Road Bike or Hybrid

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degraaffray

New Member
Hi everyone.

Hope I can get some good tips and hep on this, advice would be much appreciated. I am doing a ride from Kent to Andalucia next September for a charity, and wanted some advice, which to some may seem obvious, but I'm in two minds.

The ride is approximately 1,400 miles, which we aim to do in 14 days. The question is, road bike or hybrid? WHat would you use and why? I have a decent one of each, both fairly new and both fully serviced. The hybrid obviously has more gears with a third front ring, but maybe there are benefits of the road bike?

Please advise as any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks all in advance.
 

Mr Bunbury

Senior Member
That's an impressive tour you've got planned there! To ride 100 miles in a day, I would definitely take the road bike, as the extra efficiency, aerodynamics and speed will really benefit you if you want to ride that far. I don't know how many times you've ridden your hybrid on a loaded 100 miles, but you'll find that it probably becomes uncomfortable and tiring long before you reach the end, as it's really not designed to be ridden that far. Also, consider speed. You'll be riding full days on either bike so if you go slower, you'll end up sleeping less. That will mean you won't recover so well for the next day, so you'll feel tireder and go slower ... it's a vicious cycle.

You say you're worried about the gears. Well, give it a go! Plot a 100 mile route, load your bike with what you'll take on your trip and ride it in a day, then ask yourself if your gears were low enough. If they aren't, you have a few things to consider:

1) What gears do you actually have? How many teeth do you have on the small chainring and the big sprocket at the back? Depending on what answer you give, they can both quite easily be changed to give you easier gears.
2) What terrain are you going over? Your main obstacle is going to be the Pyranees, although if you've played your cards right, you should be fit by the time you get down to those - maybe give yourself a slightly shorter day before you tackle them, so that you're rested and raring to go.
4) How much stuff are you carrying? Are you camping or sleeping under roofs each night? I'd only really worry about your gears if you're carrying full camping kit (or if your lowest gear is something silly like 42x23). Can you reduce your load?
5) How fit are you? 1400 miles in 2 weeks is a serious undertaking so if you need massively, massively low gears, you're probably going too slow anyway. Get training!

This summer I did a tour of similar length, terrain and time span on a road bike with a 46-36 double chainset and a 12-26 cassette, so it's perfectly doable. I was staying in youth hostels so didn't have much luggage though. Anyway, it sounds like you've got a fantastic trip lined up, so have fun!
 
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degraaffray

New Member
Wow thanks for a very concise answer Mr Bunbury. To clarify a couple of points:

  1. I have done quite a few long rides (not this long) but only on road bike, and never hybrid
  2. As the ride is for charity, and I agree a bit of a challenge in 14 days, I have a friend supporting in a large camper van, so no luggage at all
  3. Yes the Pyrenees is the biggest obstacle, and I do intend to challenge with caution. The plan is 60 miles per day for that stint, but making it up on the easier sections
It seems that the road bike is the right choice, and being a Specialized with Zerts it is actually fairly easy on the bones.
What about riding position for that length of ride? My thought was the varied positions on the hydrib (with bar ends) may help? I do have the option of taking both so do you think that would be advisable?
Thanks for your valued advice.
 

Mr Bunbury

Senior Member
Your road bike's drop handlebars should give you plenty of position changes. I'm afraid the basic answer is that what works ... works! If you can ride 100 miles a day on your bike, that's the right bike and if you can't, it's the wrong bike. Take a couple of extra spacers and be prepared to stick them under your stem but you'll probably be fine anyway.
 

doog

....
I would take whatever has the triple,simply for the Pyrenees having done them myself (the hard route) I appreciate you are not fully loaded but when spinning away for hours on end its nice to have something to drop down to when things get tough. France is surprisingly lumpy as well. As stated above you can change your smallest ring on the chainset to give you lower gears. If you are a bit worried about your position fit a Specialized comp stem or similar such as this for £30

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Comp-Set-Road-MTB-Stem_17234.htm

Its for oversize bars and I use the 24 degree option, also flip the bars upwards slightly (if taking the road bike) gives a much more comfortable upright position. Unloaded 100 mile days shouldnt be a problem within reason, not sure about your timetable however, sounds a real challenge. Best of luck.
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
You do not say what you are carrying oin the bike. You could be carrying 20kg of gear, in which case the hybrid would probably be the best bet.

Are you riding loaded or are you cheating by having a van follow you ? ^_^

What bikes have you got at the moment?

Steve
 

samid

Guru
Location
Toronto, Canada
I think he did say he would be carrying nothing on the bike. So the obvious answer is the road bike as generally speaking it is easier to do a 100 miles on a road bike than on a hybrid. But you do need to make sure you have those low gears on your road bike for the mountains.
 

willem

Über Member
Road bike. It will be faster, and the drop bar will be more comfortable. However, make sure you fit the widest tyres that you can fit, probably raise the handlebar a bit (level with saddle?), consider a leather saddle, and look into the gearing. There are now Shimano road cassettes that will go to 30t. If you can easily change the smallest front chainring for something smaller, do so (on a compact double 33t is the smallest). Converting to a triple is expensive, and probably unnecessary if you are fit and riding without luggage. You can always walk short stretches.
Enjoy,
Willem
 

jjb

Über Member
I vote road bike, with option to flip the stem over maybe, and possibly investigate £100 of new cassette, chain, rear mech.
 
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