Tweaking SS for longer distance

[RedRider]

So, it seems I've agreed to ride my singlespeed bike upto Yorkshire from London and back again for the Grand Depart this summer and I'm looking for a bit of advice.
It's a Surly Steamroller so relatively heavy for a SS - and I'll be carrying a large saddlebag - but with a road geometry that makes it comfortable for miles. The furthest I've ridden it in a day so far is 70-80 miles and there were no problems bar a little cramp I managed to ride through, but it was a fairly flat route - certainly nothing like the climbs that will greet us at the end of our ride to the White Rose county - and I didn't have to do the same the following day.
I've always used a freewheel and have no experienced of fixed.
I have a few questions...
- Any other fixed/free singlespeed nutters planning on doing anything similar to watch the tour?
- I want to replace my wheels. The current ones are the stock Alex DA22 rims and Surly hubs. They've been solid for two years but are a little ponderous and I want to treat myself to something handbuilt, preferably lighter and better for around the £200 mark. Will I notice an improvement and what should I be going for? (I've never bought SS/FG wheels before.)
- Because of the long distances involved (and the benefit I feel by stretching my calves to avoid cramp) I'm planning on running a freewheel but is the a mistake and what sort of gearing would you go for? Would it be worth running a smaller fixed gear on the other side to get me up the long drags?
All comments welcomed.
Cheers!

 

[mangid]

I love my Mavic Ellipse wheelset, bit more than 200, but the best thing I ever bought for the fixed. Eessentially maintenance free, and rock solid. Mine are 6 years old and ~50K miles, front is now verging on needing replacing because of worn braking surface.

 

[booze and cake]

I plan on visiting Yorkshire for the Tour too and was considering cycling up but I'm going with a mate who has just offered to drive so we'll probably cheat and put the bikes in the car.

I do a few long single speed rides and did my furthest SS ride of 128 miles on 20th December. That was about 6-7000ft of climbing and I currently ride a 50/18 gear so 73gi and that was OK for me on hills up to about 13%. I've only got a freewheel side but if I had two and was going somewhere hilly I'd maybe chose gearing either side of my current set up, maybe 66-67gi for the hills and 76/77ish for a bit of speed on the flats. But it depends on the rider of course. If you know roughly what your capabilities are on your current gearing you should be able to choose a suitable gear or maybe take a couple of freewheels with you.

With all the route planning sites these days you can recce routes and try and avoid the 20+%'s. Some nicer wheels will make a difference and help the miles roll by. You'll be fit as a butchers dog by the time you're back from Le Tour.

I don't really know about recommendations as I've not looked at bike bits for ages, but something with a flip flop hub (with space for a cog on both sides) seems sensible. I'd say stretch to some nice easily serviceable handbuilts if you can. My Royce hubs on Open Pro rims have lasted me over 3 and half years and still going strong but I appreciate they may be a bit more spendy than you are looking at.
I'm looking forward to July already , should be quite a show.

 

[Old Plodder]

Gearing is personal, but I used to ride up to 100 mile in a day on a gear of 63" when I was fit.
You probably want a gear of about 5 - 10 inches below what you would normally ride on the flat.

 

[joro]

Long rides are all about what's a comfortable cruising speed for you ... I ride 66" which suits me. Most people like a cadence in the range 65 to 90 revs per minute. Here's a table of cadence and the corresponding speed in km/hr on my bike:
Cadence = 50 | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 80 | 85 | 90 | 95 | 100 | 105 | 110 | 115 | 120
speed = 15.7| 17.3| 18.8| 20.4 |22 | 23.5 | 25.1 | 26.7 | 28.3 | 29.8 | 31.4 | 33 | 34.5 | 36.1 | 37.7

For a long ride I don't like going faster than 30kph anyway because the extra wind drag costs a lot of effort, so the 66" gear enables me to maintain a cruising speed of around 25 kph, get up most hills OK and achieve an overall average of around 21 kph. Nothing very special there, but it's a pace that can be maintained day after day (except in mountain country).

I can ride at 120rpm or 38kph without getting breathless for a few km, but couldn't possibly keep up that pace on a longer ride, and a bigger gear wouldn't really help very much - it's the wind resistance that gets you.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Speak to DCR Wheels and find out what they recommend.

Ask your lungs and legs what gears they can pull.

 

[3narf]

I'm going to follow this with interest!

It's just over the Pennines from me but I'm not sure I could get up Holme Moss with my current 46x17.

 

[RedRider]

Thanks everyone for these thoughtful and helpful posts, gearing suggestions, general inspiratation and tips on where to buy. I'll follow these up and reply with more thoughtful responses when I can.
I'm thinking my budget can probably stretch to £300 now and spotted H plus son archetype rims with miche primato hubs for that price. I'll be looking around for other options tho and will give DCR a buzz.
My current gearing is the same as @3narf which I think is around 69 GI and gets me round London biggest bumps and around the Downs ok but I appreciate the Pennines etc with a bigger bag are a different matter.
We're probably not heading back down by bike anymore, instead I quite fancy heading over the Pennines towards Liverpool instead but if it happens I'd be doing that bit without my rising partner.
Incidentally, my mate's going Glastonbury the weekend before we ride so whatever happens my prep should be a little more conventional even if less fun than his!

 

[mangid]

Thanks everyone for these thoughtful and helpful posts, gearing suggestions, general inspiratation and tips on where to buy. I'll follow these up and reply with more thoughtful responses when I can.
I'm thinking my budget can probably stretch to £300 now and spotted H plus son archetype rims with miche primato hubs for that price. I'll be looking around for other options tho and will give DCR a buzz.
My current gearing is the same as @3narf which I think is around 69 GI and gets me round London biggest bumps and around the Downs ok but I appreciate the Pennines etc with a bigger bag are a different matter.
We're probably not heading back down by bike anymore, instead I quite fancy heading over the Pennines towards Liverpool instead but if it happens I'd be doing that bit without my rising partner.
Incidentally, my mate's going Glastonbury the weekend before we ride so whatever happens my prep should be a little more conventional even if less fun than his!

