lungimsam

My guess is triples.

Marcello

My guess is fixed gear. Never tried it myself, but all the FG riders I met on rando rides have been very happy with their choice.

hamster

I bet you've never seen any unhappy paraplegics on randos, either. What does it tell you?

Machka 

Ultra distance cyclists ride whatever they want to ride. If you've ever been to the PBP, you'll notice just about every type of bicycle you can imagine.



lungimsam ... what's the longest distance you've ridden? What different kinds of bicycles have you ridden?

Machka 

Yep ... quite a few randonneurs ride fixed gear.

Rowan

That you're being snide without having a clue about what you're talking about.

Marcello

It tells me that "paraplegic" is not a kind of drivetrain I have yet seen on rando rides. You learn something new every day.

We are talking about drivetrains, right?

znomit

My first century, I was on a triple and rode a lot with a guy on a rowing bike.

Machka 

A handcycle?

On Rowan's and my first 24-hour event, there was a guy riding it with a handcycle.

znomit

Nope, it was a rowing motion, cable driven.

Machka 

That would be interesting. I use the rowing machines in the gym when I can, and I enjoy that. But I have wondered if it would work to put that sort of setup on a machine that could be rowed down the road.

Rowan

I sure had to give props to the paraplegic guy on the 24H race in Iowa. We passed him at one stage throwing his heart up on the side of the road, but he was determined to continue.

Steamer

https://rowingbike.com/site/EN/

The fastest recumbent one year at PBP (2003?) was on a Thys Rowing bike. It's my understanding that the non-continuous nature of the power output makes very steep hills a bit of a problem for some, but these bikes are remarkably road worthy otherwise.

ThermionicScott 

Ashrita Furman came to mind when you mentioned the "rowing bike" -- I'd love to try one:



As for the OP, I was sure glad to have a full triple on my 400k this weekend. It was much hillier than the 300k (which I guess is common ), and I needed those low gear much more than I expected.

unterhausen

as far as the OP is concerned, I say go with a compact and a 32 in the back.

There was an American on a hand cycle at PBP this year. He DNF'ed, but I didn't catch him until about the 200k mark and he was going strong. He apparently didn't register with the electronic timing system, because he doesn't show on the results at all.

Commodus

I think triples are best, but compacts work fine too. Especially some of the new (or old rather...) ultra-compact doubles now available. VO has a nice 550g crankset with a 46-30 combination that I think might work well for me.

Chris_W

I want tightly-spaced gears with a lot of range, so a triple it is for me. YMMV.

znomit

I hate front shifting so want a stupidly large range cassette

Homeyba

This is a question that only has a "what's best for me" answer. In general terms, there is no right answer.

Homeyba

The reason you don't see unhappy FG riders is because if they are unhappy they don't do it any more. I can point out a half-dozen of us right off the top of my head who've been-there-done-that and weren't to thrilled with our very sad knees...

njkayaker

Yes. The "conclusion" of "happy FG riders" is based on bad (incomplete) data.

unterhausen

I really would like to have a FG commuter, but my knees say no. The idea of riding a 200k on a FG appeals to me, but if I'm not going to ride 10 miles to work for fear of blowing out my knees, a long ride is never going to happen. I have felt stupid for riding certain 200k's with a low gear that wasn't low enough, how would I feel after riding the same route on a FG?

Chris Pringle

If you ever experience any kind of knee discomfort, it's best to stay away from FG for any kind of long distance riding that involves hilly terrain. FG is for riders with strong, healthy knees, but even then I've seen too many friends in their late 20s complain about their knees hurting after riding FG for a longtime. FG MTBing is possiby the worst due to the short bursts of extreme pressure and energy required, but I would suspect randonneuring might no be too far behind simply because of distance and terrain that's covered on most brevets. The simplicity and light weight of FG is an attractive thing but the long term physical repercussions are not worth it, IMO.

BTW, I prefer triplet crankset. I find it easier to leave the crankset alone and play around with the cassette. 11-34 for hilly terrain and 11-26 for flat or rolling hill. Must mention that I also use my bike also for touring. If it were used purely for unloaded long distance riding I might consider a double with 11-32 cassette.

lonesomesteve

All those people doing randonneuring on a fixed gear are crazy, I tell ya!

That's why my main randonneuring bike is a single speed with a freewheel. I love to coast.

For what it's worth, after completing an SR series on a single speed bike this year my knees feel fine. Certainly no worse than they've felt in past years when I was riding bikes with all them geary things. I think it helps to build up to it slowly.

To the OP, nobody can tell you what kind of drive train will work best for you. Start doing long rides with whatever you've got and make adjustments if it's not working for you. Generally the worst that can happen is you'll have to walk up a hill every once in a while. That won't kill you.

ThermionicScott 

Ultimately, I wonder if this is will be the direction of the whole industry -- give cassettes enough range and cogs that people won't have to put up with annoying and confusing front shifts anymore.