From Road Bike to Audax Crusher | Bike Makeover
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- If you ride a road bike, you may find it is not quite suitable for ultra long days in the saddle. The Polygon Strattos S7D sure wasn't. This video will show adaptations made to my very normal road bike so that it now excels in long distance events like brevets.
Is it perfect now? No. There is an easy KG or more to drop. GP5000 S TR tires would be much faster. The cockpit could be more aerodynamic. But with my limited resources, I am very happy.
Free to Cycle made a great tutorial on using Shimano road derailleurs for GRX cranksets. It is also a detailed guide for adjusting modern Shimano front derailleurs: • Shimano GRX 810 Cranks...
Specific parts used in this build (all purchased by me except Redshift Cruise Control System/bar tape):
FSA 255 Handlebar 40cm
Redshift Shockstop stem and Pro Seatpost • Redshift Shockstop Ste...
Redshift Cruise Control system • Redshift Cruise Contro...
Farsports Gravel Wheels 30x50mm • Gravel Wheels, Road Cy...
SYNCROS Belcarra V 1.0 TRI, Cut Out Saddle www.syncros.co...
Schwalbe Pro One TLE 28mm Tires
Orange Seal Endurance Sealant
105 GS R7000 Rear Derailleur
Shimano SLX 11-40 cassette
Sunshine 11-40 cassette
Various Shimano 160mm rotors, brake spacers
Shimano GRX 600 46/30 Crankset w/ BB
Lezyne Mega XL GPS and mount
Lumintop BO1 Light
Shimano Pro Missile Aerobars bodged with 30mm Profile Designs spacers, 50mm M5 bolts
Favero Assioma Uno pedals
The trash BB was an FSA BB-CF86/CZ
Trash cassette was Racework 11-40, a clone of SRoad cassettes. It reportedly works fine with non- Shimano Shadow RDs.
Polygons BB face had a small lump of filler and clear coat on the drive side.
Impressive presentation. I too prioritize comfort, even though I’m a lowly commuter. It seems I’m always fiddling with something. My methodology is a bit crude … empirical! A work in progress.
Thank you Horsham! Commuting and going around town has got to happen no matter how you're feeling, so being comfortable should be a top priority. I started commuting 15 years ago on a cheap hardtail Trek. Fully carless now, and a different cheap hardtail Trek is my main ride once again. What is your setup?
@@overbikedrandonneuring I have a Brompton. The epitome of hard tail! But, I got a Redshift Pro seatpost months ago thanks to your review. Been making lots of mods. Thinking of gearbox next. Hoping to do light touring soon. I live near Boston, MA USA … but want to cycle in Japan and Korea soon. I gather you are in Korea?
@@HorshamHaberstroh Bromptons are lovely bikes. Our little green one is 7 years old and has been the most trouble free bike I've owned.
I do live in Korea. Previously Seoul, Jeju Island, and now in Gwangju. The 4 River Bike Path is a common cycle tourism destination here. The East Coast bike path is worthwhile too. Korea Randonneurs routes offer plenty of on-road routes with more authentic, scenic options. Japan is also wonderful for cycling. I did a memorable tour on the Brompton around Hokkaido several years ago. More difficulty with navigation and communication there, but based the route off an Audax Japan course which was incredibly scenic and peaceful. Both countries have bike rental options to ease logistical concerns. Highly recommended!
Nice! My wife and I both use the S7D and we love our bikes. Ours is a bit on the race fit but I can see it's potential as an endurance bike. Given the right parts changes. Cheers!
Great Rando Build. Very useful. THX
I've never really ridden on the road, except for short distances when on my MTB or gravel bike - but a pal persuaded me to try it.
Did 100 miles first, then 200k last month and entered a 300k this weekend.
Using my gravel bike all I've done is buy a pair of shallow-depth carbon wheels and 30mm slick tyres - wanted tubeless as this is what I've used on my MTB for the best part of 20 years.
Gearing-wise, running with the gravel 1x it already has, so 11-46 SLX and 44 chainring.
Relatively hilly here, the 200k I did had 3,000m of climbing.
As it's a gravel bike, it's already set up for comfort, and not too racy.
Good job, and welcome to randonneuring! I hope you like the sport. 300k is my favorite distance event. At that distance, fueling and pacing are much more important, but sleep is not yet a problem.
