waterbugg

I'm planning to ride my first double century next year: the VT 100/200. I've done a bunch of centuries and touring, so I'm not worried about the distance, but am wondering what bike to use. I have a touring bike and a road bike. Both fit well for their intended purposes. Road bike is ~10lbs lighter and has a more aggressive fit. It's also a compact double and has a short cage derailleur so I'm concerned about gearing on the low end. (34-27 would be the lowest.) The touring bike is more comfortable on long rides and has low gears to spare, but is a bit slower.


So, comfort or speed? Which has priority for a double? How would you modify the bike to make it more appropriate for the ride?

StephenH

Is lighting the same either way?
Is the road bike comfortable after 100 miles?
How does the route you're looking at compare to what you normally ride?
Based on the information given, I'd go with road bike. Potentially raise the handlebars a bit if desired. You can put a longer derailleur and bigger gears on if that's really an issue.

rhm

Assuming both bikes allow you to carry whatever you need to finish the ride, I don't think it really matters. You should decide based on how you want to ride.

looking at it another way: Why is the touring bike slower?

That's partly a rhetorical question, of course. I have found I go considerably faster when I ride a fixed gear bike. It's not that the bike is faster, but that it's unforgiving. It won't let me gear down and spin up the hills, so I attack them and get over them faster. It's not more comfortable, and it's not easier. The bike isn't faster, but it definitely forces me to ride faster.

waterbugg

My touring bike has a dyno light, my road bike doesn't have anything permanent but has an ok battery powered light.
It's been a few years (I've done more touring lately) but I used the road bike for a bunch of organized centuries and it's fairly comfortable.
The route has longer climbs than I'm used to and more of them (green mountains vs coastal Maine), but I have enough time to train for that.
My road bars are already at the top of my steerer tube, but I hadn't considered getting another derailleur ... good idea. Thanks.

waterbugg

Exactly right. I stand more with the road bike and spin more with the touring. That being said, an all out effort with the touring bike is still a few mph slower than with the road. The two bikes are fit a little differently, so that would be muscle recruitment.

kingston 

For me it would depend on who I was riding with and how fast they are.

woodcraft

Road bike.
Put a Roadlink & bigger cassette on if needed,
but faster allows potentially more drafting,
& fewer hours on the bike equals more comfort overall.
I've grudgingly added a small top tube bag for DCs for easier eating on the go.
Put an extra light in your pocket if there's much in-the-dark riding.