Your century bicycle(s)

[knobster]

Depends on you and the mountains but Can you change the rear cassette to something lower? I know of a regular century rider on hilly routes that use a double compact crankset, and he has changed his rear cassette to a 12/34. This did require a long cage rear derailler so adding to the expense but a couple of centuries a month is his norm.

My Giant has a triple and on our hills I would not contemplate any thing else but When I do road rides on the MTB I have a crankset of 44/32/22 and I can assure you that I do use the lowest gear of 22/32 at some point. So why is it that on the same hills on the road bike- I can sail up hills in 30/26? I think it is a mental thing- It starts hurting so change down- but when you run out of gears- you have to put up with the pain.

Well, just taking a guess, but maybe your MTB is 10-15 lbs heavier? Mine is.... Not as stiff either as the suspension robs your power.

Yeah, I have a short cage derailleur so the largest I can go (according to Campy) is 13/26 which is what I have. I took a ride today on the compact that has a nasty hill and it kicked my butt. So much so that 49 miles into the ride (65 mile ride), I had to call SAG support. That's the wife. Pretty bad as that's the first time I've ever had to do that....

I switched to the triple tonight, but need a front derailleur. Hope this is what I need...

[rm -rf]

...It could also be that the manufacturer (despite his great reputation and undisputed experience) laid the cables in an inadequate location along the bar, meaning that my hands don't rest on the nice flat surface that is normally provided by Campagnolo levers. One of these days I will probably try redo the cable routing and taping - I hate that - and see if it improves.

My Campagnolo cable routes over the top of the bar and then along the front. It crosses over the top of the bar right where I rest my hands. So I cut an oval piece of innertube with a slot in the middle where the cable runs, and another smaller piece over that, and taped it down on the bar. Then the bar tape goes over that. Now it's a smooth transition from the hood to the bar.

[BearsPaw]

IRO Mark V - Single Speed, built with 650B wheels

Is that a light on your rear fender, or just a reflector? It looks fancy.

[Spudmeister]

Is that a light on your rear fender, or just a reflector? It looks fancy.

It is a light & reflector. Here's a link...

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/spanninga.asp

Look just over half way down the page.

[Michelangelo]

What bicycles have you ridden your centuries (or brevets, or double centuries) on ?

Singer randonneuse, custom-made for me by Ernest Czuka in 1999 for my first PBP. I use it all the time: from randonnées, long distance, mountains, travelling the country in hôtel or even camping.

http://abeille-cyclotourisme.chez-al...is_luchon.html



Steel frame (Reynolds), hand prepared Brooks saddle, Speedplay frog pedals, Maxicar hubs, alu fenders. I normally remove the front racks on long distance rides for more comfort (they increase rigidity).

I never use my racing bike (vintage custom Gemini '1974) except on races (!), even on 200 km rides or brevets. Comfort and required equipment are more important to me than weight.

[Rotten Bastard]

A sticky on this thread would be uber.

[MKahrl]

My bikes followed by the number of centuries done on each in roughly chronological order:
Falcon Black Diamond: 2
Paramount P13: 4
Paramount P15: 5
Falcon San Remo: 15

Nearly all centuries were done on 27mm tires or larger, all on Brooks saddles, and most with fenders. Since organized century rides go rain or shine, fenders make an all day ride in the rain a lot more comfortable. I think tire size is a much greater determinent of ride comfort vs frame material.

[knobster]

I think tire size is a much greater determinent of ride comfort vs frame material.

Couldn't agree more. My Trek 520 has 32's and is very comfortable. Problem is the weight. When I get done with a long ride I am beyond tired. I don't hurt, but can barely function. My other bikes are not as comfortable, but I am nowhere near as tired, but my body hurts. Wonder if putting larger tires (already have 25's) on the faster bike would make up for the comfort issue on longer rides?

Edit: Or maybe get my lazy ass in the gym.