Gravel frames have some good qualities for a long distance riding like stable handling and tire clearance. I think my next build will be with a gravel frame if I don't go custom.
30mm tubeless tires are my current preference too. Really comfy and quick at 55-60PSI.
That gearing setup should suite you well. We never really need high gears, but the lows are quite important for maintaining modest intensity on steep climbs.
As a new randonneur, are there any topics that you have questions on or think would be valuable to learn about?
@@overbikedrandonneuring how about a Top Ten Tips for those looking at Audax/Randonneur for the first time - basic simple stuff like say, remembering to take some chamois cream, or needing clear glasses for when it gets dark?
@@br5380 Great idea! Thanks
@@overbikedrandonneuring300k & 3,500m in 15 hours elapsed.
Last 30k was a struggle, but a kindly chap shepherded me thru it.
Think I’ll stick with 200k’s for the rest of the year.
Was anxiously waiting for this makeover report, thanks!
Thanks Paulo, it's been a fun project to piece together. Can't wait to get some heavy mileage on it this year.
Great video. Current bike climate indicates theres a glut of second hand bikes out there and new bikes are coming down in price. The idea to repurpose a road speed bike into a touring bike is a good one.
Thanks! Your words are almost verbatim from the video I'm editing now. Golden era for rim brake bike shoppers in a strange way.
@Overbiked Randonneuring I'm based in France and it seems to be the beginning of a buyers market for both secondhand and new. I expect the over supply will only increase for the rest of the year. I may wait another few.months for a deal. I have 2 teenage boys both over 1m85. I need another xl bike so we can all ride together over urban semi trail. I can't get 3 road, 3 hardtails and 3 mtb bikes so we can ride together. The next bike has to be multipurpose, and fill a gap where we don't have a touring bike. That's why I liked your video of turning a road bike into a randonneuring bike...more of that please. Maybe how to turn a mtb into a practical touring bike. I know when I was super fit I could fit semi-slicks on my aluminium hardball mtb and hold with most road bike leisure groups and be more comfortable. Anyways all the best. I watched and liked more of your videos, hope it helped the youtube algorithm.
@@mickhurley7305 Much appreciated. I bet some good deals will be had this year for sure. Most gravel or cyclocross bikes with a higher weight limit sound like they would suit you well as do-it-all machines. I'm not very experienced with cycle touring, but enjoy my aluminum hardtail for most of my casual riding. I recommend the Cycling About channel for touring focused content, but you reminded me fondly of an old project bike I had. I took a hybrid bike a size too small and added drop bars, which resulted in a great fit. Tektro brake levers and bar end shifters worked well with the drive train which offered low gearing in the pre-GRX days. Ran 35c Vittoria Hyper tires or 38c Schwalbe Marathon tires depending on the use case. I liked it so much it heavily influenced the design of my long-gone titanium gravel bike.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Yeah some of those hybrids were industructible and once you got momentum up on them they could hold with most other riders. I spent alot of time on hybrids before I could afford a road bike, when younger and I felt it always stood to me when I did get a road bike as I could fly on them. Sadly for me my younger days when we could take any bike and as long as the frame didnt crack we could pretty much get it serve any purpose we wanted are behind us. This is where tech comes into play to compensate for our loss of youthful dumb brute force.
@@mickhurley7305 I heard someone mention not to lose sleep over a few watts. When riding a brevet 400km or long, that is actually what happens haha. I'll take all the advantage I can justify buying from equipment.
Holy shit I do not understand a word but I really do wish someone could do similar stuff with my bike 🥴😳🙌🏻
Thanks for making these videos! Would love to see that saddle video you hinted at - finding saddles that suit both an upright and aero bars position is hard..
Thanks! It is a topic on the backburner for now, but ideal width, taper, and padding are in conflict with each other between both positions, and individual variation complicate it further. The Gebeomized Stride/Sycros Belcarra Tri Cutout, the Bontrager Hilo, and the SMP T series are great starting points.
WIll check those out, thanks!@@overbikedrandonneuring
@@zipworks Cheers, if you can find a shop or fitter with access to models you are interested in, trying them is a better idea than buying unseen. Id appreciate if you reported back on your experience, what worked and what didn't.
My first attempt at solving this problem will be the SQlabs 612 which I ordered a couple days ago bu have to yet received, supposedly very good at relieving perineum pressure. If that does not work out I'll see what I can get my hands from the ones you mentioned. Happy to report back what ended up working.@@overbikedrandonneuring
@@zipworks A very interesting saddle. Good luck with it!
