Beginner Endurance bike (Building up to LEJOG)

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Uke22

New Member
Hi all,

I’m new to this incredible sport but I’ve set my eyes on building up to do LEJOG someday. Endurance cycling really appeals to me for a lot of reasons. I’ve been doing some research and I’m thinking about getting the GIANR CONTEND AR3. It’s over my initial budget but I’m happy with it as an investment .

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how this bike would be for endurance, if it could handle panniers etc. Would be really appreciated, cheers!
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Most of the geometry looks fairly sensible for comfortable riding, but the chainstays seem a bit on the short side if you want to fit panniers. If you look at the geometry of traditional touring & utility bikes, they tend to have more heel clearance. The Giant also comes without mudguards, which is absolutely useless for anything other than fair weather cycling. Any bike which is seriously aimed at distance riding is going to come fully equipped for it, the Giant is going to need more money spent on making it suitable for what you want it for, and it is already over your budget to start with.
Bikes bought new are never an investment. They depreciate horrendously just like luxury cars. In a couple of years it will be worth less than half what a new one costs. I buy all my bikes secondhand, and let someone else lose money on them instead.
 
Hi,

LEJOG is a really excellent adventure, so good luck in your training. I'm jealous!

This bike doesn't have rack mount eyelets so will not be able to carry panniers, though you would be able to have a bikepacking setup where luggage is mounted on the seatpost, handlebars and inside the frame triangle.

As John says, the lack of mudguards will make for some unpleasant riding when the weather turns foul, but the frame seems to have enough clearance for a decent set.

Aluminium is considered to be one of the worse frame materials for endurance, because of the material thickness the frames tend to be very stiff, although that's not to say that it's impossible - I've done a couple of tours on alu bikes with panniers (including JoGLE on an aluminium mountain bike), but my steel tourer was just so much better suited and more comfortable when riding day after day.

Finally, you'll definitely want a larger range of gears than those offered by a compact double, if you'll be carrying lots of stuff.

Cheers,
Ed
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Seems to be only 24 spokes per wheel unless I’ve mis counted. If a spoke fails, those wheels will get seriously wobbly if not unrideable. For something like Lejog I’d suggest something with more traditional spoke counts for reliability.

As above not setup for mudguards or a rack to carry gear. Bike packing stuff is available but it’s not necessarily as accessible as traditional touring setups. If you want a bike for touring why not look at something designed for it?

What are you riding at the moment? Lejog has been done on all and every variety of bike.
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Seems to be only 24 spokes per wheel unless I’ve mis counted. If a spoke fails, those wheels will get seriously wobbly if not unrideable. For something like Lejog I’d suggest something with more traditional spoke counts for reliability.

I wouldn't be riding anywhere on 24 spoke wheels for the reason you state, lack of redundancy in the event of a failure. Nothing I ride has less than 32 spokes, and that is a front wheel which is not so heavily loaded. All my rear wheels are either 36 or 40 spokes.
 
Location
London
Agree on spokes - I am generally trying to standardise on 36 these days - makes things simpler for rerimming. And carrying four "extra" spokes on the front will help my rigorous training regime.

(Luckily on a dahon sports bike I managed to swerve on eof their options with a ludicrously low spoke count)
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Agree on spokes - I am generally trying to standardise on 36 these days.

Harmonising front and rear wheels at 36 spokes apiece seems to have been done with mass production in mind, so only one rim variant needs to be stocked rather than two.
From an engineering perspective, a 36H front wheel is probably a bit over-engineered and a 36H rear, has a bit less in reserve than might be ideal. For most riders, they are not going to be loading their wheels right to their limits, so the mismatch isn't critical.
However, if you look at old-school hardcore utility bikes such as my Raleigh 3-speed, the rear wheel is 40H, and I don't think Raleigh just did that on a whim because back in the days when they were building a million or more bikes a year, saving four spokes per wheel could have added up to a substantial amount of material and assembly time annually. The fact they went the whole hog and specified 40 spokes in the rears even though doing so increased their production costs, suggests there was a meaningful strength/reliability advantage.
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
If you're buying a bike with the intention of distance touring and LEJOG, get a tourer. Something like a Genesis Tour de Fer, same price roughly but you get stronger 36 spoke wheels, racks and mudguards are already included and fitted, 3 bottle cages, longer stays for pannier clearance, triple chainset for varied terrain, thicker tyres that will provide more comfort and will handle gravel tracks... it's just designed to do what you're planning and the Giant isn't. What you're doing at the moment is roughly equivalent to buying a Mini Cooper to take your large family across the UK. It'll do it, but it's far from ideal.
 

