Flat Bar Road/Hybrid Bike

[jowwy]

Who's got one? and how many miles have you done on it in one go, including lunchstops etc

as i'm thinking of doing a local audax ride which is 200km, my hybrid is more comfortable than my roadie and my hybrid has triple gears and i like the cruising gear in the middle ring (39t)

Thanks Guys

 

[MacB]

using butterfly/trekking bars I've done several rides over 100 miles, the longest being 167 with many stops as it took in a night ride as well. I also commuted 200miles per week using the same bars on a different bike. The first was an 08 Giant CRS Alliance and the second a Surly Xcheck.

For longer rides I found a benefit to being able to change hand positions, but adding some bar ends can do this as well. On a flat bar, without adding something as large as aero bars, then two sets of bar ends can work. A small stubby set inboard of the grips and longer curved ones at the traditional bar end position. You can also put foam grips on them or wrap them in tape for added comfort.

 

[jowwy]

I do already have bar ends fitted and have done a 50mile ride on this bike with 37mm semi slicks.

This bike is also used 3 times a week for 30 mile round trip commute, now with 28mm slicks and i find it very comfortable to ride.

 

[MacB]

Well if you're already able to do those sorts of distances in comfort then you've clearly got the setup sorted to suit you. The only other consideration would be tyre and tyre pressure choice.

My outright favourite tyre is the Marathon Supreme, my road bike has these in 700x32 and my allround tourer has the 700x40 version.

Tyre pressure is personal but I prefer to go lower rather than higher, obviously taking into account individual size, weight and if carrying luggage. I've never gone over 100psi even with a 700x23 tyre, it's a trade off on comfort v speed to some extent. Though I think tyre quality matters a bit here as well.

 

[MacB]

Another useful bit of knowledge I got from the Sheldon Brown website is to be aware of your own fitness levels and the posture you maintain on a bike. He was quite critical of people that automatically blamed a saddle, or started tinkering with position, when they suffered towards the end of longer distances. He reckoned that people were often unaware of how their own core fitness and posture slump contributed to aches and pains.

A frequent example of this would be people claiming a certain saddle is only comfy for 50-60 miles then becomes steadily worse beyond that. When what is actually happening is they are riding beyond their current fitness levels and thus tending to slump and pedal poorly as they tire.

Reading that certainly made a difference to how I felt after my return leg commute, especially towards then end of the week. Just making a concious effort to hold a better posture removed some niggles I'd been getting.

 

[jowwy]

Cheers macb - i recently did 2 x 100km rides over two days so fitness levels are ok.

I currently run my gatorskins at 100psi rear and 95psi front on 28mm tyres and find rolling resistance and comfort to be very very good.

The reason i posted was, i have been invited to do this ride by a work colleague who regularly does, 200,300,400 and 600km rides and he said that drops are more comfortable for him. He also said my current roadie should be fine for the ride even though it has racing geometry rather than comfort and endurance geometry.

 

[MacB]

To be honest you're not going to really know until you try and it's always possible to make your road bike a bit less racy for a longer ride.

If I were preparing for that then I'd aim to do at least one solo ride of 2/3 of the distance in advance, so around 80-90 miles. You could always do two of these, one on each bike, and see how it compares. Select a circular route with bailout points meaning you're never too far from home or a train station.

Are you planning on riding together and does your friend have an expectation of speed/time for completion?

 

[jowwy]

10/11 hours depending on weather and break stops.