Cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

RebeccaH

New Member
Hi so I've decided to join a group of people to cycle from lands End to John o'groats in August 2014 for 9-10 days. I need a lot of advice as I have no clue what I'm doing. I've never really cycled more than a few miles. I know its going to be a huge challenge but I'm prepared for the hard work. I am reasonably fit but will have to do a lot of training. At the moment I'm most worried about the bike. I have no idea what I should be looking for. I know there are bikes ranging from low to very high prices but seeing as I'm buying the bike and I'm only 16, I don't want to be spending too much. Probably around £500, don't really want to be spending that much more. I'm looking for a road bike right? What make/style would you recommend? Material? Size (I'm about 5ft2/5ft1)? Is there anything else I need to consider like handle bars or something? I need a lot of help please!
 

Supersuperleeds

Legendary Member
Location
Leicester
 
OP
OP
R

RebeccaH

New Member
Firstly are riding supported or taking everything yourself? Are you camping or staying in B&Bs and YHAs? This will determine the best type of bike - if you are being supported, then a road bike will be fine, if you are carrying all your stuff then you might need a tourer (with a carrier, slightly more relaxed frame, wider tyres and a wider range of gears).

It's important to get a bike that you are comfy on - it looks as though you might be averaging 90 miles a day. So that will be important. Get yourself down to the nearest bike shop and have a look to see what they've got in your price range. Then you'll need to put some mileage in as training....although I suspect that the weather in the next few weeks might not be best for your start.

Good luck....you'll have a huge amount of fun and see some incredible scenery.
 

Dave 123

Legendary Member
Rebecca,

If that is your budget try having a look around at hiring a better spec bike rather than having a fairly low end bike that you may never ride again, OR go to a decent local bike shop and tell them your plan- then ask them to give you first refusal on any decent p/x trade ins if they do that kind of thing..
An amalgamation of those ideas is to contact Rutland cycles, they often sell off their demo/hire bikes cheaper from time to time.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
To address the simplest questions first.
Handlebars - most experienced folks would go for dropped handlebars. They do give a much greater variety of hand position, so that you can always find something comfortable however beat up you are. However if you are not used to drops, it is perfectly do-able on a flat bar.
Just depends what you are happiest on.

The Specialized Allez you linked... not bad, but a bit too "race inspired" in my book - and you'll struggle to find it in a small enough size.
The Specialized Dolce might work for you.

The out and out best value in road bikes - bearing in mind your size - is probably the Decathlon Triban 3 Red.
The smaller frame sizes (and they do go down to some tiny ones) use 650b wheel size which used to be quite rare but is enjoying a surge in popularity.

OTH a very small (4'11") young lady of my aquaintance rode it, at age 14, on a very basic Giant Escape hybrid.
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
Road bike would make most sense, even a flat-bar one if you aren't keen on drop bars.

Something like this for a road bike at your stated budget:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.liv.giant.avail.5/15013/66786/#specifications
That has a wide gear range and can also take a rack if you need it. 25mm tyres as standard are a bit more comfy.

Or this for a flat-bar version:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.liv.giant.dash.4/15014/66789/#specifications
Even wider gear range, but otherwise it's the same bike just with a flat bar.

Most manufacturers will have equivalents in their ranges, and the only other thing I can think of is that you will have to get cracking on the training if the ride is in August. You are looking at 100 miles each day, which will be a big achievement. Good luck!
 

vickster

Legendary Member
+1 on the avail as will happily take a fixed rack and some mudguards

At 5'1, you'll be looking at the xs I'd say

Ash often have good deals on older models

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-5-2012-15percent-worth-of-free-goods

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-5-2013

For such an epic journey, you need to start training pretty early as said above
 

DiddlyDodds

Random Resident
Location
Littleborough
I have the Scott S50 and it a great bike for getting into cycling, after four years i am now thinking of getting a higher spec bike but will not be letting the S50 go as its a cracker.
The S50 is £600+ but the S60 will be the same frame and is brand new @ £499 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/speedster-60-compact-2014-road-bike-ec054457#features

I have done the Coast to Coast twice and the London to Paris on mine (changed the saddle though as Scott saddles are not very comfy)

ps
I have just had a look at the Giant that MikeW-71 posted and it actually looks a better speced bike than the Scott, and you would love that 32 toothed cassette on the last hill of the day (you could peddle up lamp posts with 32 teeth at the back)
 
Last edited:

Paul_Smith SRCC

www.plsmith.co.uk
Location
Surrey UK
...The Specialized Dolce might work for you...
The Dolce being the ladies version of the Allez/Secteur range and I agree with PpPete it may indeed work for you on a supported 9-10 day Lejog tour. At "about 5ft2/5ft1" then in a drop bar bike I would definitely recommend trying a women's specific design, on a flat bar bike a unisex model may come back into play as you are not pushing your 'long and low' cycling position quite as much as you are on a drop bar bike. On that note regarding cycling position I would definitely recommend you the 'bike fit' set up correctly. Many will quite rightly take great care to get the correct style of bike, in the correct size, with all the correct clothing, shoes and kit, yet with all these important factors in place I so often see riders with the incorrect set up on the bike, so they have to try harder than they need do and often get aches and pains they don’t need to have as a result.

Trek also have their ladies version that can also take guards, now called Lexa , I bought an older version, their 1.2 wsd that as you can see below can take narrow guards; just! Potentially this is something well worth having for Lejog. Incidentally Louisa is 5ft 1 1/2" and that is a 47cm size frame and she has used it on a few challenging tours, that picture below although not on Lejog, it was of a similar type, the Coast to Coast, from Lowestoft’ in Suffolk, the most easterly part of Britain, to ‘St Davids Head’ in Wales; 441 miles.

Note the bike below did have numerous modifications and upgrades from the standard spec*, new group, wheels and a lower gearing. That said although the Lexa I linked to above only has a compact double transmission it actually has slightly lower gearing than when I did Lejog myself, so it should still be low enough on a unloaded bike for a fit small/light lady. Note Louisa has a small Bar Bag, Rack pack, and seat post rack, it's no load carrying pack mule but will take that amount of luggage OK. Would suggest you ride as light as you can as Lejog in 9-10 days will be a challenge, an achievable challenge yes but you should try and stack the odds in your favour as much as you can.

In conclusion I would like to add that what a lovely thing for a 16 year old young lady to want to do; well done Rebecca :thumbsup:

IMG_0094a.jpg


Paul Smith
* My intention was that if she like touring I would buy her a custom Titanium frame and if she didn't I would have all the Equipment, as it was all newer and better than mine. In reality what actually happened is she loved touring but as she had ridden a couple of tours on 'Trigger the Trek' she wouldn't part with the frame. I then naturally had equipment envy and upgraded my own. The tipping point for Trigger will be how well it copes with panniers should we do some unsupported tours, as it's really a Sportive bike that can take guards more than it is an Audax bike that can take light luggage.
 
Last edited:

deanE

Senior Member
A great challenge for the year, Rebecca. I cycled down from JOG in May. Group of 4 unsupported using B&Bs. 14 days during the coldest, wettest May I’ve known, and 50 years older than you. My bike was a rebuilt Speciallize Sirus, with butterfly bars, but would suggest that if you really want to do the 100 mile a day challenge then you would be better off with drop bars. You are going to do a great deal of cycling between now and August , so if you already have a bike, get out and start getting some miles under your bum. There will be a good selection of 2013 range bikes available over the next few months so don’t rush into buying.
Lots of advice on routes and everything else to do with LEJOG/JOGLE on the CTC forums and keep us posted on your progress here.
 
Top Bottom