London to Brighton on a Full Suss, am I Mad?

brindlescoops

I am doing the London to Brighton (road)with some guys from work in June. i have 3 options, use my GT Avalanche with some skinny road tyres on, Use my EX8 with some skinny road tyres and the shock pressures upto Max, or borrow a road bike for the weekend. as I see it, my EX8 is much easier to ride than my GT and has more gears, borrowing a bike I am not used to may be a bad idea 15 miles or so in even if it is a road bike. Has anyone got experience of the same dilemma? Whats is the best bet?

diy

Its only 50 odd miles you can do it on anything. If you want the easiest option take the road bike. If you want a challenge start from Brighton and do the double. Not that that is particularly hard either.

I did the double on an enduro with slicks a few years back - you have the advantage of better brakes.

good luck

brindlescoops

diy wrote:

Its only 50 odd miles you can do it on anything. If you want the easiest option take the road bike. If you want a challenge start from Brighton and do the double. Not that that is particularly hard either.

I did the double on an enduro with slicks a few years back - you have the advantage of better brakes.

good luck

Thing is I'm used to regularly doing 15-20 miles at a trailcentre, but never ridden further than that. Dont want the "i can run 10 miles, so I'll run a Marathon problem, I.e. you cant - easily.

blablablacksheep

dude you worrying about doing a 100k on a bike.....look at my sig lol....i havnt even ran a marathon yet

Markmjh

its easier than you think mate, i do the Manchester to Blackpool every year(63miles) and have done it on a hardtail, road bike and a full suss. Just stick some slicks on there, stiffen up the bouncy bits and enjoy the day mate. You will feel silly about the worrying once you start seeing some people doing the event on kids 16" bikes, big choppers and alsorts :-)

mudsucker

You'll be fine. I did Essex Countryside (60 miles organised by bike-events.co.uk) on my stumpjumper fsr last year and may be doing london to brighton on it this year. Obviously its harder than on a road bike but its perfectly doable.

pilch

The EX8 is a good all round, all day bike, you will be fine just locking out the forks and riding with the pro pedal on (assuming it's set up right) may not be the 'best' tool for the job but if its the option you are happiest with then go with it.

njee20

It is an easy ride. Cycling isn't like running, frankly if you can ride 20 miles then you can ride 50, or 100, you just need to fuel appropriately.

Take the bike you're most comfy on, if that's the EX8 then use that.

diy

I've done 200k road rides and 160k off road rides, I doubt I could run 10K. The LTB is 3 hours riding 4 hours waiting.

If you are not used to long rides, the only thing worth thinking about is either a gel cover for you seat or two pairs of cycling shorts.

The Rookie

If you can do 20miles at a trail centre, you know how hard you can pedal consistently without knackering yourself out, pedaling at a consistent effort/cadance (not road speed!) is much easier on road than off, just pick a good steady pace and stick to it.

Not sure why your EX8 should be more comfy than the Avalanche, but if it is, use it!

tenfoot

I've done it several times on a full sus, with skinnies on. Best tip I can give, if it's not too late, is get an early start time. The last time I did it, my lazy workmates didn't want to leave until 9.30. Big mistake. We took 8 hours getting to Brighton, as we spent at least half the time standing/pushing in queues. Ditchling Beacon was an absolute nightmare to ride up as there was a single file area to ride, with 90% of the road taken up with pushers.

Also - beware of people stopping without warning, changing direction without warning or just general wobbling around on hills.

brindlescoops

Cheers all, EX8 it is with skinnies and a good book then, as we arent off till 8.30, so will still get caught in the crowd.

diy

If you are planning to use the transport provided I would take the cheapest bike as they can get bashed about and I have heard people complaining of bikes going missing.