jan191976

I have a road cyclist who loves a challenge and I think I want to take the next set and get involved in the above events.

I have always been fascinated with the possibility of accomplishing a brevet/randoneuring event for years.

I was wondering if someone could fill me in on the type of bike used for these events. I know there will be many options and opinions so all will be considered.

I ride a 2007 Cannondale Six13 road bike right now and I am looking for a second bike that could be used for brevets/randonneurs from 400 - 1200 km and I have cross Canada tour in the back of my head for down the road.

I would like the bike to be capable to install racks and panniers for long tours

unterhausen

I would say that the majority of practicing randonneurs would use your current bicycle on most rides up to 1200k. The major addition required is lights. You would probably want a fairly large saddle bag for extra clothes. There are relatively few randonneurs that use a touring bike on brevets. I wouldn't say that is ideal; a touring bike tends to be heavier and have heavier tires so that they can handle touring loads.

lonesomesteve

+1 to Unterhausen's comments. It's not the kind of bike as much as it is the kind of rider you are. Also as Unterhausen pointed out, you'll need lights and the ability to carry some baggage, but your current bike can handle both of those requirements just fine. Check out the Your Century Bicycle(s) thread or the Post Your LD SS/FG bikes thread and you'll see that just about anything goes for long distance bicycles.

StephenH

If you're fast or riding in the summer, you don't need lights for a 200k, so you can jump right in.

Racks or bags of some kind are handy to carry extra junk, but most rando guys use regular road bikes or recumbents around here. One guy has a proper rando bike (Velo Orange bike), I have a touring bike (Raleigh Sojourn), there's three or four tandems (not normally all on the same ride), a half-dozen or more recumbents, and the rest are just regular bikes that you'd see on any group ride. Oh, there's been some guys riding mountain bikes here of late, too.

Homeyba

I don't usually bring lights on 300k's. You're getting good advice above. I would stick with your current bike and do some events to get a feel for what you really need. You don't need panniers or racks to do any brevet, even a 1200k. I (and a lot of other riders) don't use anything more than a seatpost rack/bag for rides up to 1200kms. I do brevets on a Colnago C-50 outfitted with a generator hub and seatpost rack. Works great for me. Other people use full on touring bikes and that works great for them and there is everything in-between. I always encourage people to do a little exploring to find out what is going to work the best for them. Otherwise, your going to end up riding a bike that works best for someone else.

jan191976

thanks for all the great advise/info.
Do you have a pic of your Colnago with seatpost rack.

Homeyba

Yeah, here you go...this was taken on the Cascade 1200k

noteon 

Regarding lights, and whether you need them:

That depends mostly on what time you'll be riding. A 200K will usually start and end in daylight, but a 300K might start before sunup (if you don't have lights, you won't be allowed to start) or end after sundown (if you don't have lights, you can be disqualified at the finish line).

Keep in mind that your riding speed isn't the only thing that might keep you from finishing in daylight. Mechanical problems, the wrong nutrition, more hills than you're used to, long rest stops... all kinds of things can put you into a race against the final controle's closing time. You don't want lack of lights to decide the issue for you.

unterhausen

I think night riding is one of the aspects of randonneuring that separates it from other styles of riding. Even now, it gets dark before the time limit on some 200k brevets. A lot of 300k+ brevets are started in the dark to force riders to have working lighting systems for the longer rides. I would say it's a good policy.

Homeyba

You don't have to ride brevets in the dark. It really depends on the RBA and what they want to do. I can count on one hand the number of 300ks I've done where I needed lights and I've done a bunch of them over the years. Many people do 1200k's without riding in the dark. In fact, the Cascade 1200k is perfectly set up to ride it without riding at night at all. It's not that big of a deal. You just have to be fast enough to do it. I bring lights when I know I need them. Notice in the pic above I have lights on the Cascade 1200k even though I could have done that ride without using them. That's part of learning what you need and don't need. I'm not a fan of carrying anything I don't think I'll need. That philosophy has worked for me and it is something I've developed over almost 15 years of doing brevets. I know for a fact that doesn't work for all randoneurs. Some don't feel comfortable starting without carrying the kitchen sink, many are in-between. That's why you need to get out there and do it yourself to see what will work and what won't work for you.

noteon 

For those of us who don't average 25kph during all daylight hours of a four-day brevet, this is not useful advice.

FarRider

In many cases, the rider does not get to choose whether or not to ride with lights. RBAs will usually require lights for events greater than 200K. Sometimes lights will be required even for 200Ks. IMO even if you can finish an event without using lights, it would be rather foolish not to have them available because a mechanical or navigational problem could delay you enough to force a DNF.

CliftonGK1

On a 300k or longer, I can understand that even fast riders might be required to have some lighting on the off chance that something goes wrong and they're out for the full 20 hours. But requiring lights on a 200k? Maybe if your club runs events when the days are shortest; but 13.5 hrs from a 7am start is only 20:30. Up here, we still have another hour before it gets dark in the summer.
On the flip side of those long summer days, slow riders on a winter 200k for their R-12 will more than likely start and finish in the dark.