Nice bike and good, sensible component choices. However, having shared turns on the front and followed others on randonners or audax rides, its always appreciated when the rear mudguard is full length and better still if a mudflap extension is added. Good video otherwise
Agreed, I've swapped over to a Race Blade mud guard with much better coverage. It could still be longer, but our climate is somewhat dry during brevet season, so the issue is less critical than wetter locales.
I've seen all your videos now. I love your analytical, data-driven approach!
I also have a long torso (and short legs & arms), it's nice to know there are others out there! (I barely can sit on the back row of most cars, always hitting the ceiling and having to slouch or tilt head ... )
Why do you rate 1x gears as worse though, in your table, e.g. gravel bikes?
Awesome, thank you for watching! For ultra distance events in mountainous areas, we normal folk benefit from extra wide range gearing and reasonable gaps between gears, which 1x struggles to provide. An MTB cassette can give adequate range, but choosing a chainring to get low gearing means a lot of time in the 16-20% jumps between the 3small cogs. They are brutal when trying to cruise on the flat. 2x also provides straighter chainline and access to a more efficient large chainring. 13 speed 1x would be tempting if an 11-12-13 small tooth cog series is provided. But for 11-12 speeds, 2x is still the best choice. Very strong riders, those in flat areas, or those riding less than 6 hours have more flexibility in choice since they don't need as low of a low gear. 1x could be great for those conditions.
Finally found a review on the s7.
My question will be is it to aggressive or can you sit more upright like endurance bike?
That’s the only thing holding me back so far.
HI Javier, I would put the geometry between race and endurance. It works as an endurance bike for me because I have shorter legs and a longer torso. This image is a good way to plot the general aggression of a bike frame blog.bikeinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bike-Insights-Blog-SR-Ratio.jpg
It comes from blog.bikeinsights.com/how-upright-or-aggressive-is-a-bike-design/
Nice bike, now you got me into shopping for a new frameset! That headset seems hard to find. I've been searching for something similar for quite a while.
Thanks! I thought about a frameset build too since my component preferences are a bit eclectic, but ran into the same problem. At time of purchase, the Polygon with 105 was cheaper than the framesets that also met my criteria. What frames are you looking at now?
I am looking to buy directly from factories in China. I am very interested in the Carbonda CFR1056. It's almost the geometry of the Cannondale Synapse. I have a Kinesis Tripster AT at the moment but I ride on the road 99% of the time and it's really meant for hardcore gravel riding and it's almost 2kg frame only.
LOL my man here knows 46/30 to 11/40 cassette is the way to go.😅
Still often pushing 280-300 watts to keep the pedals turning on climbs around here. Fine for training, but burns matches on a brevet.
Nice video! Thank you!!!
Thanks Mikhail. Based on how many times you dropped me on climbs this weekend, you are set up pretty well. I was hoping to buy the same Merida you have, but it was out of stock when I was shopping. Great riding with you!
Finally found a good video on the polygon strattos . I just bought the strattos 8 , and did change the stem to a shorter one. I like the disk upgrade you did, is there a video on that upgrade and the gearing upgrade, thanks
Thanks Stevo. I didn't make a video for the disc resizing, but it's a pretty straightforward operation. The fork spacer can just be flipped upside down to move from 140 to 160mm rotors. The rear needs Shimano SM-MA-R160 D/D. Bolt the caliper to the spacer, then the spacer to the frame. A rotor alignment tool helps a lot getting it straight. Free to Cycle usually makes good tech videos and made on on the rear spacer. I probably should have watched it before I did my install. Maybe could have avoided snapping the safety pin in the mounting bolt. ua-cam.com/video/8OJXFA1fLSM/v-deo.html
@@overbikedrandonneuring thank you , can’t wait for other polygon videos
@@RetiredAdventurers Cheers, I've really just been riding along since making this video. I'll post an update at 10,000km or if I manage to break the frame somehow.
great build! May I ask why you just simulated 65-75 cadence? In my eyes, that's more grinding than spinning...
On another hand, what are the longest climbs you are targeting? Aren't you considering to improve your power output?
I've ridden alpine passes up to 21km in length and to be honest I wouldn't even consider doing them on a very long ride (say above 200km).
