Bikes for Randonnees
Over the years, I have tried a lot of different equipment for
brevets. I often think I have settled on something, and then
for some reason or another, I will try something new. In this
article, I will describe my current setup, how and why I chose
this equipment, some things that I rejected, and new things
I may try later. This is what works for me. This may not the
perfect brevet bike for everyone.
For my first PBP in 1987, I used a sport touring
bike that I bought shortly before the ride. I had been planning
to ride tandem, but my partner and I decided after all the qualifiers
and training that we just couldn't be on the same bike for that
long. I had some problems with wheels on the new bike, and learned
the hard way that folding Michelin tires require the rim have
a hook, or they will blow off. All modern clincher rims are
now made this way. It was unfortunate that I did not spend the
brevet season riding this bike, or I would have found the problems
prior to going to France. So my biggest bit of advice is try
to avoid the need for a brand new bike right before your bike
event! Use the bike you plan to ride in your big event throughout
the season and work the kinks out early.
My next brevet bike was a vitus. I loved this bike and put
about 50,000 miles (including BMB and PBP) on it before I hit
a dog and broke the top and down tubes and fork. The bike was
comfortable and fit me well. It sported a triple crank with
a narrow block cassette to give nice wide range of gears with
small steps in between gears. With aerobars and lights up front,
I chose to carry my gear in the back. I used a bar bag mounted
off a stoker bar mounted to my seatpost. This gave me a large
well supported bag in which I could carry all my gear for a
1200 km brevet. (I didn't know about Carradice bags back then).
After 1987, aerobars were banned from PBP, so I had to learn
to ride without them. They are still allowed in BMB and other
US events, so they may make a reappearance on my single bike
for BMB this year.
I mounted salmon fenders (narrow aluminum fenders) with ridiculously
narrow tires(20 mm Michelin on front, 23 (better) on the back).
These fenders became quite popular with Americans on tight clearance
bikes. (We first saw them on many French bikes in 1987, and
one of the big randonneurring shops imported and sold a bunch).
However, they were actually more fashionable than functional.
They were essentially a flat strip of aluminum molded to wrap
around a tire. With no sides, they weren't as effective
at keeping spray under control. And while narrow in width, they
are actually thicker than Esge (now SKS) fenders, so likely
limit tire size more. Fenders are no longer required for PBP,
but I still use them and highly recommend them. BMB rarely has
seen dry weather throughout, and more often has experience sustained
heavy rain. In Boston, our qualifiers have almost become famous
for the heavy rain. Fenders can make a tremendous difference
in one's comfort on a long rainy ride. I also believe PBP is
overdue for some serious rain.
I've also done a few 1200km events on
tandem, and have tried a few different bikes over the years.
Our current setup an S&S
frame to make travel easy, with clearance for fenders and good
size tires, a rear rack, and a bar bag. With two people on the
one bike, we needed more space to carry our gear, and used small
panniers on the rear rack. The bar bag was easily removed and
had money, passports, camera, food, and route cards, so we could
simply take it with us at controls.
Here are my current thoughts on the ideal bike for randonnees.
First and foremost the bike should fit well. On shorter rides,
one can get away with riding a bike with too long a reach, but
for this type of distance it is absolutely critical that the
bike fit properly. Many newer stems, both quill type and threadless
now come with a two bolt front, making it much easier to change
out a stem for a longer or shorter one. It also makes packing
and reassembling the bike easier, a likely prospect for a brevet
bike.
Many folks recommend higher bar placement for randonneurring
bikes than typical racing bikes. In a short time trial or road
race, one can put up with bars which are significantly lower
than the saddle. But for longer distances, bars closer to the
height of the saddle might afford more comfort.
Adjusting the height of the bars with a quill stem is relatively
easy, but still limited by the max extension on the stem and
the frame size. You might have difficulty getting the bars high
enough if the frame is small and you have lots of seatpost showing.
Nitto makes a tall stem, the Technomic, which unfortunately
does not have that bolt off front, but is handy if your
bike is too small to get the desired bar height.
With threadless stem/headset/fork design it is actually possible
to get a good range. Leave the steerer cut long, and use spacers
to get the stem high enough. You can leave spacers on top of
the stem until you determine the desired placement, or to change
the height for different types of rides. Threadless stems can
also be flipped to change the angle and therefore the height.
Again, that bolt off front makes this painless.
I can't stress how important it is that the bike be comfortable.
A big part of comfort, of course, is fit. But another big contributing
factor is tires. Marketing folks and bike reviewers will have
you believe different grades of materials and butting have a
big influence in comfort, but any difference there is absolutely
dwarfed by different width tires and tire pressure.
New England roads take a beating in the winter. Snowplows and
the freeze-thaw cycle do their best to rip up our roads. Anyone
who has ever ridden BMB will confirm that the roads can be brutally
rough (and sometimes the pavement is missing completely). Skinny
tires, 750 miles and rough pavement on the BMB course will beat
the daylights out of a rider. Having the clearance to mount
a 28mm or bigger tire can make a tremendous difference. Add
the aforementioned rain, and you'll want fenders too. This is
where things get tough, because many new and popular bikes just
don't have clearance for both. I had to go with a super skinny
tire on my vitus to get the fenders on. I recall telling folks
after PBP in 91 that French roads were rough, but after using
a much wider tire in 99, I have come to realize they aren't
so bad. Especially in comparison to the BMB roads.
