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Brevet bike - Decisions, Decisons

Old 02-09-09, 04:51 PM
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Brevet bike - Decisions, Decisons

I am going to try to complete a super randonee series this year and wanted to see what everyone's opionion is on which bike I should use. I would like to use the same bike for all of the events so I don't have any issues with switching. In the past I have experienced ITB issues when I have made a change and put a lot of miles on a different bike. Here are the choices:

-Full carbon Pedal Force RS2 with SRAM Rival components. Roughly 17 lbs.
-Scattante XRL Cross frame (Aluminum) with mostly Ultegra. Plenty of room for fenders, even with 35mm knobbies! This bike has a comfortable Brooks b17 saddle. Roughly 22 lbs.
-1983 Trek 500 (steel). It has upgraded componentry, mostly Ultegra, Brooks b17 saddle as well. Plenty of room for fenders and wider tires. 501 Reynolds lugged frameset. Roughly 27 lbs.

All bikes fit me very well. The RS2 has a little more saddle to bar drop but not substantial. I have ridden this bike on centuries before without any issues. I worry about this one on the longer (400 and 600) rides as it still is a little more aggressive than the other two. The Scattante and Trek are my commuters/dirt road bikes with very similar angles and saddle to bar drop. I have done a few centuries on the Scattante and I had no issues. The trek is HEAVY. The series in my area are quite hilly and I worry about using the bike on extended climbs. Does 5 lbs matter?

Which bike would you ride?
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Old 02-09-09, 05:40 PM
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How much do you, the bike, your bags, food, full water bottles, clothes, etc weigh all together? 5 pounds is what percent of that? I'm guessing 2 or 3 percent. Probably not the most significant factor. Besides, 27 pounds isn't really that heavy. My Miyata 210 is about the same weight, and I've done plenty of long climbs on it. My Schwinn Varsity that I had in High School was close to 40 pounds, now that's heavy.

Ride the bike that feels the best. If you like the RS2, but are only concerned about its saddle to bar drop, why not just raise its bars? Can you put fenders on it? If not, have you ridden it much in the rain to see if you'd want to ride it for a long brevet in the rain? Do you get much rain during brevets in your area (Boston, I'd guess from your handle, which I think does mean a good chance of rain). After a few hundred kilometers of muddy water thrown up on your chest and back, you may be wishing for a heavier bike with fenders.

How are you planning on carrying gear during the brevets? Will you want a rack? If so, which bikes can you mount one on?
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Old 02-09-09, 07:27 PM
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Weight is less of an issue than comfort. I've ridden a 30+lb bike through a complete series on very hilly courses.

Of course, I have recently chased the compromise, searching for both low weight and comfort, w/ a bike that can take rack, fenders and larger tyres.

Here are some of the bikes I use/ have used on brevets.
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Old 02-09-09, 07:48 PM
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Ride the bike that is the most comfortable when doing a century. Any discomfort gets worse as the ride gets longer. A lightweight bike with skinny high pressure tires and aggressive posture will likely cause you to slow down and take longer at controls to sooth your numb hands and sore neck.

No matter what you ride, use your most comfortable saddle.
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Old 02-10-09, 01:55 AM
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you really want to make sure your bars are high enough. I have heard that people have trouble holding their heads up at the end of the longer rides, and I'm a believer of that. I did 200k this weekend, and my neck got sore. I blame it on my glasses. I ended up taking them off, and things improved. But I'm raising my position.

I say go with whichever bike you are most confident in. I was going to ride my commuter/touring bike, but I'm not that confident in it because I have never done any distance on it. I ended up taking my racing bike. I still think that is the best decision, but next time I'll probably take the other bike for comfort reasons. I intend to take it on longer rides now.

Last edited by unterhausen; 02-10-09 at 01:58 AM.
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Old 02-10-09, 07:52 AM
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How are you planning on carrying tools, food and extra layers? Rack w/ seatpost clamp? Carradice? Handlebar bag? Camelbak?

I've done the Boston and Westfield brevets on a Trek 520 (analog to your Trek 500) and while I wasn't completing them quickly, I was still finishing, and was able to cap off finishing a 600k.

To khearn's point, we do get rain on a relatively frequent basis in New England. It's certainly not as omnipresent as the Pacific Northwest, but after three years of randonneuring here, I am hard pressed to identify a single season that was completely dry. Last year's Boston 600 alone, was conducted in the midst of a zero-visibility lightning storm. So, I think fenders are definitely worth considering.