Had bad experience with Miche Primato hubs, rear failed at the spoke hole in the flange, got a free replacement, but was enough to put me off getting them again.

 

[zigzag]

i use a ss bike for long rides (over 200 miles/day), my favourite gear is 69" which gets me up the hills of 15-18%, steeper ones i'd walk, but would not gear down to compromise my preferred cruising speed and cadence. when building the bike i considered all options for wheels, found mavic ellipse too heavy and requiring a spanner to tighten/undo them (dead weight to carry). in the end decided to build them myself with tensile hubs, cx-ray spokes, and kinlin xr200 32h rims. very robust and serviceable wheels weighing only 1434g. with these wheels i can keep up with a chaingang at 21mph on a hilly(ish) course - they do make a difference and are a joy to ride! the only thing i do not like about the rims is that their brake track is 9mm wide which is the same as brake pads, which means that brake pads need to be perfectly aligned.
regarding fixed vs freewheel - whatever you like. i prefer freewheel, to be able to fly down the hills like a falcon in aero tuck with bum in the air and chin just above the stem, leaving fixed riders behind twiddling with their eyes popping out (they call it zen - whatever it means).
if you want a proper test ride, i'll be riding an easter arrow audax (on easter friday) from london to york 400km+ in 24hrs. let me know if you are interested. the route will be mostly flat.

 

[RedRider]

i use a ss bike for long rides (over 200 miles/day), my favourite gear is 69" which gets me up the hills of 15-18%, steeper ones i'd walk, but would not gear down to compromise my preferred cruising speed and cadence. when building the bike i considered all options for wheels, found mavic ellipse too heavy and requiring a spanner to tighten/undo them (dead weight to carry). in the end decided to build them myself with tensile hubs, cx-ray spokes, and kinlin xr200 32h rims. very robust and serviceable wheels weighing only 1434g. with these wheels i can keep up with a chaingang at 21mph on a hilly(ish) course - they do make a difference and are a joy to ride! the only thing i do not like about the rims is that their brake track is 9mm wide which is the same as brake pads, which means that brake pads need to be perfectly aligned.
regarding fixed vs freewheel - whatever you like. i prefer freewheel, to be able to fly down the hills like a falcon in aero tuck with bum in the air and chin just above the stem, leaving fixed riders behind twiddling with their eyes popping out (they call it zen - whatever it means).
if you want a proper test ride, i'll be riding an easter arrow audax (on easter friday) from london to york 400km+ in 24hrs. let me know if you are interested. the route will be mostly flat.

I followed your exploits in the transcontinental race thread and I really value this contribution.
I'd never seen the Tensile components before now.
I do like my freewheeling (Ha! I got into my aero tuck down Constitution 'Hill' today) and I can definitely imagine sticking with my usual gearing for this trip but with a bit more walking than yourself. I have annual leave this week tho and I'm planing a fixed gear experiment just to see if I get that zen revelation.
I'd love to join you on a ride by the way, but fear I'd be seriously outclassed. 400k in a day? Maybe next year!

 

[zigzag]

I'd never seen the Tensile components before now.

they are ok, same/similar hub shell as many other fixed/ss hubs in the market manufactured by novatec (system ex, formula and many more) and uses 6000 2rs sealed bearings. what i liked about tensile hubs, that they can be tightened/undone using 5mm allen key. stock bearings were fine for about 2000km, but one bearing seized up after riding through numerous floods with water level up to bottle cages..

bearings cost next to nothing though and can be easily replaced (quicker than it takes to re-grease cup and cone type hubs). also you are free to choose either steel, hybrid, or ceramic bearings - what's not to like?!

I'd love to join you on a ride by the way, but fear I'd be seriously outclassed. 400k in a day? Maybe next year!

i'm sure you'd be fine - it's still three months away and you could work up to it gradually.

 

[RedRider]

they are ok, same/similar hub shell as many other fixed/ss hubs in the market manufactured by novatec (system ex, formula and many more) and uses 6000 2rs sealed bearings. what i liked about tensile hubs, that they can be tightened/undone using 5mm allen key. stock bearings were fine for about 2000km, but one bearing seized up after riding through numerous floods with water level up to bottle cages..

bearings cost next to nothing though and can be easily replaced (quicker than it takes to re-grease cup and cone type hubs). also you are free to choose either steel, hybrid, or ceramic bearings - what's not to like?!



i'm sure you'd be fine - it's still three months away and you could work up to it gradually.

They look interesting tho' I'm surprised a 5mm allen gets them tight enough. Another one to consider so cheers.

I must admit, I'm feeling in good form for the time of year and can't wait to get some decent training rides under the belt. Did a couple of 50 milers last week and would like to sort a 100 later this month. (The joys of having to use up me annual leave in the next 7 weeks means I have the time.) Still think 400k in a day is a step too far too quick for me but I'll let you know!

 

[RedRider]

Speak to DCR Wheels and find out what they recommend.

Ask your lungs and legs what gears they can pull.

I'm close to going the DCR route, so thanks for the recommendation, and I've been asking my legs and lungs a few questions. My lungs have been thanking me for giving up the smokes btw so it's not just the bike that's getting tweaked.

 

[Smurfy]

cx-ray spokes

A wheelbuilder I know showed me some of those in a display pouch full of various Sapim samples. They're truly amazing spokes, but I'd have to win the lottery first!

http://www.sapim.be/spokes/aero/cx-ray