I’m planning to participate in a 300km (tarmac only) overnight event next summer and considering if I should ride it on my -91 Nishiki, but turn it into a faster and fun road-ish setup. (I dont own a road bike)
What could I do to make this bike as fast as possible for an event like this? I’ve been looking at some faster narrow tires like the Panaracer Pasela 26×1.75”, Rene Herse Elk pass 26×1.25” and some others.
Could also do a proper drop bar conversion, maybe even put on some screw on aero bars haha.
Any ideas?
by cliffibom
6 Comments
I would think you want two things: big wheels, lots of hand positions. Maybe look for an older 27” frame to cover as much ground per revolution. Low rolling resistance tires. And yeah put some clip on aerobars so that you can just tuck in and roll. I think if it is night you won’t have much car traffic so just keep the head down and pedal.
I think just throw on some lightweight 32 or 35 mm wide tires and call it a day.
Maybe consider regearing if you are feeling frisky. If it’s almost entirely flat pavement you might want a narrower range cassette. Not sure what your big chainring is but if it’s tiny maybe throw on a 48 or 50 tooth big ring with a 34/36 middle and ditch the inner ring for the event.
Drops and skinny tires are the best move. If you are willing to change so much on the bike why not get a new bike? Anyways, this is a nice video that might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQhyQ4sYiIY
Comfy is fast. Embrace the silly bike choice. Make it comfy. Too much saddle-bar drop for me with your setup and that mileage. I’d go riser bar with a bar inner for mild aero. 1.75” minimum for me like a Schwalbe Road Cruiser. Your same choices on a 2” bigger frame would be much more comfy.
You can do long distances on 26”, but it’s a bit harder due to less rolling momentum than 700c wheels. There are fast rolling slick 26” tires out there, and you can fit nice wide supple tires. Panaracer Gravel Kings come in slick and at a good price. Instead of dropping coin on new parts or a new bike, clean up and make sure everything functions on your current rig first. Replace what needs to be replaced. Before buying anything else though, just start riding a lot for long distances. You’ll figure out what is and isn’t working quickly. Check out the r/randonneuring. Lots of great information for long distance cycling there.
As others said: fastest possible tires for the setup, but what I’d ask myself: can you sit on that thing for 300k? Have you done a very long ride? If not, I’d try and do a 150-200k ride and see if it’s comfy enough. I could imagine that weight distribution could possibly be a bit difficult on the set up.
As for tire size and so: ofc you’d be much faster on a proper 700c road bike, but I assume you know that and want to go with this one anyways right?!
Edit: drop bar conversion is not worth it imo, because it can be pretty expensive, you might need to change or adapt the groupset too, new levers and stuff, everything needs to be adapted, it would be easier to buy a used 90s Nishiki road bike instead 🙂