[bmike]

Couldn't agree more. My Trek 520 has 32's and is very comfortable. Problem is the weight. When I get done with a long ride I am beyond tired. I don't hurt, but can barely function. My other bikes are not as comfortable, but I am nowhere near as tired, but my body hurts. Wonder if putting larger tires (already have 25's) on the faster bike would make up for the comfort issue on longer rides?

Edit: Or maybe get my lazy ass in the gym.

In some cases wider tires roll faster than narrow tires.
VBQ / Bicycle Quarterly had a good testing article on it a while back.

Depends on the materials in the tire, tread thickness, tread hardness, pressure etc.

I'm riding 25's at the moment. Had some Schwalbe Marathon 28s on it but they were really slow. Looking forward to my UPS of Continental GP 28's. I like their 25's but want a little more cush for the long haul.

[2manybikes]

Couldn't agree more. My Trek 520 has 32's and is very comfortable. Problem is the weight. When I get done with a long ride I am beyond tired. I don't hurt, but can barely function. My other bikes are not as comfortable, but I am nowhere near as tired, but my body hurts. Wonder if putting larger tires (already have 25's) on the faster bike would make up for the comfort issue on longer rides?

Edit: Or maybe get my lazy ass in the gym.

Big tires will help a little, depending on the pressure now you can go down on the 25's probably. Even 10 psi can help.

If you keep riding the heavy bike it will make you less tired at the end of a long ride. You will adjust. You can probably run your 25's at 70 psi if you look where your going all the time. I can ride 23's at 70 all day.

[Mr. Beanz]

3 on a Trek 1200, no pics
3 on the tandem-Burley Duet cro-mo steel

6 on the alum Cannondale Caad 3

18 on alum Lemond Tourmalet

[knobster]

Depends on you and the mountains but Can you change the rear cassette to something lower? I know of a regular century rider on hilly routes that use a double compact crankset, and he has changed his rear cassette to a 12/34. This did require a long cage rear derailler so adding to the expense but a couple of centuries a month is his norm.

Yeah, I ordered a 13/29 cassette for the moutain centuries. That's the largest I can go with a short cage derailleur and that's beyond the specs that Campy states. If this doesn't work, then I will simply put my triple on it. I will have to change the bottom bracket and get a new FD, but that's not that big a deal.

[KLW2]

All on my 1988 Schwinn Voyageur steel frame...

[craigdurkee]

Mine can be seen here

www.craigspics.info and then goto bikes

giant crx 2 australian model only

[zowie]

My Giant has a triple and on our hills I would not contemplate any thing else but When I do road rides on the MTB I have a crankset of 44/32/22 and I can assure you that I do use the lowest gear of 22/32 at some point. So why is it that on the same hills on the road bike- I can sail up hills in 30/26? I think it is a mental thing- It starts hurting so change down- but when you run out of gears- you have to put up with the pain.

The mountain bike has smaller wheels.

[TruckerMike]

2006 Marioni ciclo. 50/34t rings, 12-25 cassette, Columbus steel frame

[Soonerinfrisco]

06 Tarmac Pro.

Actually do have a steel Allez that a friend is borrowing that I might turn into more of a century rig. It is a triple with a fairly upright position and has 28s. I might add more cushy bar wrap and maybe aero bars?

I know, bad quality pic..oh well...

[Carbonfiberboy]

First centuries and first double on a mid-70's 12-speed steel Mercier, purchased used. About 27 lbs. What a POS. Slow, hard to drive, flexible so that it felt like I was about the tear the bars off when I got out of the saddle. A double on that bike took 16 hours.

After that, many centuries, doubles, long mountain rides, and now brevets on my '99 Trek 5200 carbon OCLV bike (purchased new). Low end Rolf wheels, 23c Vredestein Tricomps pumped to 145 lbs., Terry Fly saddle. 12 hour doubles on this bike. 18.5 lbs. naked. I notice no discomfort from the fast tires and wheels or from the Trek racing geometry. On the contrary, a good handling fast bike is more comfortable. The Vredesteins are durable and have good road feel.