Last curiosity: did the customization end up costing more than the bike itself?
Thanks for the comment and questions Alessandro. ~70 RPM is the lowest cadence I consider acceptable, but I prefer 80-85.
From my new town, the biggest climb on a brevet course is 16km, 1050m, 15% max grade, and I look forward to doing it on a 200k this year. More commonly, courses here have many 15-30min climbs one after another that average ~8% with 13%+ pinches.
I do want to improve my fitness and it would benefit my health to lose a few kgs, but I need to make choices that reflect current reality. Even with physical improvements, I wouldn't change my pacing much, so gearing needs will stay about the same. I'll always target climbing power to be pretty low to avoid accumulating too much fatigue and maintain adequate fueling. My videos on gearing and pacing may be enjoyable for you.
Many of the components are the parts I had or want to use no matter the frame: carbon wheels, tires, Redshift stem & seatpost, saddle, aero bars, accessories. The Polygon was such a good deal that it was cheaper with 105 than the framesets I was considering, so selling some of the original 105 components made the deal that much better. Cheers!
Any suggestions on a similar value bike that's better for climbing without modifications?
Hard to find this much value in carbon, even with current market prices dropping. Locally (Korea), the S7D is priced at equivalent of $1315 USD including tax and shipping.
If you are willing to go aluminum, the Giant Contend AR1 or Revolt 1 or 0 are excellent values with a tire swap. Locally the 2022 Giant models are on super sale, so they may be for you too.
It's also worth looking at gravel bikes from regional brands. They usually offer lower than 1:1 gearing and just need a tire swap to be road ready. Regional brands are often lower cost too. Marin in the US, Norco in Canada, Boardman in the UK, and Cello here in Korea are a few examples of those brands.
I only got bad experiences with shimano... did you live the same as me but with sram?
I preferred SRAM in the 10 speed/early 11 speed days before gravel grearing was a thing. Unlike shimano, their MTB/Road parts worked together, and 10 speed derailleurs worked with 11 speed shifters. That was so consumer friendly. I loved my 11-36 11 speed cassette on my road bike as a result, which was really uncommon at that time. Double tap was nice to use too. At that point, I was bordering on fanboy for SRAM.
Build quality was often an issue though. I had a barend shifter destroy itself after a few thousand kms. Hydro brake levers rattling brand new. Wonky GXP BBs. A Rival mechanical brifter stop working after not too long. Build quality and shifting on Apex 1x11 was worse than Shimano 8 spd Altus. Every SRAM equipped bike I ever owned had problems linked to poor quality parts/shoddy tolerances.
By comparison, the only issue I've experienced with Shimano is the hydraulic brake pistons push unevenly after 5000km or so. Never had a catastrophic part failure despite ~triple the mileage and double the bikes at this point. Maybe I'm lucky but there is a ~2008 Deore XT groupset on my recumbent right now and it is still going strong. I haven't used electronic shifting or the Ultegra/DuraAce cranksets that delaminate though. Folks I ride with have had plenty of issues on brevets with both AXS and Di2.
I recently discovered you channel, and i,m lovind it, good work. As a beginner cyclist and "soon to be" randonneurer, i,m interressed in building an endurance bike from scratch, but i need a little help, how to differentiate a endurance frame from a a gravel or speed one?
Hi Elton, and welcome to the channel. Modern road bikes typically have 28-32mm of tire clearance and quick handling. Race frames (aero, climbing, all-around) have long top tubes and low front ends that are best for flexible riders or people with relatively short legs/long torsos. Endurance road frames have shorter top tubes and taller front ends for an upright position or people with relatively long legs. Endurance bikes often have slightly more stable handling and sometimes a bit of extra tire clearance. Gravel bikes are notable for wide tire clearance, sometimes up to 50mm or more. They often steer very slow/stable for rocky descents. Some gravel bikes fit like race frames, and others fit like endurance frames. What is suitable for your depends on your body proportions and local riding conditions. What have you been looking at?
@@overbikedrandonneuring the frame i was looking for was a low tier entry level gravel from a small local brand with the following geometry
Top tube 575
seat tube 560
seat tube angle 73,5
head tube angle 71
rake 45
chainstay 430
stack 610
reach 394
and thinking building it with a 11/40 x 53/39 - 9x2 speed gearset.
