I get dropped by old dudes wearing hi-vis vests and campy dayglo bodysuits

i think an audax or rando bike would be pretty useful for me. anyone have one?
let’s see it.
i’m talking a bike that can be used for light touring, will fit fenders and a rack, maybe two, and still has geometry that could be “raced”.

kinda like…http://www.robertscycles.com/products.html
The Audax Series is based on a design created for long distance (100kms+) non-stop rides that can last for several days and nights. These bikes need to be light, fast and responsive, but their most important
quality is comfort for the long hours riders spend in the saddle. Mudguards and lights are a requirement for taking part in official Audax events, and since it’s helpful to have the ability to carry some extra gear on such long rides, such bikes are often fitted with a rear rack. All the models in this range include mudguard and carrier
eyelets and two sets of bottle cage bosses.

like this perhaps…

I think this is pretty much the ideal style of bicycle. Full coverage fenders + sporty but predictable handling = sign me up.

My only complaint is people often get overly fussy and ornate with them. Attention to detail = cool. Frilly = bad.

yeah, this is exactly what i’m looking for. unfortunately, i can’t seem to find many prebuilts that i like. i might have my friend build one up for me when i get the money.

What have you looked at so far?

i really want to do some epic touring on my xtracycle. might ride the 300+ miles home from college at the end of the spring semester.

This is the vision I have for my Schwinn, but it’s obviously never going to meet the lightweight aspect of a true rando bike. It’s comfy as all get out, though, and I plan on logging some big miles when the roads are a bit more rideable.

EDIT: That Weigle is the hotness. Not a great pic, but here’s a Johnny Coast randonneuring bike that’s also rather hot-

Woah - a little research led me to the fact that this Johnny Coast fellow is building rando frames for Velo-Orange.

More about it here

I’m now having flashbacks of the “classy bikes” thread, but that’s okay. Rando bikes are sexy as it gets.

I liked Bilenky’s tarck-ass rando bikes at 2008 NAHBS

Also, Ira Ryan is killin’ it.

should i get yamaguchi to build me a rando bike

yes.

I’m randonizing my crosscheck although i doubt it will ever be as light as a real randonneuse. I guess you would call what i want it to be a light tourer. A VO front rack + dynohub generator lights are currently in the works.

Like some other posters i don’t like how frilly some randonneur bikes can get. But i like how lots of the bikes that actually get used in randonnees manage to be nice looking and all-business at the same time. Like this one:

I was just reading about Emily O’Brien (the woman who rode that bike in PBP 2007) here last night. Crazy, inspiring stuff.

how different is rando geo from old-school race geo? (i.e., not compact frame, i’m thinking '80s steel).

The Ira Ryan pics are sweet. I am wondering how the geometry compares between the Rando bikes and a full on touring bike. A lot of the specs on paper seem to be similar. The problem I can see with the real Rando bikes is price. They are all coming out off small custom frame builders and that means expensive. I built a bike for myself is in that style. I took a 83’ Nishiki Seral touring bike slapped on some 700c wheelset and switched it to a 8 speed STI drivetrain. I have added a rear Surly Nice rack and a Blackburn Mountain front rack and some PB fenders since the pic was taken. It had cross tires on it in the pics, but now sports 700c X 32 Panaracer Paselas. The Blackburn front rack only was added for a better location for my generator hub powered headlight. It was my commuter and my most ridden bike this year. I am sure it would be great for a light touring trip. I would love to find another touring frame/fork to build up with a 3 speed fixed S3X rear hub and another Shimano generator front for fixed commuting/touring.

i think generally speaking the audax or rando bike should be close to road bike geometry.
you can’t go too steep on the head angle or short with fork rake because of the front fender and toe overlap.

edit: in reply to kowloon.

This is kind of what I’ve built my Cross-Check up as. I think that the CC/LHT fill most if not all of the requirements of what constitutes a randonneuring bike, and are a whole lot more affordable. In fact, if you look at VO, among their lugged stuff, they’re selling what amounts to an over-priced custom Cross-Check (TIG-welded 4130 steel with some braze-ons and clearance for wide tires) in the form of their Pass Hunter.

It’s awesome, but you could buy a $400 Cross-Check frame and powdercoat or wet paint it any color you want for a fraction of this price, and you get the added benefit of the vastly superior threadless system with Surly.

Bonechilling, do you have a pic of your crosscheck? Im looking for ideas to shamelessly bite.

Bigmatt, same goes for you if you have bigger pics posted anywhere.

I’m agreed on the crosscheck being pretty damn good for a cheap randonneuring bike. For my purposes (LD rides with some dirt roads and rail trails) mine has been great.

Here it is. I don’t think I’ve done anything worth ripping-off, just a basic black bike that I ride to work every day.

I’ve heard that these folks make rando bikes. Here’s their geometry chart:

http://www.rivbike.com/images/static/up ... Charts.pdf

72-ish degrees of HT and ST angle and rake between 45mm and 55mm. Bridgestone racing bikes from back in the day are in the 74-ish degrees of HT and ST angles with 45-55mm of rake.

Rando bikes are a bit slacker than true racing bikes like the Bridgestone 700, but there are a world of slacker bikes from that period with a bit heavier tubing more suited to the task of randoneurring.

[quote=“bonechilling”]Here it is. I don’t think I’ve done anything worth ripping-off, just a basic black bike that I ride to work every day.

[/quote]

Nice. What rack is that?