Speeding up a steel touring bike

[bohrsatom]

I've just signed up for a 100 mile cycle event that takes place next spring. I'm not too worried about the distance - my current record is around 90 miles and I was carrying panniers at the time - but I'm conscious that me and my Spa steel tourer will look a little out of place amongst all the roadies on their carbon steeds.

I've no room for another bike so I'm looking for ways to increase my average speed when riding the steel tourer.

Plan A and B are focussed on the rider himself: losing 5kgs would be a big help and I intend to follow a training plan to improve my fitness.



Plan C is the bike. I'll obviously remove the rack, mudguards and kickstand and I'll have to leave my stove at home. What other tweaks can I make that will give good bang-for-buck? I have a budget of around £200.

A bit about the bike:
Exal LX17 wheels with Deore hubs and 32c Schlwabe Marathon tyres. 32h front and 36h rear.
Deore 3x10 drivetrain (48/36/26) and 11-36 cassette
MKS Sylvan touring pedals
Slightly swept back flat bars with Ergon GP3 bar ends

In my spares cupboard I have a pair of wheels (24h front/32h rear) from my old 'sporty' hybrid and some On One Geoff bars (a Jones Loop clone)

[Paulatic]

What other tweaks can I make that will give good bang-for-buck? I

With your set up the one thing I would change is tyres. Keep training with what you have and when the engine is tuned up put on some lighter less resistance tyres and you’ll fly.
I’m a Vittoria folding man but other brands are available.

[rjb]

Go on a training ride with a friend and learn to stick close to a wheel (6inches behind) This way you get max shelter and sucked along. Its no use feeling uncomfortable and sitting a couple of metres back as you will get blown off the back.

[Pinkie]

I've just signed up for a 100 mile cycle event that takes place next spring. I'm not too worried about the distance - my current record is around 90 miles and I was carrying panniers at the time - but I'm conscious that me and my Spa steel tourer will look a little out of place amongst all the roadies on their carbon steeds.

I've no room for another bike so I'm looking for ways to increase my average speed when riding the steel tourer.

Plan A and B are focussed on the rider himself: losing 5kgs would be a big help and I intend to follow a training plan to improve my fitness.



Plan C is the bike. I'll obviously remove the rack, mudguards and kickstand and I'll have to leave my stove at home. What other tweaks can I make that will give good bang-for-buck? I have a budget of around £200.

A bit about the bike:
Exal LX17 wheels with Deore hubs and 32c Schlwabe Marathon tyres. 32h front and 36h rear.
Deore 3x10 drivetrain (48/36/26) and 11-36 cassette
MKS Sylvan touring pedals
Slightly swept back flat bars with Ergon GP3 bar ends

In my spares cupboard I have a pair of wheels (24h front/32h rear) from my old 'sporty' hybrid and some On One Geoff bars (a Jones Loop clone)

I'd take the mud guards off, that's got to be worth 5mph.

I wondering what you think you can achieve with two hundred quid, so it will stay with carbon racers, put some drops on it and pump the tyres up and that's about all that will make any noticeable differance and then your only 20 miles adrift instead of 25

Seriously, wear your antique with pride and go for a cruise

[Jdsk]

As above: training and tyres.

and I'll have to leave my stove at home.

: - )

Jonathan

[peetee]

Tyres.

[andrew_s]

Tyres.
Get a pair of 32 mm Conti GP5000, and put them on a week or so before the event, rather than wearing them down beforehand.

Otherwise, if you intend to carry stuff, a rackpack will be usefully more aerodynamic than panniers. Obviously, if you can make do with just a seat pack, that will be even better,
Close-fitting clothing, rather than loose and flappy, will also help usefully. It may also be worth a rack and rackpack from a speed point of view if it stops you riding with an unzipped jacket that you've nowhere to stow

Mudguards or not doesn't make all that much difference, provided they are a match for the width of the tyre.
I'd also stick with your existing wheels

[Pinkie]

Tyres.
Get a pair of 32 mm Conti GP5000, and put them on a week or so before the event, rather than wearing them down beforehand.

Otherwise, if you intend to carry stuff, a rackpack will be usefully more aerodynamic than panniers. Obviously, if you can make do with just a seat pack, that will be even better,
Close-fitting clothing, rather than loose and flappy, will also help usefully. It may also be worth a rack and rackpack from a speed point of view if it stops you riding with an unzipped jacket that you've nowhere to stow

Mudguards or not doesn't make all that much difference, provided they are a match for the width of the tyre.
I'd also stick with your existing wheels

You think an unzipped jacket may be an issue, but not a forward facing air scoop that causes considerable turbulence around the wheels ?

[LuckyLuke]

Apparently reducing 1) rolling resistance and 2) aero drag will help.
For 1) another +1 for faster tyres. I like Rene Herse tyres but must admit they are silly money. I also like Panaracer Paselas and they’re much cheaper. You could also use extra light tubes or latex tubes for a gnats less rolling resistance.

For 2) Perhaps you could fit narrower flat bars? Or lower your stem? (Only if still comfortable of course).
Drops would likely be more aero, but more of a cost involved.
Tight fitting clothing would deffo be of benefit. (Sorry for stating the obvious, but when in touring mode I’m often in non-cycling clobber, flapping away merrily in the breeze.)
You mentioned loosing weight which would also make you more aero.
Probably worth mentioning that working on ‘the engine’ will further speed things up.
Best of luck with the event. Hope you have a great ride.
Luke

[pwa]

Take unnecessary bits off. And put nice tyres on. Schwalbe Marathon Supremes if you want tyres that will move very nicely but also serve for touring after the big event.

