Brevet Bike
42MuskhamSt
I regularly ride 60-80+ mile days on mini-tours, but am readying
myself for my first 200km on an officially timed event (120 miles)
with the view to slowly increasing the mileages over the next few
months. I currently ride a light touring bike (Marinoni Turismo), but
have a strong desire to become a Rivendell bicycle owner. From the
fit chart, it seems that I'd fit both the 56cm and 58 cm Atlantis.
(PBH approx. 83cm / height 5'10").
I do like the idea of loaded touring as well (I load the Marinoni up
with about 50lbs of gear without any significant problems, although
the frame does tend to flex a bit (SLX steel)).
I know the Atlantis is perfect for long tours, but is it a good choice
for brevet rides? Also, considering that I intend to do longer and
longer brevet rides, is the 58cm (700c wheel) the way to go?
I have a tentative trip planned to SFO in September and if it goes
ahead, I want to make a trip out to Rivendell and get properly
measured, but in the meantime, I'd like to weigh my options.
Thank you for any advice.
Jim Bronson
for the purpose.
FWIW, you may want to join the Randonneuring email list on GoogleGroups:
http://groups.google.com/group/randon
--
having a blood clot is a sticky situation
Chris
http://members.shaw.ca/randoray/bikontents.html
BTW- I just ordered a Bleriot from Rivendell, come to the dark
side! :)
Chris
>
> - Show quoted text -
JoelMatthews
with no issues. Set it up with some low rider racks - the preferred
choice for loaded touring - and the ride will be even more stable.
Paul Racer Brakes will provide more than enough stopping power.
The Hilsen is lighter than the Atlantis. Take off the racks, put on
the seat pack and some lighter tires, and you will have a real
responsive timed event rider.
Tim McNamara
> I know the Atlantis is perfect for long tours, but is it a good choice
> for brevet rides? Also, considering that I intend to do longer and
> longer brevet rides, is the 58cm (700c wheel) the way to go?
I've done brevets on my Ritchey road bike, my Gunnar cyclo-cross bike
and my Rivendell All-Rounder. All three worked fine with my fastest
rides being on the road bike, but the lack of fenders makes it an
iffy choice unless the weather is almost certainly going to be good
for the entire ride. The All-Rounder, upon which the Atlantis is
based, is a fine brevet bike and has worked well for me. It has 26"
wheels and I use the 26 x 1.25 Panaracer Pasela, thanks to
recommendations made on the old iBOB list after I complained about
sluggish 26" road tires. The Pasela is excellent and I don't notice
any significant disadvantage compared to the 700C Paselas on my road
bike.
I've ridden most my brevets on the Gunnar, but was never really all
that happy on it. It's a superb ride off-road but feels... I find it
hard to describe what was unsatisfactory to me about it. It might be
nothing about the bike itself and may be purely psychological. I had
a number of bad things happen while riding that bike and maybe just
have some negative associations between the bike and those events.
Lots of things can color how we feel about a bike that have nothing
to do with the bike.
Anyway, in a roundabout fashion I am saying that the wheel size
really isn't that important. Excellent performance can be had with
26", 650B or 700C wheels. Bike fit and comfort and liking the
handling characteristics are more important. Aesthetics are
important, too- you're going to be on this bike for a long time and
looking at the bike should make you smile.
CycloFiend
> I've recently discovered the sport of randonneuring or brevet riding.
> I regularly ride 60-80+ mile days on mini-tours, but am readying
> myself for my first 200km on an officially timed event (120 miles)
> with the view to slowly increasing the mileages over the next few
> months. I currently ride a light touring bike (Marinoni Turismo), but
> have a strong desire to become a Rivendell bicycle owner. From the
> fit chart, it seems that I'd fit both the 56cm and 58 cm Atlantis.
> (PBH approx. 83cm / height 5'10").
There are a lot of good resources for randonneurring. I'd first look to see
if you have a local club - check through the RUSA.org site.
