Setting up a Hybrid for a Century
 

Yes, it's yet another "first century" preparation thread.... ;)

Long story short, I'm planning to do my first century in the fall. I'm planning to use my hybrid bike (a Jamis Aragon) for this ride; the fit isn't quite as comfy for me as my folding bike, but I think the suspension and smoother ride feel will work out better in the end (*cough*) for a century.

The Aragon is almost all stock; all I've done is put on a good saddle, SPD pedals and a rack. The bike is a bit heavy (30 lbs), though I guess I'm not (155 and slowly dropping :D ). My general plan is to put a pair of Ergon grips, and a 2nd water bottle cage (on or around the handlebars) as it's kind of difficult to grab the bottle from the downtube. I'm not thrilled with the triple chainring, but I suspect it's not worth it to swap it out for a compact double.

Any other suggestions? Maybe some different tires, or a simple way to shave off a bit of weight? Thanks!
B

I would do a nice set of bladed wheels over the crankset. You'll be amazed at how much quicker the wheels spin up with some 25c tires over the stock 38c if that's what you're still using.

Some slicks would help drop your rolling resistance.

The simple and cheapest way to shave off weight, is unfortunately, to consider an inexpensive road bike (an OCR3 weighs about 21 lbs. I believe, and costs a little bit under $700). Hybrids aren't truly made for centuries (I'm not saying it can't be done, but you'll be at a disadvantage compared to the other roadies), but there's nothing wrong with using one. Good luck!

I've ridden a century with a hybrid and the only modification was to put some road tires on. That made a big difference, but I was suprised how harsh the ride was compared to the 37C's I had on before.

FormerBMX'er: Yep, still using them thar 38c's. Keep in mind that this bike only ran me $350 -- so if the wheels really need to be swapped out, I'd rather sell the Aragon and get a different bike.

Badkarma: ok I know this is the "Road" part of the forum, but I don't mind going a bit slow on my first century. :D

One thing is, I did try a road bike this week and strongly disliked the experience. (More heresy! :eek: ) I assume that other than something minor (e.g. slick tires), the Aragon will be about as fast as any other upright bike -- hence the idea of just tweaking the Aragon.

I'm planning to do a longer ride on the Aragon in a few weeks (~66 miles). If it really doesn't cut it for that distance, then I'll look into getting a different bike....

How hilly is the century? Hybrids kind of suck in the mountains (both up and down). You'll probably be OK on a flat century. I would get some bar ends to give you an additional hand position. Also slick tires, as someone else mentioned.

Yuo would be a bit more streamlined if you cut down the width of your handle bars. You dont need the width required for riding through mud or sand to manoeuvre on the road. Bar end will give you some variation in hand position. If you set them low this will correspond to riding on the hoods of a drop bar bike, which will help if you have a head wind. If you set the bars level with the seat, this will take some weight of the seat and put it on the pedals, which should make it a bitr more comfortable and easier to keep the speed up. It may be easier to do this if you swap the riser bar for a straight bar. One extra water bottle may not be enough. They dont have to be in a convenient position for drinking because you can move them around as they empty.

Hybrid handlebars will lead to numb hands if you don't have a change of position available for them. That's why I would install bar ends. They also help you be more aero.

As to being about as fast as guys on road bikes, no you won't. First, your 30 lb. bike is at least 8 lbs heavier than entry level road bikes, and second, you will create too much wind resistance in your upright seating position.

Here is a bike calculator that lets you plug in numbers to get to average speed. According to this, if I cruise at 19.4 mph in the drops on a 22 lb road bike, at the same level of wattage output I will cruise at only 16.9 mph on the tops with wide racing slicks for tires: http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

I will be doing a metric next week on my Sedona (I have done one before). Before next week, I plan on a tune-up and bar ends... I may also swap the front wheel with a lighter 32 spoke wheel just because I have it available. I am already running narrower road tires than my stock tires.

I hope to do a century this year, and I may use this same bike.

Before I do the century I will probably replace the seat post with a solid post insteadof the current suspension post (which is locked down), replace the bars with trekking bars and possibly replace the suspension fork with a rigid fork.

My better half has ridden her 30+lb hybrid in two centuries with no special prep. It's her only bike, too.

I don't know about that site's calculations. According to that I "dial up" an average of 424 watts on my average rides......
...yeah....
...no.

As for the Hybrid - definitly switch to narrower slicks. For your situation this will definitly be the bggest bang for the buck.

My dad and I did 2 metric centuries last year. He was riding his Jamis Aragon and I was on my aging Trek 950 mtn bike with 1.5in slicks. It is also the reason there is a giant OCR Comp3 in my garage now (first organized ride for me is 6-10).

Not that it cant be done. But my dad and I determined that 5-6 hours in the saddle was about our limit. So in order to finish a full century in the same time we did the metric, we needed faster bikes. I can easily cruise faster on my road bike than my mtn and blow away my dad on his Jamis. he decided to stick with metrics rather than a new bike.

Surprisingly I have also found that my OCR is about the most comfy bike I have ever owned. A properly fitting road bike doesn't have to be uncomfortable. I find it much nicer than when I have ridden my mom's Aragon (yes my parents have matching bikes, isn't it cute). The upright position puts more weight on my rear than I like.

Not to say you can't ride a century on any bike. If you stick with your Jamis, as others have said, the best bang for your buck would be the narrowest slicks your bike can take. Next to that would be bar ends or something for more positions (although honestly, even with 5+ hours riding my mtn bike my hands were ok).

-D

Thanks for the replies! So a few votes for slicks and bar-ends, and a few votes to not bother with the hybrid. Check...

Anyone use something like these handlebar add-ons? I'm not too thrilled about the bar-end Ergon grips I've seen. I've used the regular ones for long touring rides (60 miles, lots of breaks) and they work well for me.


johnny99: Not 100% sure on the nature of the course. I may do the NY Century in September, which will be fairly flat; or the NYC MS Ride in October, which heads into the Palisades around mile 30. I'm a half-way decent climber, though.


derath: thanks for the input! If your dad is using the stock saddle, then I can definitely see why 6+ hours is too much! ;) I'll soon figure out how the Aragon feels after an extended ride, if it's bad after 60-70 miles with slicks and some kind of alternate hand positions then I will go to Plan B (look into a new bike). My biggest concern with a road bike is partly comfort (positioning and suspension), but also visibility -- I really did not enjoy keeping my head so low.

It depends totally on what kind of speed you think you're going to be riding. If you think you're going to be averaging less than about 15 MPH (ie finishing in around 7 hours riding time), then most of the aero effects aren't that important. Doubly so if there are a fair number of hills.

Rolling resistance and comfort are things you can do something about. Slicks are your biggest bang for the buck (you can get tires with inverted tread like cars tires have). Bar ends can help comfort.

And come up with a good nutrition/hydration plan, and try it out on some slower rides.

If you've come this far with the hybrid I say stick with it through the century. It might end up hurting, but let's face it...it's 100 miles. Just think of the stories you could tell afterwards. "Hey, my first century was on a hybrid."

Saw a guy a complete a metric century on a Mt. bike with knobby tires! I guess no speed records were set but its all about the engine.

Some narrow 28 or generous 25mm tyres are about right for hybrid rims.
Clip-on aerobarshave 2 functions: They can make you more aerodynamic if you position them low. They can also be used to provide more comfortable alt handpositions, in which case they needn't be low.
A pedal retension system can make you more efficient.
For low cost, just add toe clips but dont cinch them tight or your feet will suffer.
For more efficiency, use cycling shoes and a cliples pedal system.
If reaching for a DT bottle is difficult, try holding the bars closer to the stem.