Advice on Bike for Paris-Roubaix

cunavalos

Hi all ,
i have set myself a challenge for next year of doing the paris Roubaix Sportive and am looking for advice on what bike is best for the job. I currently have two bikes an orbea onix(all carbon fibre) and an an orbea lobular (aluminium frame with carbon forks) would one of these be suitable for the task with specially selected components ie wheels brakes tyres etc or is there a bike out there ideally suited to the task. i would probably look to some of the other classic sportives as part of my training . Max budget for a new bike would be 2k. All suggestions gratefully accepted

nolf

Something strong with suspension- judging by the C+ article they had last year having rode it those sound like the best ideas....

ricadus

Cyclo-cross bike? You may want to hop off the cobbles on to the grass through Arenberg forest. Also the slightly wider tyres on a cross bike may improve comfort.

Bronzie

If you use either of your existing bikes, take the one you won't mind breaking so much!

Also fit the widest tyres you can without them rubbing the frame - something like Vittoria Pave 25 or 27c and run them at lower pressure than normal (70-80psi) - there is a fine line however between making things just a little more comfy and risking impact punctures - ideally you need to experiment before the actual event, although I admit finding pave in the UK could be a little tricky.

Monty Dog

Having ridden the P-Rx a couple of times my first piece of advise is that bike is likely to be far stronger than you are - that said, ride the bike that's better at absorbing vibration and is more comfortable. Many people mistakenly take an old bike, but from what I've seen of broken forks, bars and wheels - a new bike is less likely to fail than an old one. Strong and reliable is the order of the day - fit the fattest tyres you can fit and run them fairly soft. Fit gel bar tape or double wrap them. Loctite any bolts that can shake loose and give your bike a good service beforehand. Choice of bottle cage is critical if it gets hot - some are useless - Tacx Tao would be my recommendation if you want to keep your bottles and not have to ride one-handed through the pave to stop losing your bottles!
The biggest factor on bike breakage is how strong and fit you are - if you can ride 'strong', get on the front through the sectors and keep the power on, you are far less likely to crash because you can chose your line, avoid slower riders and not have to make any sudden direction changes. The section of the course after the third control which includes Arenberg has 11km of pave in about 30km - last year it was over 33 degrees and you reach this point after about 160km - probably the hardest 'hour' of cycling I've ever encountered. Work on your leg power, seated and turning a big gear at high speed - grinding a big gear on ascents whilst seated is good. Your upper body i.e. hands, wrists and arms take the biggest battering of all.