Gearing for a long ride ?

[PNWRS2000]

I'm doing a 450 mile bike ride with some lads from work in the summer and for some stupid reason I've got it in my head that I want to do it on a BMX.
What's the best gearing ratio do you think ?

[diesel]

at the very least grab yourself a 24" or 26" cruiser bmx

17/39 or 18/41

[BENDYCAT ELEVENTEEN]

man up and go bmx - 39/15 will be fine 

[kev-s]

before you decide to use a bmx find out how many miles a day you will be doing

also what will the others be using? if they are on mtb's or road bikes your gonna get left behind and be on your own!

if its 10-20 miles a day a bmx should be fine, if your doing a 100 miles a day then you got no chance!!

i can do 100 miles in 7.5 hours and thats on a proper full on carbon road bike

dont forget if u have no support car then you will have to carry tools and spares i.e inner tubes and a spare tyre in a bag on your back which will make it harder

[BENDYCAT ELEVENTEEN]

I can do 100 miles in 6.5 hours on my mums old shopper bike 

[PNWRS2000]

90 miles a day !

The other people are doing it on road and mountain bikes

[griff]

We did London to Brighton in 8.5 hours on 20" BMX bikes last year (about 55 miles I think)
That does include stopping for lunch for a bit and waiting quite a bit to let peeps catch up, plus we were getting the aftermath of hurricane katrina so for about half of it we were riding into a headwind 

I ran 44:16, think Pickle was on 45:16

90 miles in a day would be a bit of a bastard and you will be left behind quickly - although you'll probably have less chance of a puncture (we were going for probably less than 10 mins when we passed the first roadie with a blow out )

[Dark Diggler]

Moley has a GT with a sturmley archer geared hub, 5 gears....I think. That's what you need  

[griff]

Moley has a GT with a sturmley archer geared hub, 5 gears....I think. That's what you need  

forgot about that Si - did it ever get finished then?
would be a good mod for the land's end -> john o groats ride

[Jon The Bassist]

If you're doing 90 miles on a BMX, I'd seriously consider doing it on a 26er for many reasons.
As for speed, I can keep up with all the commuting MTBers using my OM Flyer. It came with 39/17 and I've recently chnged that down to 39/18 to save wear on the bike and my knees going up some big hills.

[Rodgy1970]

Have you got a bike?

If your set on a 20" a mark 2 burner would do the job as they are, cheap to get hold of, tuff as old boots and the odd geometry means they are pretty spacious for an adult.

Wack a really long seat post on to try and and a long reach stem to try and get your positioning as right as possible.

You could use an old 20" mtb like this one as a donor.

[jimwise68]

Brave man. As mentioned above you will get left behind and quite quickly if the others are on MTB and road bikes (does depend on their fitness levels and experience though).

I done a london to cambridge (66 mile) on my MTB with road tyres and kept with the road bikes for the first 10 miles then we hit the hills and they were gone. Spent a fair bit of time on my own, left behind by the road boys and I in turn left the slow guys behind. Saying that there was a guy riding a single speed 26" road bike and he steamed through it, but he was alot younger and fitter than me.

When is this lands end to JoG happening Griff as i am right up for it.

[griff]

When is this lands end to JoG happening Griff as i am right up for it.

not this year that's for sure, aside form not having 2 weeks holiday spare I'm currently the fattest I've ever been
in any case I don't have a road bike so don't fancy 1000 miles on my own 
if I start training now might be up for 2013 

[jimwise68]

When is this lands end to JoG happening Griff as i am right up for it.

not this year that's for sure, aside form not having 2 weeks holiday spare I'm currently the fattest I've ever been
in any case I don't have a road bike so don't fancy 1000 miles on my own 
if I start training now might be up for 2013 

Fair enough, will do it with you next year for charidee mate. Takes about 9-10 days.

Fancy a london to Paris this year (120 miles) as a bit of training?

[griff]

When is this lands end to JoG happening Griff as i am right up for it.

not this year that's for sure, aside form not having 2 weeks holiday spare I'm currently the fattest I've ever been
in any case I don't have a road bike so don't fancy 1000 miles on my own 
if I start training now might be up for 2013 

Fair enough, will do it with you next year for charidee mate. Takes about 9-10 days.

Fancy a london to Paris this year (120 miles) as a bit of training?

when is it? and riding what?

[jimwise68]

There is one later in the year September time i think.

riding a bike FFS 

[griff]

There is one later in the year September time i think.

riding a bike FFS 

I meant what kind of bike, you tit
Not if it means dressing up in a freddie mercury suit and using a road bike

got 3 BMX, an old GT MTB that needs a bit of tlc and a dutch bike my mate from holland gave me, but either way might be a bit slow for you 

LMK if you get any more info

[jimwise68]

There is one later in the year September time i think.

riding a bike FFS 

I meant what kind of bike, you tit
Not if it means dressing up in a freddie mercury suit and using a road bike

got 3 BMX, an old GT MTB that needs a bit of tlc and a dutch bike my mate from holland gave me, but either way might be a bit slow for you 

LMK if you get any more info

Well i was going to do it on my road bike, i could always ride ahead and get the beers in 

When and what road bike you thinking of getting?
I thought you wore lycra most weekends. Does that mean we can only do the ride at a weekend then? 

Will find out and let you know the dates etc.

[griff]

Well i was going to do it on my road bike, i could always ride ahead and get the beers in 

When and what road bike you thinking of getting?
I thought you wore lycra most weekends. Does that mean we can only do the ride at a weekend then? 

Will find out and let you know the dates etc.

I wasn't thinking of getting a road bike - unless you wear a gimp suit then you look like you've just stolen it and lycra would not be a good look for me
Plus all the road bikers round my way are a moody bunch who take themselves far too seriously - me and the mrs say hello sometimes and they just steam past with a shit-eating grin on their faces

[jimwise68]

me and the mrs say hello sometimes and they just steam past with a shit-eating grin on their faeces

Well i dont wear a gimp suit, thats for sure! lol
but if you are going to do a fair distance then a road bike is the way forward. Yeah you can do it on an MTB, BMX or whatever. But get a bike that is intended for that job. Even a hybrid would be better than an MTB. Especially if you like to go fast on a bike. 

[griff]

me and the mrs say hello sometimes and they just steam past with a shit-eating grin on their faeces

Well i dont wear a gimp suit, thats for sure! lol
but if you are going to do a fair distance then a road bike is the way forward. Yeah you can do it on an MTB, BMX or whatever. But get a bike that is intended for that job. Even a hybrid would be better than an MTB. Especially if you like to go fast on a bike. 

there you go thinking sensibly - the sadists at work prefer to sponsor me for doing things that are clearly going to be painful
they probably wouldn't cough up so much cash if I was actually using the right bike for the job

[moley]

Moley has a GT with a sturmley archer geared hub, 5 gears....I think. That's what you need  

forgot about that Si - did it ever get finished then?
would be a good mod for the land's end -> john o groats ride

Finished!!   I rode it at last years Radchester 2011 meet...............and I'll be riding it for this years meet too.

A nice jump seat on it too, so its nice and comfy!! 

[griff]

Moley has a GT with a sturmley archer geared hub, 5 gears....I think. That's what you need  

forgot about that Si - did it ever get finished then?
would be a good mod for the land's end -> john o groats ride

Finished!!   I rode it at last years Radchester 2011 meet...............and I'll be riding it for this years meet too.

A nice jump seat on it too, so its nice and comfy!! 

  let's see a pic then!