I've got some writeups and links to local stuff here:
http://www.cyclofiend.com/brevet/
If you are cracking off 80+ mile rides with no problems, you should be fine.
>
> I do like the idea of loaded touring as well (I load the Marinoni up
> with about 50lbs of gear without any significant problems, although
> the frame does tend to flex a bit (SLX steel)).
>
> I know the Atlantis is perfect for long tours, but is it a good choice
> for brevet rides? Also, considering that I intend to do longer and
> longer brevet rides, is the 58cm (700c wheel) the way to go?
I've seen Atlantii on centuries and brevets. One of the folks I ride with,
Carlos, uses his 26" wheeled bikes on brevets, and they certainly don't seem
to hold him back. He's done up to 400K distances. I don't think that wheel
size is really much of a determining factor. Comfort and reliablility are
all way, way out in front of wheel size in my book.
Carlos has some writeups here:
http://bike.duque.net/brevets.htm
And if you haven't read any of his stuff, I'd strongly suggest reading Kent
Peterson's writings. He documents much of his randonneurring adventures
here:
http://www.mile43.com/peterson/rando.html
Kent's been an inspiration to many.
- Jim
--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net
Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
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"The bike between her legs was like some hyper-evolved alien tail she'd
somehow extruded, as though over patient centuries; a sweet and intricate
bone-machine, grown Lexan-armored tires, near-frictionless bearings, and gas
filled shocks."
William Gibson - "Virtual Light"
Larry Powers
One issue I have with the Rambo is that it is really optimized for 28mm tires. I have run 30's on it but I really like 32mm tires. As much as I like my Rambo I woulld probably be more inclined to buy a Hilson to get better tire clearance. If you buy one of Rivendell's standard road bikes you can also do some touring on it. Long weekend trips with light weight backpacking gear will be fine. You can also pull your gear in a trailer which takes alot of stress off the bike and allows the bike to handle much nicer.
Lastly you may want to do some reading on low trail vs high trail design. Low trail bikes handle much better with a heavy loaded mounted on the front of the bike. Rivendell bikes are high trail and will handle better with more of the load in the rear. Some of the differences are nit picking but they are their none the less. This difference is most noticeable at low speeds. On BMB two years ago I was climbing Middlebury Gap at about 4 miles an hour. I had a Cannondale handle bar bag that rides high and was very loaded. I could definitley notice the weight of the bag trying to turn the bike. For PBP I bought the largest Berthoud handle bar bag and mounted it on a Berthoud front rack. This lowered the weght, brought it a little close to the head tube and the rack helps stabilize the load. This set up seemed to handle much better then the Cannondale bag. I don't plan on trading in the Rambo for a low trail bike any time soon.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2173/1818772329_437a8c0bae_b.jpg
Larry Powers
PBP 2007
"just when you think that you've been gyped
the bearded lady comes and does a double back flip" - John Hiatt
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 22:30:57 -0700
> Subject: [RBW] Brevet Bike
> From: atte...@gmail.com
> To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Larry Powers
My two cents on wheel size. I don't believe the actual size of the wheel matters. I know people who ride long distance on 26 inch wheels and I have seen people finish 200k dirt road brevets on 700c wheels. The most important factor for me on brevets is to have a wheel that can easily be replaced. 650b is still relatively uncommon. If you break a wheel on a brevet you are most likely sunk. If you break a 26 inch or 700c wheel most shops will be able to get you back on the road or you may be able to find one by going door to door and begging.
I like the ride of 650b tires, my wife has two 650b bicycles, but for brevets I always get hung up on worst case scenarios and being able to finish no matter what.
Larry Powers
"just when you think that you've been gyped
the bearded lady comes and does a double back flip" - John Hiatt
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 22:30:57 -0700
> Subject: [RBW] Brevet Bike
> From: atte...@gmail.com
> To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
>
> for brevet rides? Also, considering that I intend to do longer and
> longer brevet rides, is the 58cm (700c wheel) the way to go?
