrome Molly

My longest rides of the year are done on these.

The Anderson carries speed effortlessly, and loves a good climb (excuse the flipped up cue sheet holder)


The T760 is an old friend and treats me well anytime of year


The Poprad is happiest when cold and dirty

Wildwood 

From the Bulgier catalogs, I dated mine as an '81/'82 and there was no Inter10 page. But on the '82 Spec sheet, the Inter10 frameset is listed. They appear to be the same R531 f&f, same Gipiemme dropouts, same 74 deg headtube angle. A 1976 Inter10 lists a different tubing; so the Inter10 obviously changed with the times. I believe the Olympian model only had the 2 year run.

bulgier.net - /pics/bike/Catalogs/AustroDaimler/

I call mine an '81/'82 because it has the '81 decal set but the '82 dropouts and steeper HT angle; it came to me as a frameset with BB + cranks (Nervar's weird BCD model). The Olympian frame has no braze-ons for shifters or bottle bracket or BB cable guides or FD, only the TT cable route (can you say = Fixie material?). The R531 frameset is the same as on the Vent Noir and a model called Force (that I have never seen). It is what the Marketing Dept called a 'fast touring' frame. With tubies and narrow handlebars, even in the largest frame size, it handles extremely nimble-ly (not sure of the perfect adjective, maybe 'agile' is better). My seat tube measures 62cm CtC, so the catalog's measurements must be Center to Top; top tube is 60cm. It's at the top of my size range, but I can really stretch out on it - any stem shorter than 12cm looks weird on a frame this large.

Here is a shot of the AD with fenders and after a hard ride (w/ apologies for non-drive side pic)



I have owned a mid-80s DeRosa Professional and mid-80s Merckx Corsa Extra (SLX) and this Olympian ride is right up there (altho the Merckx dressed in all it's Campy C-Record jewelry was the smoothest and most elegant - Forum member @eschlwc helped assemble it and can validate my subjectivity; and the DeRosa clearly not in the 'fast tourer' category). @Lascauxcaveman should post many detailed pics, but he's too modest - or I missed the threads. They are gone now to a stronger rider, but nice to have them close-to-home for periodic 'short vacation' visits.

starting to ramble.....

vintagerando

My 1988 Schwinn Voyager. No glamour, but Spritely, Comfortable.

Schwinn Voyager - Album on Imgur

djkashuba 

I have done 100 plus days with all three of these. The Colnago and Follis for road. The Follis for mixed road and moderate dirt/gravel, and the International for rougher stuff (Cinoesque). All terrific machines that have brought me home from some great rides. I will be looking into Compass 32s and 35s for the Follis and International for next Spring.


Colnago Super by djk762, on Flickr


Follis by djk762, on Flickr


Raleigh International '71 by djk762, on Flickr

jpaschall

Nice and diverse. Those clips look large, what brand/size?

djkashuba 

MKS LL. I wear 10 1/2 shoes.

-D

Flog00

Really the only bike I ride now. I'm sure most are tired of seeing it.
46cm chainstays, 42mm 650b. Glides over gravel.

20151007_180413 by flog00, on Flickr

Wildwood 

Can't imagine anyone tires of seeing an exquisite custom built bike like yours. Especially one that's out on the road regularly

bikemig 

+ 1.

eschlwc

truth!

ps: and thanks for the 'treats.'

Wildwood 

until next time.
Looking for a dry day to take a test ride. Will be in touch.

edit: I totally agree with your assessment of riding a bit larger frame for extended distances on a vintage bike. Makes riding in the drops so much easier; which is good for our ego even if it is not much more areo than on-th-hoods of our next smaller bike.

devinfan

Thank you. This particular saddle had the unusual quality of molding itself perfectly to my sit bones in a way that I've never seen with a plastic saddle. I was going to keep the brand a big secret and keep looking for them on eBay but there's no point because they simply never come up.

paulkal

For long distance, I use a Gazelle Champion Mondial, I built it up with a mix of classic and modern parts.
Here is a picture during a 200.
For me long distance is 200 km or more.

ButchA

Out of my two bikes...

1985 Fuji Del Rey
2009 Schwinn Alum Comp (now my wife's)

The answer is obvious - the Fuji!

I had to go back a ways on MapMyRide and look up some past rides I did before I bought the Fuji off Craigslist. I found some old rides I did on the Schwinn where I rode it on the street, and probably looked like a complete fool... 23 miles in 1 hr 45 min. Painfully slow (just barely 13 mph), but it gave me a heck of a workout!

The longest ride (as of yet) with the old Fuji was: 36.75 in 2 hr 12 min (about 16.7 mph). Even though it's a steel framed, 12 speed, C&V road bike, I ride the heck out of it and can hold my own with the CF roadies on their $6,000 Cannondales, Cervelos, etc...

rccardr 

Ten centuries this year, the last one this past weekend. Most of them on this '88 Cannondale ST, which has seen several different group sets this year. It's also been my travel bike, rides in the airplane in an EVOC bag. Now with Deore derailleurs, compact and 11/34 cassette:



One on this lovely Cinelli MSCS with full Super Record up in NJ, although it now sports nicer Vittoria Rubino Pro III tires:



Another on an '83 Serotta Club Special, also with full Super Record but with Panaracer Paselas. For some reason can't find a picture right now, but I'll backtrack and post one later.

Final century of the year was this past weekend, done on this lovely '87 Schwinn Tempo with Shimano 6207/8 converted to 10 speed gearing:

oddjob2

The four below have been taken on 2-3 hour rides and have been very comfortable for me. No morning after issues!

jimmuller 

Interesting responses, nice bikes.

I like rides in the 60-75 miles range, with an occasional century. I don't get many opportunities but when I do I want just a few key features on the bike. Easy pedaling, easy rolling. Good performance braking and shifting. Gearing low enough for the terrain. Comfort in the saddle and bar/brake reach, but if I hadn't built it to be comfortable I wouldn't ride it much for short rides either so this doesn't really count.

Ease of pedaling is largely a feature of tires and wheels. I don't mind the "bone-jarring" ride of high tire pressure, and I do like the feel of lighter wheels and tires. So my preferred bike(s) have 23's, even sew-ups. A bike that takes (seemingly - since some people claim perception in this regard isn't real) less effort to ride fast will take (seemingly) less effort to ride far, and far is the name of the game.

Roger M speaks of riding 168 miles with 10,000ft uphill. I'm pretty sure I could do 168 miles with 10,000ft downhill, except that it would have to start pretty high up to do that. I'd like to see pics of nlerner's ibid, as I've never seen one in person.

So my favorite would probably be the Masi, though the Motobecane and Gazelle are pretty nice too.

Ex Pres 

I've ridden many of my bikes, both C&V and not, on centuries, almost all on 23's. I did do my most recent with 27's (Challenge P-Rs) that measure a little wider. I will say that I'll be replacing all my tires with wider width tires as they wear out, but I'm going to stay probably between 24-27.

Without a doubt, even after the largest elevation change organized century I did this year (Cheaha ~ 9700ft), the freshest I've felt, not necessarily leg-wise (due to the climbs) but just bike-wise, is on my O/T Magnesium Dogma. Even on 22's (Challenge tubulars). Can't wait to try the bike with wider tires.

My worst has to be the Gianni Motta. I did one organized century on it. Many miles of rough road on this one, but I rode the same century a year before on my Guerciotti, and the Guerc did not beat me up as badly. I'll not take the GM on longer rides again.