Going to Flanders, what wheels to bring?

[PeterF]

Hello all, I will be heading to Belgium next week for a vacation and I'm bringing my own bike. I will be participating in a 150k citizens ride of the Tour of Flanders route (not the full 250k, but long enough). Besides the citizens ride, I will be spending a week riding in the area with a goal of riding some of the Roubaix route. I have 2 sets of handbuit wheels (both 32 spoke), and the rims are equally sturdy. One wheel set is tubular and I have a set of Challenge Strada tubies (24mm) that I bought with the cobbles in mind, but I also have a clincher wheel set and a set of 25mm Conti GP 4000 tires.

Part of me likes the idea of riding higher volume tubulars for the cobbled roads but there is a side of me that likes the simplicity of the clinchers since I will be away from home and only bringing one set of wheels. Changing a tube on clincher is a 5 minute job and you're back to normal. Changing a flat on a tubie could involve some down time, not to mention riding a spare for potentially a long way that isn't glued.

Any thoughts? Right now I'm leaning toward the clinchers.

 

[vspa]

I would bring clinchers, punctures are quite likely-expected, with spare tubes and extra patches too. Play the safe side when touring, its not a race.

Long time ago i was living on the French speaking Belgium, which is close to the french borders. So i set off one day to see the closing sections of the Paris Roubaix route. I can tell you that the cobbles are NOT fun to ride, with 10 minutes on them you will have already sore arms and a pretty good idea of how hard they are.

There are arrows painted down on the route telling you where the race-route goes, so you can follow those + a good map you want to bring in.

Rather than staying all day on the killer cobbles i think its pretty exciting to make your way to the velodrome in Roubaix.

Don't forget your picture camera, memory is weak over time...
good luck !

 

[PeterF]

Thanks. I think I'll take your advice on the clinchers. I would like to try the cobbles of Roubaix but agree that I don't want to spend all day there.

 

[vspa]

you sound enthusiastic about your tubulars,
maybe you can use those for Flanders and the clinchers for roubaix,
its not that much extra luggage after all
either way you will have a wonderful vacation
do you have an internet link for the citizen's ride ?
i would like to check it out

 

[swampy1970]

Thanks. I think I'll take your advice on the clinchers. I would like to try the cobbles of Roubaix but agree that I don't want to spend all day there.

... but the idea is not to ride the cobbles when you're going through the cobbled section. That's why most of the guys are in the gutter.

Ride on the tops or brake hood, arms bent and relaxed, hands relaxed and try to relax while pedalling a slightly bigger gear. Knock a couple of psi out of the tires - but not much.

Most of the pros either double tape the bars are use a gel strip under the bar tape to add some extra cushion for Roubaix.

Conti now do a 700x28 Grand Prix. That'd take the sting out of the worst of the roads and the 95psi max pressure would ensure a forgiving ride.

 

[PeterF]

... but the idea is not to ride the cobbles when you're going through the cobbled section. That's why most of the guys are in the gutter.

Ride on the tops or brake hood, arms bent and relaxed, hands relaxed and try to relax while pedalling a slightly bigger gear. Knock a couple of psi out of the tires - but not much.

Most of the pros either double tape the bars are use a gel strip under the bar tape to add some extra cushion for Roubaix.

Conti now do a 700x28 Grand Prix. That'd take the sting out of the worst of the roads and the 95psi max pressure would ensure a forgiving ride.

Thanks. Thought about a 27mm tubie, but not sure I have the tire clearance on my CAAD8. I know my Pinarello Opera has even less clearance.

When I say "try" the cobbles, realisitically I can see hitting a few here and there and then looking for the safety of the dirt. Although it looks rainy there next week so the dirt will probably be mud.

I have to fit some serious beer tasting into my week as well..

 

["A"]

Wheels are more likely to get damaged during transit, Maybe up to $2-300 round trip for airfare of the bike, I would rent a bike and ride the **** out of it without worry.

 

[vspa]

airfare for bike + wheels $ ***
airplane ticket $ ***
Riding your own bike in Flanders and Roubaix .... priceless !

 

["A"]

airfare for bike + wheels $ ***
airplane ticket $ ***
Riding your own bike in Flanders and Roubaix .... priceless !

Did I mention you might get your bike and wheels destroyed during transit... I'm sure you can find a place to rent fancy titanium/carbon bike near Flanders or Roubaix.. renting probably cost less than the transit cost of shipping your bike, and you get to try out some fancy bike that you may never have a chance to ride.

 

[vspa]

yes you mention
properly packed is not that risky, i've done it a lot.
ok but maybe carbon fiber would be... i don't know about that
they won't sustain lateral weight on them ? is that so ?

 

[PeterF]

airfare for bike + wheels $ ***
airplane ticket $ ***
Riding your own bike in Flanders and Roubaix .... priceless !

and France too...

 

["A"]

With the ways that airlines loose and destroy luggages, I woudn't risk my bike for any flights.

For $200-300 cost of flying the bike, I'd bet you can rent a nice bike to ride, save yourself the trouble to hauling the bike around and worried about it getting damaged or lost.

 

[PeterF]

With the ways that airlines loose and destroy luggages, I woudn't risk my bike for any flights.

For $200-300 cost of flying the bike, I'd bet you can rent a nice bike to ride, save yourself the trouble to hauling the bike around and worried about it getting damaged or lost.

I appreciate the advice but I updated the bike just for this trip. Compact crankset, 11-26t cassette, plus my bike is really dialed in for me (wide bars, long stem, camp hoods mounted in just the right spot), and don't want to chance having to make a rental work (since I'll probabably be riding 50-60 miles a day and 100 the first day). I am doing a Tour of Flanders pre-ride with 17k other people. Even if I knew where the bike shops were, I doubt I could find anything this late still available.

 

[gman0482]

You will have a blast Peter !!
I can only imagine the fun...

Take lots of pictures and post them ASAP.

Good luck.
-Greg

 

["A"]

So, did the bike/wheels made it back in decent condition?

 

[PeterF]

Thanks. They did make it back in one piece. I wound up taking my Velocity Aeroheads/Aerohead OC with Conti GP 4000 tires in a 25mm width. They were perfect for Flanders, but I would have liked a little more cushion (and my cross bike) while riding through the Forest of Arenberg. Belgian cobbles are pretty nasty and very slippery when wet but the Conti's hugged the pave well. One of the tricky parts about the Flanders cobbles is they are conveniently spaced just far enough apart to grab your tires. Climbing the Koppenberg, Paterberg, Taienberg, Molenberg, Muur was tough (made it up all of them but the Kopp without walking) due to the bumpy cobbled surfaces, but going down hill on them was much worse. P-R is a pretty flat course but the cobbles range from ceremonial, to total nightmare.

Had a blast though, and enjoyed many a local Dubbel ale and way too many Frites.