Ride London Bike Advice

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traveladdict

New Member
Hi there, I have a deferred place from this year's Ride London so guaranteed to ride in 2020. Last year I rode the 46 in 3 hours in the pouring rain on a 10 year old hard tail Raleigh Mountain Bike (think £200 job!) and yes it was quite tough!!!

I think, NO KNOW, that I will need a better bike for next year but am struggling to decide whether to go for a decent hybrid or a road bike. I have limited places to store a second bike so might look to get rid of the other one, plus I feel a hybrid might be more versatile and I might use it more afterwards?!

Can anyone advise on possible bikes I might wish to look at - Ideally as cheap as possible please!
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Hi there, I have a deferred place from this year's Ride London so guaranteed to ride in 2020. Last year I rode the 46 in 3 hours in the pouring rain on a 10 year old hard tail Raleigh Mountain Bike (think £200 job!) and yes it was quite tough!!!

I think, NO KNOW, that I will need a better bike for next year but am struggling to decide whether to go for a decent hybrid or a road bike. I have limited places to store a second bike so might look to get rid of the other one, plus I feel a hybrid might be more versatile and I might use it more afterwards?!

Can anyone advise on possible bikes I might wish to look at - Ideally as cheap as possible please!

A general do it all bike is classed as a gravel bike these days. They have space for wider tyres for trails rough paths, lower gearing 48/32, 46/30 cranksets and wide range cassette.

Their geometry is usually relaxed for longer distances. Alot of makes come in flat bar or drop bars.

I would personally go for a drop bar, change tyres to 30mm G One speeds for ride London.

One bike can do virtually all terrain.

Boardman ADV 8.9 is a good bike
 
For general purpose road riding + commuting, shopping, touring, the cx/tour style bikes are good, esp with disk brakes. Non suspension flatbar bikes also work well.
Look for sufficient tyre clearance ( 32mm + mudguards?) Plus luggage rack and mudguard eyelets.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Budget? Cheap means many different things

What are you going to use it for other than ride London?

If nothing, just hire or borrow for the weekend and train on the MTB with slick tyres (3 hours for the 46 was a good time, I was far slower on 2.5k of titanium and missed the f’ing cut off :rolleyes:)

Are you happy with second hand or new only? If new, where are you based so to know what shops might be local
 
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Couldn’t agree more, plenty of riders who don’t ride in a straight line and don’t look before moving position causing those behind to swerve. That said on the flip side if your close enough not to avoid a crash then your too close, accepting there are exceptions to this where you have no where to go.
 

EltonFrog

Legendary Member
... There are better sportives out there however

For example?

You don’t necessarily need a better bike, I’ve seen riders on RLS100 riding Boris Bikes, Dawes Kingpins, BMXs, Brompton’s and bouncy bike shaped objects. Just ride and enjoy the event.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
Are they closed roads events?

No,but they are better organised, a better standard of rider, and better routes. Ride London was a complete shambles. There are far too many people who haven't a clue what they are doing, a lot of standing around, a lot of walking due to bottlenecks, and a generally unpleasant experience. It doesn't matter that the roads are closed. As far as sportives and organised rides go, it was pants.
The best ride I've done has been Chase the Sun, which technically is not a sportive as it's unsupported, not sign posted, etc., but it's 200+ miles so might be a bit out of the OPs comfort zone.
 
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