Do you use 32mm tyres?
https://spacycles.co.uk/m14b0s142p1034/ ... 69-folding

I recommend doing lots of cycling with heavy panniers in the weeks leading up to the event, only taking the rack and panniers off a couple of days before. On the day, don't be tempted to go off too fast. You will see folk race off at a pace you can't match and feel daunted, but try to find some other people who are going a bit slower and tag a lift behind them.

If the roads are wet on the day, I'd ride with guards. 100 miles is what, 6 to 8 hours perhaps. I'd not relish 8 hours of spray up the backside. The discomfort would slow me down. And on a relaxed position bike like yours, the extra drag of guards is trivial. I have done long Audax rides, and a long wet ride with no guards is not fun and it isn't even fast once the spray has got to you.

I used to know a chap from the Evesham area who rode Sportives on a steel bike with guards. He did the Etape du Tour over the Col de la Croix de Fer and the Gallibier, riding alongside people on carbon bikes with no guards, and he enjoyed being the defiant old timer.

[cyclop]

All the above plus a fueling regime that you,ve nailed down in training.When I did 200km audaxes,I had a bum bag fixed across the drops,just below the levers and stabilised with a zip tie round gear-brake cable cluster.I then grazed on nuts,flapjack,etc without stopping.A frame bag fixed on the top tube-steerer angle is another solution.Doing 100mls at a "push"rather than at touring pace will find you out if you haven,t prepared .Flat bars aren,t ideal so a compromise might be to invest in some clip ons,effectively giving you a different lower position without great expense.

[thirdcrank]

I've just signed up for a 100 mile cycle event that takes place next spring. I'm not too worried about the distance - my current record is around 90 miles and I was carrying panniers at the time - but I'm conscious that me and my Spa steel tourer will look a little out of place amongst all the roadies on their carbon steeds.
.....

I presume you are not talking about a 100 miles time trial so why does speed come into it? Without wasting money buying a bike to impress people who probably wouldn't be impressed unless you spent really silly money, all you can really do is remove the kit that you don't need for a day ride. If you are concerned about missing a cut-off time, then don't waste time at stops. On the day, don't be tempted to start too fast: the fast starters will either be out of your league or - just as likely - going to blow up after thirty minutes of trying to impress. Keep on top of feeding and hydration (which judging by your bottles you know about anyway.) Your bike looks very tidy so no need to remind you to make sure it's OK before the start.

The main thing is to enjoy it, and you won't do that worrying about what other riders think of your bike.

[tatanab]

You've said you would remove the panniers and stand, I would leave the rack and put a small bag on it, possibly a rack pack because you need to have tools, waterproofs etc with you. Change the tyres if you like, but leave all else alone. The biggest bang for your buck is an hour or so with polish. A friend always polished his machine the night before a big race because he felt he was always faster on a gleaming steed. This is just psychological, much like removing minor parts by which I mean mudguard removal and extra bottle cage removal for example. It is a machine on which you are comfortable, so other changes will gain you nothing except perhaps discomfort.

Apart from the handlebars, this is as good as the average club riding machine in the late 60s, and it is better components than I had at that time when I started club riding and even for racing, but of course I was younger so the "engine" was more able.

[cycle tramp]

I've just signed up for a 100 mile cycle event that takes place next spring. I'm not too worried about the distance - my current record is around 90 miles and I was carrying panniers at the time - but I'm conscious that me and my Spa steel tourer will look a little out of place amongst all the roadies on their carbon steeds.



Plan C is the bike. I'll obviously remove the rack, mudguards and kickstand and I'll have to leave my stove at home. What other tweaks can I make that will give good bang-for-buck? I have a budget of around £200.

A) I never worried about any of my bikes looking out of place. When you walk across a field of sheep do you ever worry that you're not looking like a sheep?
B) Don't worry about increasing your speed, just find someone who is travelling the same speed as you and sit behind them
C) Never get drawn into a race - a proportion of these riders will race off and attempt to out do each other in the first 20 or 30 miles, they'll then blow up and you can spend the rest of the ride gently reeling them in one by one.
D) don't do anything you haven't done before. If you're used to riding with panniers then use them, 25 miles into a journey is no place to find out that wearing a back pack is uncomfortable, sweaty and makes your shoulders ache
E) personally I'd keep the mudguards on. It's 100 miles - how do you know that the weather won't change or that a farmer won't have just used a lane to move 20 cattle or that a sewer hasn't over topped
F) if you can do the distance never worry about the speed. Even if you attempt to go 3 or 4 miles faster it may bring you out of your comfort zone and you may end up blowing up by mile 65
F) Think about the kick stand. There's nothing better which says 'actually I'm not taking this seriously, I'm here for the ride' plus when you over take those that have blown up and they see your kick stand they know that they've been beat

[TheBomber]

As this question is in the tech section, then how about a close ratio cassette? Your triple will mean you still have a decent range but without your stove you perhaps don’t need the crawler gears. Being in the right gear is more significant if you’re matching the pace of those around you rather than setting your own all the time.