Bikes for distance riding

[Sterlo]

Wow that takes me back, top bar secondary brake levers. I thought they were the bees knees when I got my first "real" bike back in 81, top of the range Raleigh for about £120! (bought with my own money, saved up from a YTS job at £23.50 per week) The only issue I had with the secondary levers was you could never get them tight enough, they hit the bar before the brake was fully on, hence suicide levers.

 

[DanB83]

Hey, signed up and been accepted to ride the London 100 for Marie curie. I am a mountain bike rider and never ridden a road bike.... any tips on what bike to get? £600 limit. Cheers in advance.

 

[vickster]

Hey, signed up and been accepted to ride the London 100 for Marie curie. I am a mountain bike rider and never ridden a road bike.... any tips on what bike to get? £600 limit. Cheers in advance.

Something like a Giant Contend in the sale or one of the Tribans from Decathlon.
eg https://www.h2gear.co.uk/128519/products/2019-giant-contend-1-mens-road-bike-in-blue.aspx
Preferably second hand for even better bang for buck
Be aware that lots of people do the ride on a mountain bike of course so nothing forcing you to get a roadbike

 

[PaulSB]

Hey, signed up and been accepted to ride the London 100 for Marie curie. I am a mountain bike rider and never ridden a road bike.... any tips on what bike to get? £600 limit. Cheers in advance.

Stick with the bike you know and get a good set of road tyres for it.

 

[I like Skol]

Did my 1st 100 on my hard tail MTB with fat slick tyres fitted. Absolutely fine and was romping past loads of 'proper' riders on 'proper' bikes towards the end

 

[DanB83]

Something like a Giant Contend in the sale or one of the Tribans from Decathlon.
eg https://www.h2gear.co.uk/128519/products/2019-giant-contend-1-mens-road-bike-in-blue.aspx
Preferably second hand for even better bang for buck
Be aware that lots of people do the ride on a mountain bike of course so nothing forcing you to get a roadbike

I didn't think many people would us mtb's for it! I will look into road tires for my hard tail. Cheers

 

[DanB83]

Stick with the bike you know and get a good set of road tyres for it.

Thanks for the advice, will look into that!

 

[vickster]

I didn't think many people would us mtb's for it! I will look into road tires for my hard tail. Cheers

They do. I’ve done it and marshalled it. Good idea to change tyres

 

[AuroraSaab]

I wouldn't buy a new bike just for one ride. If you don't fancy doing it on your mtb, look for a second hand bike for a couple of hundred quid that you could easily sell on if you don't want to keep using. I got a great Giant carbon frame bike for £200 from Sphock and then bought quite a decent Dawes mtb for £30 on eBay. You might drop lucky and find a bargain.

 

[icowden]

I agree with the previous. The main thing is to be comfortable. I got a new bike as previously I had been using my mighty heavy folding Tern Joe. I had no problem doing 60 miles on it. It's just slow and heavy (16kg ish). As my plans for this year go 80, 80, 30, 100, 100, 80, I thought it was time to get something a little more suitable. Plus 0% finance happened...

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Wow, when did CC'ers cease becoming enablers and start advising people to stick with N+0?

The lad has 600 spondoolies burning a hole in his pocket and he doesn't yet own a road bike!

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/514/products/giant-contend-sl-2-road-bike-2018-blue.aspx#infospec
Giant Contend 2018 model, full Tiagra groupset, something of a steal at 599! Was 899.

 

[DanB83]

Wow, when did CC'ers cease becoming enablers and start advising people to stick with N+0?

The lad has 600 spondoolies burning a hole in his pocket and he doesn't yet own a road bike!

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/514/products/giant-contend-sl-2-road-bike-2018-blue.aspx#infospec
Giant Contend 2018 model, full Tiagra groupset, something of a steal at 599! Was 899.

I do have the money to spend, but as i am doing the ride for marie curie i would much prefer to donate as much as possible to them if i can do it on my hard tail. I have done 80 miles off road on her in the past.... so with slick tires who knows!

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I do have the money to spend, but as i am doing the ride for marie curie i would much prefer to donate as much as possible to them if i can do it on my hard tail. I have done 80 miles off road on her in the past.... so with slick tires who knows!

Oh if you're donating the rest to Marie Curie then good on you, save the money. It's perfectly doable on an MTB with slicks, especially if you've done 80 percent of it before. Sorry, I'm a natural enabler.

As an aside, I have never actually gone into any challenge event where I had trained to complete the full distance. When I completed my first ever 100, my training rides had only taken me up to about 70 percent distance, I figured that the excitement, the company, and the event itself would provide the rest. And it absolutely does.

 

[Pale Rider]

The gearing on a 'one by' MTB might be a bit too low for brisk road use.

But if the bike has a reasonably sized front ring all should be well on semi slick tyres.

 

[DanB83]

The gearing on a 'one by' MTB might be a bit too low for brisk road use.

But if the bike has a reasonably sized front ring all should be well on semi slick tyres.

My hard tail is a 3 front ring.... wouldn't even consider it on my full suss with 1 ring!