Road Bike or Touring Bike

[brother nathaneil]

Hi, I apologise straight away as I’m sure this is asked every 5 minutes but I’ve searched and just can’t find it!
What is best for E2E? A Road Bike or Touring Bike?

I have decided to do JOGLE next year for charity and 4 of my mates have blindly said they’ll come too! We are non-cycling, 40ish blokes and most of us only have MTB’s and will need to buy more suitable bikes.

We will be supported by a driver with a crew-cab van for luggage, tents and spares. So, as we don't need to carry much.... drinks and a little food, I figure that a Road Bike might be best. I can get a different cassette fitted to the freewheel when purchasing the bike so that I can match (albeit approximately) the gear-inches of the lowest gear on a touring Bike. The bike will be lighter too, and we can stand if required... unlike a Touring Bike.

The only other thing I can think of is mud-guards (will it rain in Scotland? Okay, that was irony), I could always get them fitted when I order the bikes.

.... Any thoughts?
Nathan

[Ron]

My choice of bicycle would depend on the type of cycling I intended to do after the event, it would seem be a waste to dispose of a bike after your end to end.
I wouldn't consider a multiday trip without mudguards, they keep you and your fellow travellers dry, clean and comfortable.

[keyboardmonkey]

+1 for mudguards.

I expect you're already thinking of a road bike with a triple chainset. If you change the rear cassette on a road bike you may also have to replace the rear derailleur for a mountain bike type (eg Shimano Tiagra replaced by Deore). You could get away without having to swap the chain for a longer one.

I've done something similar:

[NUKe]

ont know how much you want to spend but look at bikes labelled Audax or Sportive if you don't think you want a full blown touer

[Gearoidmuar]

If you've hardtailed MTBs that could take a carrier, you could fit road tyres and you would have a good tourer. I've often toured on such, and did Lejog on one.

[mw3230]

Any bike will do the E2E. People have done it on all styles and even a unicycle. Some old sailor from Cornwall is doing it on a Raleigh Chopper later this year would you believe it!!!

Check out his blog

http://jogleonachopper.blogspot.com/

ps - Mudguards, YES YES for the comfort of others as well as yourself!

[brother nathaneil]

Thanks for the advice guys...

I've come to the conclusion that as we're not carrying anything but water, a little food, rain clothes and body-weight (lots if that at the moment ) we may as well go for the lightest bike with least resistance!

What are your thoughts on the 2010 Raleigh AIRLite 400? I took a look today at the Eastleigh factory and it seems like a nice bike.

We are going to order them as standard and see how it goes in training, if hills prove to be too tough we'll buy a lower ratio wheel-sets to use instead.
If the lack of mud-guards causes an issue we can always retro-fit them later in the year.

[NUKe]

Personal Choice I know but if your budget is around 900 take a look at ribble Audax can be had for around 550 but you can then upgrade the components to suit you. others that might suit and I am not trying to put you off the Raliegh just give you more Options Specialized Sectuer, Dawes Audax, and my Favorite (personal choice only not a recommendation) Claud Butler Roubaix. YOu don't want an all out racing postion for long distance riding. Most of the above have a sport geometry and are light wieght with narrow wheels, but enough clearence for mudguards if required. Boardman bikes have good reputation as well but they are race designed

Like I said not trying to put you off Raliegh just give you more choices If you can get to dealers to try out this by far the best option

[EdinburghFixed]

You don't mention how long you plan to take for the trip, but the other problem with a racing bike is that the efficiency comes at the expense of comfort, particularly if you're not used to the position.

I don't mean to put you off the idea (as I took a lightweight racing-geometry bike with 23mm tyres to Land's End myself) but it's something to think about. An audax or sportif bike is likely to be a bit more tolerable without being noticably slower.

You won't see the point in mudguards until you have a soaking derriere and eight hours left to ride! I think it's something everyone should experience, so provided you get a bike which *can* have mudguards, I'd certainly encourage you to do a long training ride in the rain on it before deciding to fit them.

[brother nathaneil]

The route is to be finalised, as we all get a bit fitter we'll get more of an idea.
I've suggested 2 x 4 hour stints at an average of 10mph. Yes.... I hope we go faster than that but I'd rather aim low at the beginning!

I'm thinking 80ish miles a day for 13 days. There will be a couple of shorter days though, one half way through (a bit of a rest day) and the last day (so that we can hot-foot it home for the evening).

Do you (anyone) think this is realist / easily achievable? Don't forget none of us are cyclist yet, we do have a year to prepare though!

Talking of preparation, will this be okay?
The route is to be finalised, as we all get a bit fitter we'll get more of an idea.
I've suggested 2 x 4 hour stints at an average of 10mph. Yes.... I hope we go faster than that but I'd rather aim low at the beginning!

I'm thinking 80ish miles a day for 13 days. There will be a couple of shorter days though, one half way through (a bit of a rest day) and the last day (so that we can hot-foot it home for the evening).

Do you (anyone) think this is realistic / easily achievable / too easy? Don't forget none of as are cyclist yet, we do have a year to prepare though!!!

Talking of preparation, will this be okay? I aim for this to be the MINIMUM training:
One ride a week in May - 20 mile ride
One ride a week in June - 20 mile ride
One ride a week in July - 30 mile ride
One ride a week in June - 40 mile ride
One ride a week in July / August - 50 mile ride
One ride a week in September / October / November / December - 60 mile ride
Two Rides per week in January - 40 / 60 mile rides
Two Rides per week in February - 50 / 70 mile rides
Two Rides per week in March - 60 / 80 mile rides
Two Rides per week in April - 70 / 80 mile rides
Two Rides per week at the begining of May - 80 / 80 mile rides
Saturday (21 days to go) - 90 mile ride out
Sunday (20 days to go) - 90 mile ride Home
Wednesday (17 days to go) - 90 mile ride
Saturday (12 days to go) - 90 mile ride
Wednesday (10 days to go) - 90 mile ride
Saturday before - 90 mile ride
Friday - Travel to JOG
Saturday - Tour starts

I aim for this to be the MINIMUM training, I am sure when we all get into it we'll be doing more than this but at least this will set minimum targets.
What are your thoughts?

[Gearoidmuar]

Too much emphasis on distance, not enough on frequency. You can do it like that, but that training will be hard.

Using my body as a laboratory for thirty years I've found that the most useful component in training is frequency.
If, e.g. you go out and do 25 miles a day, really easy, for 10 days on the trot, you will be astonished at how fit you'll get after a couple of days off at the end.
I do three days a week all year round, in the winter doing maybe 100-120 mpw. Currently I'm doing three or four days a week and doing c150mpw. I did 240 miles last week. From now on I'll cycle more frequently and take it easy and will do a few 100 milers. You need the long ones to toughen your body, not your legs.
The reason I don't do the 10 days on the trot routine except occasionally, is that I don't enjoy cycling every day. But it's a helluva way to get fit.

[brother nathaneil]

Should I lower my distances but do three rides a week? Or do three ride a week at said distances?

If I do two long rides per week as per my suggestion and ride 10 miles every other day, would that be okay?
Something like:

Sunday - 10
Monday - 10
Tuesday - 10
Wednesday - 40
Thursday - 10
Friday - 10
Saturday - 60

Is there a definitive training schedule? I'm really hoping someone will say..."Just do this and you'll be fine!" I know everyone's different but there must be a minimum level!