StephenH

I actually have taken my headlight (a 2-AA LCD model) on all my daytime brevets, but didn't take my reflective vest or ankle bands or spare headlight, etc., if I didn't expect to be riding at night. I'm a belt-and-suspenders guy but not a belt-and-suspenders-and-more-supenders guy. Based on my 200k times, I'm pretty sure any 300k I attempt is going to involve some night riding, though.

unterhausen

I solved that problem: I always carry it with me. I have a bad habit of going out riding and not coming back before dark, so I just keep that stuff in my bag.

10 Wheels

Always have mine ready.
Turn it on when approaching busy areas in the day time.

Homeyba

No it's not and it wasn't meant to be. Not everyone averages 15kms/hr either, or 20 or whatever. That is exactly my point!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not a debate on whether or not you should bring lights. At any randonee there are people of all skill levels and goals for their rides. If I'm the type of rider who averages 25+kms/hr and likes to zip along and took advice from someone who likes to carry the kitchen sink, averages 15kms/hr and barely makes the controls I might not be too happy. Same goes visa versa. That's why it's so important to go out there is see how it really is before you start deciding what you need to bring and not bring as well as making expensive equipment decisions.

Andrey

I have been riding brevets for a few years and I still can not decide how I want to ride them, fast or slow. I even have 2 bikes for long distance, "light and fast" with aerobars and 23 mm tires and touring bike with a "sink" and 32 mm tires. I hope I will settle on one before the PBP in 2011.

chewybrian 

Yeah... I finished a 600k in 39 hours, and I had all of 2 hours sleep. But, to be fair, he really made a point of saying his way was not for everyone. I remember asking these same kinds of questions a couple years ago, and scratching my head when I got the same kinds of answers. There really are a lot of ways to get it done.

But, even if I was fast enough, I'd never leave out without my lights. We have to have our bikes inspected, even on 200k's, and I don't think you can go without a light. On my last brevet, the guy wanted to see that I had a backup light (I did, of course).

noteon 

Yeah, to each his own. I just thought in the context of somebody who's never done a brevet asking about lights, "it's not that big a deal" merited a polite rejoinder. Coulda been politer, though--sorry, Homeyba.

I'd never leave without my lights either. I just never know when I'm going to get caught out at night.

Homeyba

This is my point, everyone has a comfort level, you use that comfort level as a means to determine what to bring on a ride. That comfort level comes from experience, not yours or mine but his experience. Chewy's comfort level is above. He'll never leave without his lights. He knows what he's capable of, the condition of his equipment, the topography of the rides he does and the typical weather. He's made his decision on what to bring based on all his background knowledge and experience. Great, nothing wrong with that.
My comfort level is different than Chewy's. I'll leave my lights at home on 300k's or less if I feel that I can easily accomplish the ride in the daylight hours. If the ride starts at 0-darkthirty then I will probably have lights, no brainer. My decision is based on almost 15 years of randonneuring experience. I know what I can do, I know what condition my equipment is and I know the routes. I don't leave my lights at home because some yahoo on the internet says he does (I hope nobody here does ), I do it because I know what I'm doing.
I give the example to demonstrate that there are many different ways to get the same thing done. We could have the same discussion about 35mm tires vs 23mm tires or handlebar bags vs seatpost racks and a miriade of other things.

Homeyba

No problems Noteon, I'm good!

btw, I didn't mean the "it's not that big a deal" comment to be flippant. It was just meant to say that it is what it is and there are quite a few people who have the ability to do it. You don't have to be a Lance Armstrong to do it but you do have to be a strong rider.

lonesomesteve

I'm with you Homeyba. Any advice any of us can offer on the type of bike that works best or the equipment that you need to have with you on a brevet is pretty much meaningless to anyone but ourselves. Everyone has different needs and risk tolerance levels and you'll never know what you need until you get out and ride a few brevets. Or maybe a few dozen brevets.

For what it's worth, I needed my lights on the Cascade 1200.

noteon 

Just to mention a different kind of variable that no one's mentioned yet:

I'm going for my first SR series this year, and each ride strains the budget. If I'd blown last month's 600K, for example, I wouldn't have been able to afford another one this season. (Hotel, train fare, missed work, etc.) I'd have been done for the year. So I err on the side of bringing more tools, having an extra tire along, and having lights with me if there's any chance I could be riding outside daylight hours.

So the consequences (not just the relative risk) of a DNF figure into my decisions too.

I also train with all that stuff aboard. I could say it's because I don't see the point of carrying less weight during training than during actual events, but mostly I'm just too lazy to take everything off.

Homeyba

That's a smart way to do it Noteon. Start off on the conservative side. That's what I did when I started. After each ride I'd re-evaluate what I brought and slowly whittled down the stuff I didn't need. One of the most important things you can do is preventative maintenance on your bike and equipment. As an example, on 1200k's I always start with new tires and have all the cables replaced. Simple stuff like that makes a huge difference. I've had 2 DNF's in all my years of doing brevets and both were due to medical issues. That doesn't mean I haven't had mechanical issues but they've been pretty rare. I had a rear wheel fail on a 1200k, a front deraileur fail on a 600k, a master link fail on a 1200k (20 miles from the finish) and a chainring fold in half on a 600k. None of those issues caused a DNF. There's probably others but that's all I can thing of at the moment. I've had more nutrition issues than mechanical.