shipwreck

I recently did an century event held in my own town. Did not do to bad, considering my training was literaly eating little debbies while watching old mercks vids on utube. It was not a race, but I was 66th out of 101 riders to finish. Most of the other riders had done a triatholon the day before, so no reason to brag at all. They all went on to run 10 K the next day. Hats off to them. Not a competitive person, but would like to do the whole thing next year myself, as well as some other events.

So, My question is, I ride a lot, Utility on platforms, a 20 mile every other morning(or so)with clip in pedals, slower pleasure rides on a rando style bike with toe straps, ect. All my bikes(about 12) are set up to fit, but all have different geometry, pedals, gearing, ect. Should I start favoring the bike I will ride, with clips, to train a muscle group used on that style of bike, and taper off on the others as an event nears? This is the biggest concern, cause I can't carry much on my road bike, even my tourer can't carry as much as my grocery rig.
I really feel different muscles working on the utility type bikes than my road ride.
I had though about rigging clips on my 72 Continental, geometry is the same as my lighter road bike, its just 22 pounds more. Thats really what I did for this last ride, did the whole thing on the Conti, but with platforms. took eleven hours. Did the same ride on my fuji in seven five days later.
I will be riding 25 miles round trip to the nearest pool/gym this winter for other training.(I don't drive unless I have to)And thats another thing. I generaly go with a fixed gear in the winter, cause the roads are crappy, and it is a bit harder. I figure that I will do up a fixed road bike more like the one that I will be rideing, possibly the same frame. Most of my riding is solo, so have never been concerned with conditioning before. I guess that this is my midlife crises

ericm979

If you set up your bikes so you are in the same position relative to the cranks, and with the same length cranks, then you will be using your muscles the same. Don't forget to take pedal and shoe stack height into account. I switch between two bikes much of the year and don't notice a problem with training.

Instead of toe clips I recommend clipless pedals for long rides. They are more comfortable.

shipwreck

Basicaly, seat tube angle changes are what I can feel the most. That and bar style/height. My shopping and library bikes are all older MTBs with REALY slack angles, and the thigh and calf workout seems to change.
usualy do use clipless for longer faster rides, but on my tourer I have done 160 mile days on platforms. For randonneuring straps are my thing cause clattering around a control bothers me a lot. I am just all over the place on equipment. When someone asks what kind of seat/bar/pedal I prefer I can honestly just say "yes". It takes me a few miles to get used to whatever shifters I have that day.

Pedal and shoe height is probably the biggest thing, good point. When I ride in my Chaco sandals the seat has to go up four millimeters on every bike. And I am pretty lucky that all of my rides have 175mm cranks. One does have 172.5mm, can't really feel the change much(at all). Thanks for the response.

Machka 

I wouldn't worry so much about which bicycle to ride, although in the month before the event you might want to ride your bicycle of choice for the event so that you become very familiar with its idiosyncrasies.

However, if 25 miles is your current usual "long" distance, you might want to focus on doing a longer distance once a week.

ericm979

Set your seat position relative to the BB. Then seat tube angle does not matter.

Of course for an around town bike that you don't put much time on, getting its position close to the bikes you train on is not that important.

chasm54

I wouldn't worry too much about the type of bike, as long as the riding position is roughly similar. The fixed gear is a good idea, imo. I too ride one and use it a lot in the winter. it definitely makes me work harder in the hills, I'm pretty sure that improves my pedalling stroke, and when I get back on the 18lb 20-speed road bike I feel like I'm flying.