glasgow - london

bigbadmond

long story short - 6 of us plan to do a sponsered cylce between the UK offices of the company we work for (Glasgow / Edinburgh / Belfsat / Manchester / London to name the main ones). None of us are experienced cyclists, so naturally a lot of training will be required - could be as much as 100 miles per day. I'm trying to find out about what kind of bike, equipment, costs etc we should be looking at. I know folk that mountain bike a lot and from them i have gathered that I'm looking for a lightweight bike with no suspension, ideally not drop bars given our lack of experience, comfort (dont wanna have mega sore ass after day 1) etc etc

Also, not looking to spend unnecessary amount on bike - just something that would be best value for money. Unfortunately I know nothing of bike makes etc other than some obvious ones which I assume are not particularly good.

Cleets have been mentioned - any opinions? - tight shorts etc to avoid chaffing?

All advice welcome - Cheers

geoff_ss

Despite the fact that I now use flat bars on my road bike, before my injury I covered many thousands of miles with drop bars and for a normally fit person are completely comfortable. The amount of training you'll need to do if you hope to cover 100 miles/day will mean that by the time you start your ride you'll need to be very experienced. Make no mistake you're undertaking a very demanding task.

Proper cycling clothing will be essential - including decent shorts. The training will take care of any backside deficiencies. Proper shoes and clipless pedals will help. Of course you'll need some very good wet weather gear for the trip to Belfast whatever the weather

If you have motorised support to carry luggage etc then any reasonable lightweight road bike will do. I'm an old fogey and I'm not up to date on particular models but I'd go for one with a triple chain set; you'll be more grateful for the low gears than the ultra high ones. It's endurance you're after rather than speed. If you have to carry your own luggage then you need a bike which has built-in eyes to carry a pannier frame. What are often called Winter training frames would be suitable. Or you could go for a handbuilt steel frame - though they're expensive and often have long lead times.

Unless you're already fit I feel you may have left it a bit late if you hope to do your ride in the Summer unless you're prepared to put an awful lot of riding in the next few months. You'll need to include some long weekend rides and getting the basic fitness needed takes time and miles.

Geoff

iga

Ditto what Geoff said. Cycling clothing a must, clipless shoes recommended. As for bikes you're probably best looking at Audax/light touring bikes (unless you plan on camping on route). Dawes give you an idea of what I mean http://www.dawescycles.com/dawes/touring-bikes.htm

If you plan on doing this in the summer, I reckon you're looking at training 5 days a week for 6-8 weeks, plus a few good all day rides to get the miles in. But go for it!

northpole

Having once ridden from Belfast-Dublin one day and back again the next wearing jeans I can vouch that decent cycle shorts and Assos cream are worthy investments!! :oops:

You are setting yourself a truly awesome challenge and I would suggest you trim back your target distances per day to something alot more manageable.

The great thing about drop bars are that they allow you numerous posture options which aren't available on flat bars.

Totally agree with comments about gearing - quite a few racers have rear cassettes with very close/ high gearing which can destroy you when climbing hills - and I suspect you will face some corkers along your journey!

Best of luck

Peter

andy81

As mentioned above, proper cycle shorts/tights with a pad are essential.

In terms of a bike, might be worth looking around for a second hand bike, as you'll be able to get more bike for the money. It's worth getting a decent bike, as it'll make the whole experience much more enjoyable/less painful.

Also, consider drop bars - they don't really require any expert ability, and as northpole says, if you're doing around 100 miles a day, the ability to move your hands around the bars will be invaluable.

What budget are you looking at?

bigbadmond

At the moment we're trying to plan an accurate route (again any advice welcome). When we have this we'll be able to pull together a more detailed proposal which we then hope to use to gain financial support, sponsorship.

Our company is also willing to help us out a lot but again the extent of this will depend on the more detailed proposal we put to them. Hoping we'll find a business to help with getting bikes and equipment - either discounted or free rental etc

If we do end up just buying then I must admit i think the £500 price mark would be an absolute max...but ideally cheaper. Having said that, I'm taking a lot of advice on this so am open to suggestions / influence.

Think I'm converted on the drop bar front...

heavymental

Well, £500 isn't too bad a budget for a bike so I think you'll be alright there. You could look second hand which would get you something very nice but, you do need to know what you're looking for as you don't want to get something ill fitting for such a long journey. Depending on if you are on a supported ride or not (you might want something more touring orientated as Goeff says), these two bikes below would probably fit the bill and I'm sure you could pick both up cheaper if you did a bulk buy from your local bike shop (usually referred to on here as an LBS) I'd go into all the local bike shops and find someone who's enthusiastic about your plight and will be willing to chew the fat with you and discuss your needs.

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86320 http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=70072

Course, you've got to factor in all the additional costs. You'll probably have to shell out on new pedals (clipless will really make it easier), shoes, shorts, jersey, jacket, helmet, lights?, gloves, etc.

Good luck with it. Sounds like a great trip especially if you choose a nice route and the sun shines on you. Better get the miles in though! Maybe watching Chiles and Shearer on Sport Relief will give you some clues about what to expect.

heavymental

Try sticking a request for a route in the Tour Expedition section of this forum. Might get some ideas of what route to take for a particular section of the trip.

Monty Dog

For £500 you'll get a good quality bike more than adequate for the task - for the best value, an online dealer like Ribble Cycles will give you the best value - something like their winter trainer for £400- it has clearances for mudguards and you can upgrade to a compact chainset - you only really need a triple for loaded touring: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/SpecialEditionBikes.asp

rdaviesb

I'd second the value of the Ribble winter frame. Mine's two years old, and been all over the country and northern Europe with me. Order with a Mrage triple groupset and a 13-26 or a 13-29 rear cassette, and you'll have the gears to get up and down anything.