Old 11-17-21, 05:54 AM
  #7  
Tourist in MSN
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

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I agree with the others, keep what you have.

During the pandemic I was looking around for a good exercise route to ride solo, about 65 to 75 miles that I could ride from home. And found a good one with some flats, some hills, and a few obnoxious hills, some on paved bike trails and some on quiet roads. On my more energetic days I could add a loop in the middle that had some serious hills and some gravel for about 10 extra miles.

I generally rode one of three different bikes on that route. Ranged from my road bike with road bike gearing and 28mm tires, to my rando bike with 32mm tires and a road triple for wider gearing, to my light touring bike with 37mm tires and even lower gearing for the hills. With these three bikes, my wheels range from light duty road bike wheels with 28 spokes to touring weight wheels with heavier rims and 36 spokes in the rear, 32 spokes in the front.

My times for that exercise route varied very little from one bike to the next. What I noticed most was that my first gear on my road bike was comparable to my second gear on my rando bike and my third gear on my light touring bike. So, for hill climbing the light touring bike with lower gearing was preferable. The weight of bike as a whole also played a role, but that was secondary to the gearing, and the weight of wheelsets was hardly noticeable.

If you try some 200k brevets, I do not know what you are running for tires or what part of the country you are in. I have some good rolling 32mm tires on my rando bike that I use for 200k brevets. They are not the most expensive ultra supple tires, but they are not boat anchors either. If you want to try some randonneuring at some point, try it on the bike you have but think about what you want for tires. What is most important on a brevet is that your bike fits you well and you have a good saddle for many consecutive hours of saddle time. I find that once you go over 100 miles, your nutrition plan, hydration plan, and adequate electrolytes becomes very important. And mental attitude is also critical. Don't worry about your wheels yet.
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