Monkey Face

Hello,

Hope I'm in the right part of the Forum.

I'm thinking of swapping my Cannondale CAAD 8 road bike for something to do Audax/Randonneuring – which I've never done before, but I've done marathon running and like the idea of endurance cycling.

The Cannondale is pretty comfortable (both by reputation and from my own limited 30-ish mile rides), but it's a racing frame/geometry and having no other experience of road bikes I don't know what I should be looking for.

With a budget of up to £1200.00 (preferably £800.00-1000.00) what would you suggest I look at?

BengeBoy 

I'd suggest you look a the "Long Distance" forum here instead - there are numerous threads there about the types of bikes you are interested in.

There is even a 'sticky' thread there about the differences between "long distance" cycling and "touring," at least in the eyes of the BF community.

And, for starters, there is one thread about bikes for centuries/brevets/double centuries that has over 500 entries:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...tury-bicycle-s


Good luck.

imi

Think you might want to post this in the "Long distance cycling" forum

edit: BengeBoy beat me to it

Monkey Face

Thanks. I missed that forum... will transfer.

tarwheel 

Are you British? I am assuming so since you referred to prices in Pounds. If so, check out Bob Jackson and Mercian cycles. Both are made in England and have fantastic Audax models for very good prices. I bought a Bob Jackson World Tour last winter for about $600 USD, shipped to the US. They don't charge the VAT for US customers, but you would probably still come out cheaper due to lower shipping costs.

I actually started out looking at the Audax models but bought the BJ touring model because its geometry suited me better.

markf

If the Cannondale is comfortable, do some long rides on it. That will give you an idea of what to look for on your next bike, and you'll have a better idea of how far you really want to go with the audax/randonneur game.

This forum attracts a good number of British randonneurs: www.yacf.co.uk

7speed

There is a good thread about this topic in Classic & Vintage:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...gear-the-sport

Enjoy!

Cave

Start on the bike you've got. It should be fine unless you have a very agressive riding position set up on it. Once you are doing 4-8+ hour rides you can work out if you need something different.

X-LinkedRider

Specialized Cyclocross, Fuji Cross, something of the likes.

Monkey Face

I'll look into that one. At first glance it's more UK-specific....

...here in the UK there are no substantial gravel roads like there seem to be in the US or parts of Europe, so it strikes me, for instance, that a cyclocross bike for audax is inappropriate because the roads here are 'too good'.

Thanks for the link.

X-LinkedRider

No, I think what people are stating is that your standard cross tires might be a bit much for the pavement. But the cross bike is the way to go. Gives you the best/fastest gearing like a road bike but provides enough space for wider rubber. Whichever tread/tires you decide to ride on will make the biggest difference. I ride on a variety of Bontrager Race Lites (Pavement) to Specialized Infinities (Gravel, dirt, pavement)

tarwheel 

I don't understand why a cyclo-cross bike would be more suitable for randonniering than an audax bike such as those made my Mercian or Bob Jackson. They essentially are designed for randonniering. They can handle larger tires but have a road bike geometry with lower center of gravity and longer chain stays than a cross bike. Cross bikes are great if you sometimes go off road or dirt/gravel roads, but I don't think they offer any advantages over a touring or audax bike if you are riding strictly on pavement.

Bekologist

lower center of gravity and longer chainstays definetly much nicer. cross not so much, cross bikes, generally, can ride kind of squirrelly on the pedals, front ends can be 'twitchy' from a sharper headtube angle.

tire clearance on a cross bike is great, but any road bike set for LR brakes with let you stuff a lo profile cross tire underneath it if need be, tire clearance on a LR bike is more than adequate for pavement oriented 28s or 32s

MichaelW

Audax events usually require mudguards/fenders to be fitted.
Most Audax riders seem to use a 25mm or smaller 28mm tyre but its not unusual to see 23mm.
Traditional Audax bikes use long-drop calipers and have threaded eyelets for rack and fenders to accomodate these requirements. In practice, people ride Audax on all kinds of bikes including cx, traditional loaded tourers, roadified MTBs and race bikes.
There is no need to buy a cyclo-cross bike for Audaxing since there are quite a few specially made Audax ones.

I second the suggestion to use your current bike. Fit some race-blades or whatever the current racebike mudguard hack solution is.

njkayaker

They aren't.

And, I'd guess there would be a similar diversity of opinion about what is "more suitable".

Do this and figure out what about it (if anything) doesn't work for you. There aren't radical differences between bike types. People manage to make almost anything work.

Monkey Face

Thanks all and happy new year!

I'll take your collective advice and keep the (relatively comfy) Cannondale and (taking on board njkayaker's final comment), get an Italian steel frame - Colnago or DeRosa probably - and go from there.