Originally Posted by Expatriate
What do you use for your Randy-neering? Tiger says to just put slicks on my spare MTB. I'm back to square one. I need to find an aero bar (clip on type) and some skinny tires and go that route. STI's not looking too cheap right now, even with my connections.
Fully fledged touring bike. Fuji Touring to be exact. It's a bit heavy for randonneuring, but I need to have a bike that will tour loaded *and* do randonnees.
I would love to have a Dawes or Thorn or some other English frame that is designed specifically for randonnees and light touring. Thinner diameter chainstays and seatstays, decent wheelbase, and a bit more flex in the frame to make the ride more comfortable.
The old Peugeot that's become my fixie would have been fine -- it rides really well, even with a Vitus racing fork, but the rear drop-out width is too narrow and I couldn't be bothered risking spreading the chain/seatstays. I have another old lugged frame that's wider, but it's earmarked for a commuter. I might hit-up Tigerboy and see what sort of deal he could do on an English audax lookalike in steel late next year.
The Fuji has become a grandma's axe after recently clocking over 30,000km in three years of riding. Only the frame, fork, stem, handlebars, seatpost, post clamp, front der, brifters and frame barrel adjusters are original. The original Cyclone 30-42-54 chainrings and cranks were dumped out after an epic loaded Canberra-Melbourne ride in four days over the Great Divide in August 2002 for a Deore 22-32-44 set. Wheels are now Aerohead (OS on the rear with Velocity no-name hub). Brooks B17 saddle. SON dynohub on the front wheel. All the usual randonnee stuff. It serves as my touring, commuting and randon bike.
The old lugger I mentioned above to become my commuter will help reduce some of the annual cost of running the Fuji. Chains and rear cluster are usually replaced prior to every ride over 1000km, although I am going to risk the Giro Tas next week with about 3000km on the current set.
FWIW, the young guy who finished in least time on the Great Southern rode an MTB, with flat bars and narrow slick tyres. The problem always is going to be comfort. Usually, the frame needs to be bigger for comfortable randons than would be good for MTB. However, if you can find something like a late-80s or early-90s Apollo or whatever frame in steel with a horizontal top tube, you might be on to something worth building up. Decent chainstay length, decent top-tube length... I regret sometimes swapping an old Apollo MTB steelie for a crappy lounge suite -- the frame would still be going, the suite is destined for the dump.
Anyway, if you want more info, just ask. I might be an idiot, but I am a knowledgeable idiot for randon stuff.