'Best' type of bicycle for randonneuring?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on April 6, 2012 at 7:19am

Brevets are not races. I would be wary of fitting my bicycle to a method designed for racing.

I have always used Lemond's formula for setting seat height as a first step. You can find that formula here (or Google it):

Seat Height

Eric Peterson

Naperville, IL

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on April 6, 2012 at 9:13am

Eric, I definitely agree with you. The Lemond method set my saddle an inch lower than the competitive cyclists' recommendation, which is why I went with that instead. I'm sure competitive cyclist tries to optimize position to squeeze every little last bit of performance out. I'll never race a day in my life; I just want to be comfortable (and I am!)

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on April 6, 2012 at 9:48am

Here is a link to a discussion on "rando" bikes that might be interesting.

I found when I was looking for 700c road forks that would accommodate fenders.

Cycling Tech Forum

Eric

Permalink Reply by ilter on April 6, 2012 at 10:56am

News of preparations & all this bike talk is pretty exciting :)  Maybe we should have a thread about our bikes, how we modify & prepare them.

Permalink Reply by Lee on April 6, 2012 at 9:59pm

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to follow up, hopefully briefly, on a few comments.

First, the statement that brevets are not races is with regard to rider conduct, i.e. not riding to defeat another rider, and not speed. The control opening times are based on an average speed of over 21.5mph - about 23mph (37kmph) when you factor in stops. That's the same average as Lemond rode to win the '86 tour - and our stages are a lot longer. :)

Speaking of Lemond, the saddle height formula he used was developed for racers, not brevet riders. I haven't used the Competitive Cyclist Fit Calculator recently but when I did it generated a range of heights based on three rider profiles: The Competitive Fit, The Eddy Fit, and the French Fit, with a 4.5cm (almost 2in) difference between the lowest and the highest. For me, Lemond's formula generates a height well within that range even though it doesn't factor in crank length, cleat position, and several other variables.

The current consensus is that the optimal saddle height for endurance riding is a little lower, e.g. 1cm, than the optimum for road racing.

I hope this information is helpful,

Lee

Permalink Reply by ilter on May 6, 2012 at 4:02pm

Hi ambimb, did you do the ride yesterday, do you remember passing two guys on tan & brown bikes?

We passed by a rider w/ a purple(?) Bianchi doing some adjustment on his bike an hour or so into the ride.  Later he passed us midway to Brodhead & we never met again.  I did not recall your post below at the time..

ambimb said:

[snip]. I'll be trying it out in Delavan on May 5 so if you see it (and me) say hello! 

Permalink Reply by ambimb on May 6, 2012 at 9:07pm

I was there so that was probably me. You might have seen me adjusting my brake and fender to keep my bent wheel from rubbing after a spoke broke. The Volpe worked great except for that. This was the third spoke to snap like that in three weeks! I guess I'm going to have to replace them all.

As for yesterday's ride: I should never have passed you guys. I started too fast, didn't eat enough, and bonked at 88 miles. From there on in were the most difficult 41 miles I've ever ridden!

Permalink Reply by Garth Liebhaber on July 3, 2012 at 4:25pm

I like Brian Bird's response.

I've learned a lot by reading Bicycle Quarterly, Jan Heine. His research has helped me make my own bicycle more comfortable for all types of riding, including commuting.

g.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on July 3, 2012 at 4:55pm

Worth mentioning that I have a new bike - well a new frame/fork from Velo Orange, and assembled with a mix of mostly old (from previous bike with cracked frame**) and some new parts. I rode it on the GLR 400K last Saturday and I was very happy with the ride! It's the first "rando" bike I have owned, except for the Ramboulliets, but they lacked front mounts that are on the VO and which made it easy to mount a front light and bag using the VO front rack. The bike rides very nicely, and the frame/fork was a deal at VO.

** cracked frame - both chainstays on my beloved no-name Ti frame bike cracked, this took place on the fleche that I led back in May with Rick Cosaro and Rob Schaller. You can read a ride report here.

Eric P

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