Triple in front 52-42-30, 12-25 in back. Perfect gearing for LD work. I can run the whole cassette from the middle chainring and seldom use the granny or big ring. If I were going to do a mountainous 1200, I'd go to a 12-27.

The lighter your equipment and the faster your wheels and tires, the bigger gears you can turn and the less time you spend in the saddle. That's what I think so far. I'll let you know if I change my mind after I do my first 1200. But I don't think so. This is pretty much what my rando buddies do, except that most of them run Litespeeds. Around here, a rando rider can be defined as someone who would take a $5,000 TdF capable bike and hang a trunk bag, lights, and fenders on it.

[No_Minkah]

Hello, this is my first post in LDC!

I rode a century on it last year, and I'll be riding my first randonee, a brevet, on it in a few weeks:



More details and pictures here.

[Road Fan]

Personnally I am not clear yet how "aggressive" a position I prefer. I have ridden quite a few centuries on bikes where the handlebars were a few cm lower than the saddle, a setup I would qualify as "rather aggressive". I have recently bought a dedicated randonneur bike which is less so, with bars almost level with the saddle. I am not actually sure I prefer this more relaxed position. It could be that because my hands are higher I put more weight on them, it is hard to explain. It could also be that the manufacturer (despite his great reputation and undisputed experience) laid the cables in an inadequate location along the bar, meaning that my hands don't rest on the nice flat surface that is normally provided by Campagnolo levers. One of these days I will probably try redo the cable routing and taping - I hate that - and see if it improves.
One advantage of these highish bars is that I can ride on the drops without feeling too cramped.

I find my hands have a certain height they like to be at. If my bars are too high I tend to try ot press down, adding to the pressure. If I lower the bars just a bit, the pressure is greatly relaxed.

You might not like having the bars higher than you are used to.

Road Fan

[PhattTyre]

My 2000 Lemond Buenos Aires has been with me on my only 3 century rides, with more to come this spring and summer. The first two it was 105 equiped and the most recent was with the 10s upgrades. It's comfy.

[PhattTyre]

As of yesterday I can add this bike to my century list. It was my first fixed century and longest ride of the year (110 miles, 7:03 ride time). Straping the jacket on with the seat bag really freed up jersey pocket space for food. Some steel or carbon would go along way, that aluminum frame and fork worked me.

That makes 2 unsupported solo centuries in 12 days for me. The Cream Puff training is coming along nicely.

[spokenword]

Personnally I am not clear yet how "aggressive" a position I prefer. I have ridden quite a few centuries on bikes where the handlebars were a few cm lower than the saddle, a setup I would qualify as "rather aggressive".
One advantage of these highish bars is that I can ride on the drops without feeling too cramped.

I find my hands have a certain height they like to be at. If my bars are too high I tend to try ot press down, adding to the pressure. If I lower the bars just a bit, the pressure is greatly relaxed.

You might not like having the bars higher than you are used to.

When I did my first brevet series last year, it was on a Trek 520 that was a little small for me. As a result, I had the saddle a few cm's higher than my handlebars, and it felt ok. I had some nerve issues w/ my left hand on longish rides with rough roads, but I found that being conscientious about shifting my hand positions usually relieved this. I also felt rather cramped in the drops.

My current brevet bike has the handlebars and saddle at about the same level, and I found that the pressure on my hands was greatly relieved, and the nerve issues in my hands have become a complete non-factor. Riding in the drops has also become much more comfortable.

The only niggling thing about the raised handlebars is that it makes me feel more upright and less aerodynamic, but I suspect that's more of a psychological bugbear than anything else.

[DanteB]

Here's my ride, 2001 Waterford full Campy Record.

[bmclaughlin807]

Well, now that I've got my first century done (and second, AND third! Three weeks, three centuries!) I guess I can post my bike in this thread!




1988 Raleigh Technium... Since the photos I've added clipless pedals, fenders, aerobars, and a better light. I currently have about 8,500 miles on it Gets me where I'm goin'!