>
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MichaelH
a front bag. From time to time I've considered putting a front rack
and bag on mine but have wondered if I would end up spending a lot of
time & money on something that ended up seriously degrading the bike
handling.
Michael
On Aug 5, 10:12 am, Larry Powers <lapower...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I have riddent brevets the last two years on my Rambouillet and done just fine. If most of your rides will be brevet type rides then look for a Rambouillet, Hilson, Saluki or Bleriot. I have seen people use Atlantis's (Alanti?) on brevets and they are fine. If you have one by all meanst use it but if you are buying a bike whose main use will be randonneuring then look at one of the other bikes. My Atlantis stays in the garage on brevet day.
>
> One issue I have with the Rambo is that it is really optimized for 28mm tires. I have run 30's on it but I really like 32mm tires. As much as I like my Rambo I woulld probably be more inclined to buy a Hilson to get better tire clearance. If you buy one of Rivendell's standard road bikes you can also do some touring on it. Long weekend trips with light weight backpacking gear will be fine. You can also pull your gear in a trailer which takes alot of stress off the bike and allows the bike to handle much nicer.
>
> Lastly you may want to do some reading on low trail vs high trail design. Low trail bikes handle much better with a heavy loaded mounted on the front of the bike. Rivendell bikes are high trail and will handle better with more of the load in the rear. Some of the differences are nit picking but they are their none the less. This difference is most noticeable at low speeds. On BMB two years ago I was climbing Middlebury Gap at about 4 miles an hour. I had a Cannondale handle bar bag that rides high and was very loaded. I could definitley notice the weight of the bag trying to turn the bike. For PBP I bought the largest Berthoud handle bar bag and mounted it on a Berthoud front rack. This lowered the weght, brought it a little close to the head tube and the rack helps stabilize the load. This set up seemed to handle much better then the Cannondale bag. I don't plan on trading in the Rambo for a low trail bike any time soon.
>
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2173/1818772329_437a8c0bae_b.jpg
> Larry Powers
> Got Game? Win Prizes in the Windows Live Hotmail Mobile Summer Games Trivia Contesthttp://www.gowindowslive.com/summergames?ocid=TXT_TAGHM
Mike
worked great. I still haven't gotten a front bag and have noticed that
the front gets a little squirrely with a full Carradice Barley Bag
when riding no hands. But it's worked great. Of the Rivendell bikes
I'd suggest the AHH, it seems like it can handle most types of
riding.
I have no problem fitting 700x32 Paselas with SKS fenders on my
Rambouillet.
As others have mentioned I've seen people riding the whole spectrum of
Rivendell bikes on brevets. There was a guy, Drew, who rode the 300km
on his home made 20" wheeled bike. I think the main thing is to use a
big you're comfortable and confident with.
Also, as others have mentioned, see the Google rando group.
Now it's time to get ready and head out the door for a ride. It's
supposed to be very hot here in Portland today.
--mike
jim g
(Marinoni) for riding brevets and get a Riv model suitable for loaded
touring (in which case the Atlantis is probably the best/only choice)
OR if you want to continue using your current bike for loaded touring,
and buy a Riv for brevet-riding?
Since you complain that your Marinoni is somewhat flexy with a heavy
load, you might consider adapting that bike for brevets and then
getting a better heavy-loaded touring bike.
If I had to buy a Riv right now, it'd likely be the AHH since it
strikes me as one of their best all-around models that's most suitable
for the type of riding that I do (mixed-terrain, centuries, long day
rides, light touring, and brevets).
You may also consider waiting until Riv introduces their new "economy"
models this fall, to see whether one of those is ideal for your needs.
I think you can ride brevets on nearly any bike (and people do) -- the
key issue is that it's comfortable and dependable. Some folks choose
to ride a lightweight racing bike with minimal accessories and
baggage, while others use touring bikes, MTB frames, recumbents, etc.
What works "best" is really up to you!
-Jim G