Roads in New Hampshire are fairly rough, and if you're going to be doing the Boston series, then you will need a bike that can deal with chipseal and potholes (less of a concern if you're going to be riding more of the Westfield rides). The Scattante's aluminum frame has me a little suspect, but wider tires run at lower pressure might offset that.

We also do some seriously hilly rides, with the Boston 300 and 600 being ones that primarily come to mind, but even the 200 has a lot of climbing. The Trek 500's weight might be a bit of penalty there, but the extremely wider range of touring gears came in very handy on the second half of a 600, when it came to spinning my way up the Green Mountains.

I would say that you ought to give the Scattante a first go. If you can get through New Hampshire without any serious trouble or soreness, take it on to the 300. If you get beaten up, then bring out the Trek. Main caveat is that regardless of your bike, sort out how you're going to bring your gear.

I would caution against using a frame bag if you have ITB issues, as I had a friend who found his ITB issues excacerbated with a frame bag, as the bulge in the frame forced him to move his knees outward. I am also not a big fan of wearing Camelbaks throughout a long ride as I find that the weight just hurts my back and shoulders over time.
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Old 02-10-09, 08:52 AM
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I am going to try to complete a super randonee series this year and wanted to see what everyone's opionion is on which bike I should use.
Why would you assume a single bicycle is preferable for all brevet and all conditions? Do you carry the same gear for a 200k as a 600k?

I worry about this one on the longer (400 and 600) rides as it still is a little more aggressive than the other two.
If you use bikes that fit differently, and "worry" about longer rides, then why not change their fit to suit your purpose?

Instead of thinking about your bicycles, why don't you think about yourself? Make a list of the various traits of each bicycle that may or may not affect your brevet riding experience. After listing all the factors that you can think - start to assign a priority to each bicycle's factors as to their importance.

You should be able to come up with the "best factors" bicycle. Of course, this whole thread is silly, because the brevet conditions constantly change. (as well as route and distance)

My own experience suggests that "bike selection" strategies work out when you know what kind of weather you will be riding in and have a good feel for how you want to "ride" the particular brevet. I'm not sure you can do that very well from a keyboard -weeks in advance.

In any case, use the bike that "fits" best.
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Old 02-10-09, 10:23 AM
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I never said that one bike is ideal for all the rides. I want to minimize changes in equipment due to past issues. A very small change in position on the bike can cause my ITB to flare up. That being said, I would like to ride the same bike on all of the rides to lessen the impact. All my bikes are set up very similarly (especially the trek and scattante) yet switching between bikes can cause me issues on longer rides.

I will be carrying my stuff in a carradice bag and I have a rear rack that I could use as well.

I ride with 28 to 32 mm tires and I'm not as concerned about aluminum being harsh. I have ridden this bike (Scattante) on a offroad 200km ride last year and was pleased with the bike.

The RS2 cannot fit regular fenders (possibly race blades).
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Old 02-10-09, 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by red sox junkie
I ride with 28 to 32 mm tires and I'm not as concerned about aluminum being harsh. I have ridden this bike (Scattante) on a offroad 200km ride last year and was pleased with the bike.
Was this the D2R2? If so, then, yeah, if you got through that with the Scattante, then you should be fine with the bike for the longer brevets.
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Old 02-10-09, 04:13 PM
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No, it was not the DDRR but that one is on my list. I'm actually in the Washington DC area (my father brain washed me from a young age to be a sox fan) but my parents are in the Boston area. I was thinking I could go up to my parents with the wife and kids and try to do the ride. The long offroad rides I've done are on the C&O towpath which is pancake flat. I'm leaning towards using this bike because I have some experience on it and it has worked well in the past.
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Old 02-10-09, 04:17 PM
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This is what the Scattnate looks like. I have swapped out the saddle for a Brooks and the bar end shifters have been replaced with Ultegra STIs. I flipped the 6 degree stem up so there is a less saddle to handlebar drop. This is how it looked after a muddy 200km ride at the end of last year.
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Old 02-10-09, 10:45 PM
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A very small change in position on the bike can cause my ITB to flare up.
That's very unlikely. You need to double check your ITB issues, I suspect you may have other reasons for the apparent ITB pain. (you may in fact be compressing a spinal nerve)

