unterhausen

How about steel and wool with electronic shifting? I don't know how much real snobbery there is in cycling, but there are a lot of people that think they have discovered the one true way and advise you adopt their preferences as a favor to you. Thanks, I guess.

I understand the people that want dt shifters for the reliability, but I dropped them after my first 600k because I really didn't want to reach down and shift on the second day. OTOH, on one cold rainy 600k, it got to the point I couldn't shift with my fingers any more because they were too cold.

GhostRider62

I get a lot of randos preaching to me that wide supple tires are universally faster. Having spent some thousands of dollars on them and having run Crr and CdA tests, that conclusion is not universally supported by my data.

As long as a bike is reliable and comfortable, it the bike is a non-issue in the successful completion of a brevet or grand randonnee.

Even with insufficient gearing for hills, one can walk. I do it all the time on my recumbent and manage to complete brevets within the time. It used to hurt my feelings to have to walk but I got over my stupid pride. If I have to walk, it usually feels pretty good when I remount. In my experience, if I need a very, very small gear on a hill, walking might well not be a bad option. Maybe as fast as riding? I have not done any research on that though, just a SWAG

GhostRider62

If I am not mistaken Lael Wilcox said that a certain brake of mechanical shifters would cause her to have hand problems with real difficultly shifting and she loved electronic shifting on endurance events. There is a very large difference brand to brand in the force needed to shift. Whether this extra force in some brands contributes to nerve irritation is a good question. I also don't know if shorter brevets are long enough to appreciate etap or Di2 or if one needs sore hands to notice. The ulnar nerves in both my hands are "shot" per 3 EMG studies. Electronic shifting was a game changer for me personally with far less post ride irritation in the hands (off my baseline).

clasher

Yeah it seems like it's more online than in real life. I see a lot of the "wide tires are best" responses on ****** and instagram. I'm giving the 650b thing a go for my gravel bike more than anything else, but it'll make a nice rain bike for brevets. I've ridden different bikes and had people ask me why I had so many spokes with one bike, and others ask why I had so few spokes when I rode a different bike... there's no pleasing people it seems.

I have yet to come across a hill I couldn't walk a bike up... even if I have the gears to ride, I'll walk it sometimes if the scenery is nice and I want to give my bum a bit of a break.

I'll be on electronic as I think arthritis in my hands is gonna happen long before my legs give out. My hands were the only thing sore at the end of PBP in 2019... we'll see how they feel after this year's 1200, but I may already regret setting up the new gravel bike with mechanical.

My old steel road bike has a left DT shifter on it, the left brifter gummed up, so I put that on so I could ride it... got the shifter working again but haven't bothered to re-cable the bike.

Tourist in MSN

I have seen a lot of it in person. I know a few that have to brag about why their latest purchases were such life changing events, but they have given up on trying to convince me.

Three of the people I know in particular, one read some marketing info on the next latest craze would be gravel bikes. So, one bought one to replace one of his carbon road bikes that had a cracked frame. Then another could not be seen without the latest, so a few months later he had to have one, but with nicer paint and a bit lighter. Then the third guy had to have one but with carbon wheels but by this time there was a pandemic with supply chain problems so lots of complaining about how long it took to get his wheels. The good news was the before they bought their gravel bikes, they always made fun of my titanium touring bike with 37mm wide tires, but now that they owned bikes with similar tire widths, at least they quit making fun of my wide tires.

clasher

Gotta ask them how they are enjoying their mountain bikes.

Tourist in MSN

I have never been diagnosed with heart problems, but considering that I rode my first brevet during my first year of medicare age, I think it is a good idea to make sure my exertion level does not climb too high on uphills. When my heart rate monitor tells me that I am getting up towards the max, I get off and walk. And I just smile at the bikers that ride past me, they are all younger than me.

unterhausen

It's definitely better to walk if your lowest gear isn't easy to pedal. I rode up a very steep hill about 1/3 into a 200k once and it just ruined my ride. Never had cramps like that before. If nothing else, if you push yourself very hard on a hill, you need to eat sooner. And it's not much slower if the hill is steep