Fortunately bike builders are also coming to realize that bikes
can be built for both comfort and speed. More and more new production
machines are designed to have proper clearances. In my BMB
2000 article, I described the Independent Fabrications Club
Racer. This bike was designed around Shimano's RX100 long reach
(57mm) caliper brakes, so one could use wide tires and fenders,
but still with the geometry of a spirited sporty bike. Other
builders have built similar machines, and they have been successful
enough that Shimano has released a higher grade version (more
polished, more money) of this brake, the R600. Unfortunately,
you can't simply put these (57 mm) brakes on your existing bike
to get the additional clearance. The frame has to be designed
for the 57mm reach so the brake pad is in the bottom of the
slot. Then you will get maximum clearance. I've seen a few production
machines designed for these brakes, and custom builders can
certainly build frames to use these brakes.
Another option to get maximum clearance, of course, is cantilever
brakes. As cross racing has become more popular in the US in
recent years, it has become easier and cheaper to get a sporty
bike with good tire clearance. Most of these bikes use cantilever
brakes, and the increased popularity of cross racing has helped
fuel the availability of good canti brakes which work with drop
bar levers.
A final consideration is travel. You are likely to want to
pack your randonneurring bike up and take if somewhere far away
to do an event. S&S couplers make this much easier (especially
on a tandem). If you are considering buying a new bike, I'd
definitely keep this in mind. Even without couplers there are
several things you can do to make travel easier. I mentioned
the bolt off front stems above. Cable couplers are another great
travel aid. DaVinci
Designs make an inline cable separator that makes it easy
to remove the handlebars for packing without fear of kinking
cables, or the hassle of having to readjust brake and derailleur
cables. We use them on all our tandems now (to eliminate the
need for tandem length cables) as well as any bike we travel
with.
Wires on a travel bike can be a big hassle. I use wireless
computers and try to keep lighting wires as simple as possible.
I use a hub generator for headlights, but battery operated taillights.
Many years ago, I did a great job routing wires from the generator
to a taillight on my fender, only to have to undo it all when
I packed the bike. Wired taillights are nice for the same reason
all generator lights are nice - no fear of dead batteries, but
do keep in mind the travel issue.
BMB is known for it's long steep climbs. PBP has a similar
amount of climbing, but it is spread out more. The brevets in
our area also have many of the long steep climbs. I use and
recommend a triple crank. John uses a wide range double on his
single bikes. Triple front derailleurs are getting better and
better every year. The new Ultegra triple derailleur works well
for 10 tooth difference in outer chainrings, and the new DuraAce
triple is designed for the wider 14 tooth difference. I feel
the ability to spin up those tough little climbs on day 3 can
make all the difference in the world.
So with all this said, my current randonneurring single bike
is an Independent
Fabrication Club Racer. It has clearance for fenders and
good sized tires as well as brazeons for the fenders and racks.
I have it setup with Shimano 9 speed barend shifters and Ultegra
triple crank and derailleurs. I like the barend shifters, since
I can tell by feel what gear I am in at night and they are very
reliable. And this drivetrain has worked quite well for me.
I'm relatively light (125 pounds) and use 32 hole Mavic Open
Pro rims. Of course they are well protected by cushy tires. I'm
using 28 mm Vredestein
FlexSport tires. I really like these for brevets because they
have a reflective sidewall, making for incredible visibility,
and recognition from drivers. Reflective sidewalls are SHOWING
UP and more and more tires these days. The bike has SKS fenders,
a tubus fly
rack, and a Schmidt dynohub.
I have two headlights mounted on the lowrider bosses of the fork.
The low mounting for the lights is ideal, as it casts long shadows
for road bumps, keeps my bars from being too cluttered and allows
me to use a rain cape.
I usually use a Carradice
saddlebag, but since I have the rack can also use panniers.
This bike serves double duty as a commuter in the summer, so
the ability to use panniers comes in handy.
I use Speedplay frog pedals. I believe pedal/cleats for walkable
shoes are ideal for brevets, since you do some amount of walking
at controls. The hole in the ground toilets at the Carhaix control
are the best reason of all though!
Notice that despite my recommendation for couplers, that this
bike does not have couplers. It was used and I got a good deal
on it! This past fall I stumbled across a good deal on a coupled
bike. This one, unfortunately does not have fender clearance
or brazeons. But I'm likely to use it for just flying off to
do qualifiers on quick weekend trips. As such, I do actually
like the simplicity of not having to pack, remove and
reinstall fenders for a 2 day trip. I'll just have to put up
with a wet bottom. With no rack, I'll use a bagman
support for my Carradice bag. This is a great support rack
for bikes without brazeons for racks. I'll be using a Schmidt
wheel with a dual light setup on an easily removable accessory
bar off my handlebars. This is to make those quick trips handy
and also makes it easy to move these lights around on various
bikes. I have the same drivetrain, tires and pedals as on my
Club Racer.
And of course we have the tandem,
complete with S&S couplers. S&S couplers make life much
easier for traveling with a tandem. We had no trouble at all
traveling to, from and around France in 99 with our coupled
tandem, and plan to do the same for PBP in 2003. Tandems tend
to have much better tire clearance and full brazeons, so it's
actually easier to find a good tandem for brevets than a single.
You just have to find a partner with whom you can spend 90 hours!
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Independent Fabrications Club Racer
With headlights mounted on low-rider
and taillights on rack and fender
and Carradice Lowsaddle Longflap
Coupled bike for easy travel
Bagman support clamp
for a Carradice SaddleBag
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