@@eltonpinto7783 Seems like a solid frame for a tall guy. Similar geometry to my old Silex 400 (medium). Mind if I ask the brand? Always on the lookout for interesting bikes. For randonneuring, you'll find that 53/39 will probably be overgeared, depending on your target power, weight, and local climbing conditions. Many outlets love to say 1:1 ratio is all you need, but the context of their riding is different from randonneuring. My video on gearing goes into more detail on the topic.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Its a "Show bike" frame, a a small brazilian aluminium frames brand. This bike in particular, I'm buying ready, wiht lower cost components to start training with a more "serious" bike, and to get a felling of what work better for me. And then, with more understandment and experience in longer distance riding, start build one with better components.
@@eltonpinto7783 Ah I see, that's a good strategy. A bike like that is great to work on and practice swapping parts before building a frame up project. I'm a big fan of low cost components and wouldn't hesitate to ride a brevet on 9 speed Shimano stuff. Good luck! Feel free to message or comment any time.
what about a beech cruiser
Love them! I put them in the bucket with Dutch bikes and the utility bikes popular with farmers here in Korea (Lespo Standard S) and other parts of Asia. I would like to have a quality one for around town, even though they are not practical for ultra distance cycling. It's a shame they are mostly found as bike-shaped-objects in discount box stores in the US and Canada.
Any thoughts about the Ritchey Montebello?
It would be at the very top of my short list if I were set on a ready-made steel frame. I would go with size medium as a 185cm/6'1" guy, but they may have designed with short stems in mind.
Love the 80mm BB drop. 72* HTA is sensible and avoids drawbacks of low-trail designs common on randonneur bikes appealing to the BQ crowd. 74* STA is mostly neutral but far enough forward for a decent aero bar position should one prefer it. Great modern design with classic style.
@@overbikedrandonneuring is steel comfort worth the weight ?
@@Fatbutnotflat In short, no. The reputation of steel material making a frame comfortable is a myth. Titanium has the same reputation, which is also a myth. You can design a frame to get particular stiffness measurements across steel, aluminum, or titanium. Steel as a dense material promotes the use of narrow diameter tubing, which tends to results in a less stiff design, but this is going to affect lateral stiffness more than vertical due to the rigid triangular design of a bike frame. The opposite is true of aluminum, and titanium sits in the middle.
Comfort in a well designed metal bike is going to come down to tires, how much seat post is exposed, and how stiff the seat post is. Steel forks may offer some extra flex, although it's debatable if that's an ideal mechanism for front end comfort. Carbon frames will have a minor advantage in vibration absorption and weight, but will still rely mostly on tires and seat post qualities. All that said, "because I like it" is a perfectly valid reason to go with steel.
First, I agree that the material a bike is made of - in and of itself - doesn’t tell you anything about how comfortable it will be. Aluminum bikes can be quite comfortable (e.g., with large tires and a sloped top tube that exposes a lot of seatpost), and steel, titanium and carbon bikes can all be harsh.
Second, if you want comfort, ignore the frame material and just go for large tires and a lot of exposed seatpost. That will give you orders of magnitude more deflection and vibration reduction than any frame decisions.
Third, most mass production bikes are overbuilt. Basically, the manufacturers don’t want to get sued, they don’t know who will be riding their bikes, so they build them to be able to accommodate a heavy rider like me, as well as a much skinnier rider. The result is an overly stiff bike that is harsh for just about everyone and masks the material qualities.
Fourth, while I don’t own a Montebello, Ritchey has an excellent reputation for building comfortable, functional bikes that people love to ride. They are a smaller manufacturer, so it is possible that they build their bikes a bit lighter than the big brands. I was eyeing one myself recently, except…
Fifth, for a bit more than the price of a Montebello, you can have a steel bike custom made for you. I decide to have a bike built with 460mm chainstays (increases stability and smoothes out bumps), a sloped top tube (to expose more seat tube and add vertical compliance), high stack (to increase comfort on brevets), and clearance to run wide tires. Oh, and it’s designed to fit ME, in terms of geometry and my weight.
That’s a nice option to have, but overall I think most people can get most of the benefits to be had from wider tires, changing their stem, and getting some compliance in their seatpost.
That's Jeju, right?
Hey Mark, we moved up to Gwangju now. Quite happy with the riding here too. Options for quiet country roads or bike paths with reasonable traffic is pretty great. Less than 10 minutes ride to the KoRa brevet start point is wonderful too. How you been?