gzoom

Über Member
Humm steel frames, wheels with 40 spokes, triple rings....gosh some you guys must enjoy going as slowly as possible:laugh:?

I did the LEJOG on this, no triples, no mudguards, no silly massive rear cassette. Wouldn't have wanted to do the ride on a heavier/slower bike!!

8934189191_d3d1d0aebd_c_d.jpg
 
Location
London
Humm steel frames, wheels with 40 spokes, triple rings....gosh some you guys must enjoy going as slowly as possible:laugh:?

I did the LEJOG on this, no triples, no mudguards, no silly massive rear cassette. Wouldn't have wanted to do the ride on a heavier/slower bike!!

View attachment 552321
and what were you carrying?
nice-ish pic by the way, but no real info on the bike or its gearing.
 
OP
OP
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Uke22

New Member
Thanks everyone. Unfortunately I didn't get a notification that there'd been responses to the post so I thought no one had responded. Really useful tips, thinking of going for a slightly cheaper bike as someone said and then working with that to see what my preferences actually are. Thanks for all the help!
 

Paul_Smith SRCC

www.plsmith.co.uk
Location
Surrey UK
To an extent it's about what you want out of the bike, 'gzoom' rode a fast lightweight bike with no guards or pannier rack and that seems to have worked for him. Others may prefer a bike that can take luggage and muduards with lower gearing, of which there are many varieties, some are heavier duty than others. In reality as long as you have a bike set up to do what you want it do you then that's the correct choice, all you need to do is work out what that is exactly; then find some that cater for that.

Personally in 2001 I chose to ride Lejog on a steel fast touring bike and still ride something similar in 2020 but in Titanium, they tick all the boxes for me, quick enough, robust enough, comfortable enough and with the capacity for guards and a pannier rack. These aren't heavy duty touring bikes which by design are set up to carry heavy loads, in the past that market was catered for with more traditional tourers like the Dawes Galaxy and Raleigh Royal and Randonneur ranges, that for years very popular choices for touring. Bikes like those are less common place these days, although there are a few, the Trek 520, Genesis have a 'Tour range' as do Ridgeback, although for many brands that market is catered for with their Gravel bikes ranges that can be set up along the lines of traditional touring bikes with guards and racks and larger volume tyres.

If I were looking for an entry level bike along the lines of style of bike that I like to ride I would be considering a Genesis Equilibrium in steel, (my Van Nicholas Yukon that I bought in 2007 has effectively evolved into the Yukon Disc) marketed without guards and pannier rack but both can fitted; it is in many ways the current version of a style of bike I have always enjoyed. For me it bridges the gap between a heavier duty tourer or gravel bike and the fast lightweight bike that 'gzoom' enjoys.

The Genesis is more of an investment than the Giant AR3 that 'Uke22' referenced in the OP, a bike that also looks viable, although I would like to see how the pannier rack is secured, yes it references one can be fitted in the links via Dogtrousers post but not on the Giant website where it references "compatible with fenders" with no mention of pannier rack. Looking at the pictures I can't see the usual threaded rack mount holes the outside of the seat stays, I'd imagine the two on the inside are for an aftermarket bridge to be added to secure a mudguard, you could potentially use those to secure a rack but then you'd have to find a way to secure the mudguard. There may well be a way of course, if the Bike Radar review is correct then they do reference the mounts as "integrated" so the fact I can't see how you'd secure a rack would be understandable
 
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