In any case, my advice is - is still correct.
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Old 02-11-09, 10:19 AM
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No offense, but I'll trust my doctor's diagnosis and my PTs observations confirming the diagnosis. There was inflamation and the IT Band was noticably tighter on the involved leg than the other leg. I had been doing all of my cycling on my road bike and switched to my cross bike and that is when I experienced my ITB issues. Who knows if it was the bike switch that caused it, but that is the only thing I can identify. I lost two months of cycling due to that issue and I would like to try to avoid that this year. So maybe I'm being a bit cautious by sticking with one bike, but I would like to take that variable out of the equation.
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Old 02-11-09, 11:29 AM
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That Scattante still has pretty low handlebars relative to the saddle. You can adjust them higher with an adapter, but the looks &/or feel may not be to your taste. The Trek probably has a lot more room for adjustment, assuming it's the standard 1" threaded with a gooseneck stem. Maybe you can ride a 600K with the amount of drop that the Scattante has, but if you were on the Trek and you got halfway and started having neck problems, then you could stop for thirty seconds, raise the stem to the maximum, and be on your way. (If the stem on your Trek doesn't have enough travel, you could replace with a Nitto Technomic that would provide a wider adjustment range).

When comparing weights, are you being careful to keep the same setup between bikes? 27 pounds for the Trek sounds a little high for a "bare bike", based on my 1984 Trek 400. But with fenders, rack, lights, etc my Trek is probably around 27 or 28 pounds. If you strip both bikes down to just the frame and components (no wheels, saddle, pedals, racks, etc), I'd be surprised if the weight difference between the Scattante and the Trek is as much as three pounds. The weight difference between the aluminum bike I used to ride (Novara Gran Fondo with fairly fancy aluminum) and my Rambouillet is 1.1 pounds. Since the wheels and luggage methodology that I use depend on the brevet that I'm riding, and the saddle and pedals are always the same weight regardless of bike, it's easiest and appropriate to compare the bikes when stripped down.

I sure like riding brevets better on my steel bikes than I did on my aluminum bike. Even with 700x28 tires, the aluminum feels more buzzy than steel with the same size tire. Maybe if I had known about riding on 700x32's I'd have been happier with the aluminum. But that frame eventually cracked and got replaced with steel.

I'm in the DC area, too. Will you be coming out for our brevet series? Lot's of people here ride without fenders, but most of the "hard core" randonneurs ride with fenders unless there is zero probability of water on the road.

I assume you've come across our website at www.dcrand.org

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Old 02-11-09, 11:34 AM
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Originally Posted by red sox junkie
No offense, but I'll trust my doctor's diagnosis and my PTs observations confirming the diagnosis. There was inflamation and the IT Band was noticably tighter on the involved leg than the other leg. I had been doing all of my cycling on my road bike and switched to my cross bike and that is when I experienced my ITB issues. Who knows if it was the bike switch that caused it, but that is the only thing I can identify. I lost two months of cycling due to that issue and I would like to try to avoid that this year. So maybe I'm being a bit cautious by sticking with one bike, but I would like to take that variable out of the equation.
I think sticking with 1 bike is good for reasons other than ITB... like getting to know your equipment, dialing it in and not needing to worry about adjustments, being on the same machine you'll get you to how it sounds, shifts, etc... and potentially pre-empt any maintenance issues... and on.

Switching from 1 brevet to the next seems like asking for trouble. Many of the folks I know have more than their share of bikes - but they stick with their trusted steed for long rides, training, and even commuting. I bounce between 2 - my fg and my if brevet bike - but when the spring season starts i'll be on the brevet bike for most everything other than short runs about town.
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Old 02-11-09, 02:02 PM
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I am going to be joining DC Randonneurs and trying to complete their sr series. I'm really looking forward to it!

The weight of the Trek was the "curb" weight (computer, bottle cages, fenders, pedals etc.). I have a heavy saddle and wheelset so that doesn't help. It is also a pretty large frame (61 cm) so depending on the size of your 400, that may be a difference.

The frame/fork/headset on the scattante is about 2400 gm. I haven't weighed the trek stripped down like that, but according to a reynolds brouchure from the mid '80's,(https://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/rey...80brochure.htm) I could expect the tubeset to weigh 2400 gm alone. Plus the headset, brakes and stem would weigh more than the scattante.

I have flipped the stem since I took this picture so the handlebars are closer to the level of the saddle, but still not even. This seems to be a pretty comfortable setup as I have pretty long arms. You make a good point about raising the stem during a ride, the threadless stem doesn't give me that flexibility.

Have you completed this series before? Any advise would be appreciated!
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