tcarl

Bike: 1989 Schwinn Paramount Tires: Front 700x20; Rear 700x23

wolfchild

No big hills, mostly flat and rolling terrain.

Stormsedge

2017 Trek Domane SL6 Disc
700x32mm R2 Bontragers
Sunrise Century Bike Tour-Clarksville, TN @7hrs

Multiple Metric Centuries

JohnDThompson 

I've ridden lots of century rides. The last one I did, at age 61, was on this bike, with 700 x 28 tires:

L134 

dparks

7 times (3 times back to back at TOSRV)
1973 Gitane 700c tires
1981 FUJI Royale 27 tires
1984 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe 27" tires
1973 CCM Mistral 27" tires

WaveyGravey

In fall of 2017 rode a Bianchi 1885 108 miles in about 7 hours equipped with 700x25 tires. Age 64.

fietsbob

yea like # 30 , sometimes on a bike tour you'd ride 100 miles , because you got up early and with the hours of sunlight being longer in summer

by the time it was late afternoon , you found only less than perfect campsites , so kept riding till you found one..


I have a Road bike , too.. It's old you wouldn't be interested, really ..


I used to own one like this : web image









...

GuessWhoCycling

1993, mass start century on Miyata hybrid 700 X 35 tires. 6:30. Funny some roadies at the post ride BBQ tried giving me advice on how to finish the ride faster riding a roadie, better shoes, glasses, pedals etc till it came up conversation and they realized I had crossed the line 1 hour before they did.

I've done 45 milers on MTB's with fat tires 2.3 knobby tires just for the fun of something different. I would not hesitate to do a century on a hybrid.

kaos joe

I've done about 12 of them; my wife & myself have done, we think, 7 on tandems with a variety of 700x28 or 32 mm tires. Last several have been on 700x32 Continental Gatorskins which I've settled on for the tandems. On my Atlantis tourer, a couple on 26x1.25 Pasela TourGuards. And 1 on my 'cross bike with 700x32 Bontrager smooth road tires, I forget the model. I've only done 1 on my "fast bike" on 700x23 Grand Prix tires, years ago when a bunch of us wanted to see if we could break 5 hours (we did).

Today, if not on the tandem I'd reach for the 'cross bike shod with the Bontragers without hesitation, unless I was schlepping a touring load.

EDIT; ****e, for some reason I thought you were focused on TIRES used. Oh well.

Kapusta

NoWhammies

I've done most of my century rides on an Argon18 Gallium. Can't recall the tyre size, but the wheel set was a Campy Shamals that I ran tubeless. No complaints.

woodcraft

Looks like 9 this year,

but some of them were double centuries, so more if you count those as two.

About the same last year, but 12 in 2016.

All on tubulars, 23, 25, or 27mm.

livedarklions

My centuries are strictly solo. Coordinating that many with a group would be impractical.

Besides those factors, the other big one for me is how much of the ride is through cities. They definitely lower the average speed.

joeruge

I fimished my first century in over 30 years, with my partner on a 2005 Co-motion Speedster. We rode in El Tour de Tucson 102 miles in a little over 7hrs with about 7,000 other riders. We were in no hurry, unlike the guys that 'won' the event in just under 4hrs. They averaged over 26mph!

Machka 

I've cycled the following ...

EVENT ............ NUMBER
CENTURY ........ 108
200K .............. 36
300K .............. 21
400K .............. 13
600K .............. 7
1000K ............ 1
1200K ............ 4
TOTAL ............. 190 rides over 100 miles / 160 km


And I think I've posted all/most of the bicycles on which I did those rides in the thread mentioned above.

expatbrit

raceboy

CroMo Mike 

I've probably ridden 15 centuries. All on a 1972 Bottecchia Professional or on a 1982 Colnago Super, both with 700x21 or 700x22 tubulars.

cb400bill

I've done a about a dozen Century rides on my 2006 Cannondale Synapse Alloy. The first 6 or 7 on 700x23 tires and the rest on 700x25 tires.

Myosmith

I've done a couple dozen solo unsupported centuries and several supported charity centuries and I have two bikes that I prefer. If I'm going lighter and faster (going for fitness and time) I ride a Motobecane Gran Premio with some comfort modifications. It has 25mm Bontrager AW3 Hardcase Lite tires. I have broken the six-hour century on that bike a couple of times but my usual time is more like 06:30 rolling time. When comfort and mixed road surfaces are in the plan, I have a mutt bike based on a 1993 Trek 730 frameset with wider rims and the same Bontrager AW3 Hardcase Lites but in 32mm. When it's mostly flat roads or rolling hills, the difference in average speed is negligible between the two bikes, even though the mutt is 4+ pounds heavier (depending on if I have racks and/or fenders and extra baggage). Going up hills the road bike is a bit quicker but neither bike is ever going to be a sprinter, especially with my Clyde backside on the saddle.

All you need is a comfortable bike in good mechanical condition. I'm a fan of butted chrome-moly for comfort but there are plenty of good distance bikes made of other materials as well. I like a somewhat wider tire with supple construction for comfort and sure-footedness when the roads are less than ideal.

My first century (a Tour de Cure that took me about 07:30) was ridden on a 1990s Trek 820 that was stock except for 1.5" x 26 Bontrager H2 tires and Ergon bar end grips, so I can say you don't need anything special to ride 100 miles.

Mogens

I did my first century last September on a 1981 Bianchi Limited. I think it did pretty well, though I can see how more modern drivetrains are an advantage. It was my first long ride and I hadn't trained for it adequately, if much at all. I was among the last to finish and I was completely wrecked the following day. I hope to do better next time around. I'm hoping to do two or three centuries in '19 and possibly the Ride Across Wisconsin, which now—conveniently—terminates about a mile from my home. I've bought a better saddle; and I'm currently working on going from a 52/42 crankset to a 50/34 compact double. Also need to invest in some kind of bike bag, something I can more conveniently stash a jacket in.

u235

One this year. A solo loop of 45 miles C&O tow path + 55 miles W&OD paved MUP and maybe + 5 miles of actual road. Conti Speedride 700x42. 14.7mph@89rpm. Bike comes in about 25# with nothing strapped on. Ride weight with tools, spares, water, food, etc is probably 8-10 more? It is a random build aluminum frame/carbon fork drop bar 2x10 that is purposely more configured for long haul gravel and light trail than anything else. It's not my "gravel bike" though, it is my just about everything bike.

50PlusCycling

I've ridden centuries on various bikes, the first being an old Araya road bike when I was 13 years old. The oddest bike I did a century on was a 50's Schwinn single-speed cruiser. As long as it has tires, and can be set up to fit you, and will work on the terrain you are riding, go for it.

GuessWhoCycling

Other than a hybrid, I have done 35 centuries total.
2 hybrid 700 X 35
13 Cannondale aluminum roadie 700 X 23
16 Trek alum roadie 700 X 23
4 steel tandem 700 X front 25/28 rear