[Closed] Riding Paris Roubaix advice please.......

Remove your watch.
steel bottle cages (squash them)
hit the cobbles hard
hands on the tops

28+tyres make it more bearable. I did it on 32s last year. I also did it on 25s.

Tyre pressure is key - too high and you get vibrations, too low and you get pinches.

Its a long way and a long day. Dont over-fill yourself at the food stations - that can make you feel really ill.

Double wrap your bar tape - I used Prologo DoubleTouch. It works to a degree but it was my finger joints and not my palms that really hurt and the tape and padded gloves don't do much to help that. A carbon bar helps quite a lot.

I rode Open Paves and would recommend nothing else. Their 320tpi construction means that they have much less rolling resistance and are less affected by irregular surfaces than most other clinchers. I rode 24mm front and 27mm rear as I couldn't fit a larger front but I'd recommend 27 front and rear if they fit. Tyre pressure is key though. Spend time trying different pressures on a rough road until you find the lowest you can go to without the risk of pinch flat or the tyre rolling in a corner - exact figures will depend on your weight. Comfortable wheels also make a difference and my Mavic Ksyrium SLRs definitely helped.

Keep your weight back and your hands on the tops. Note that it's really hard to move your hands to the brakes for corners so judge your speed and freewheel into corners so you don't have to brake. Ride as hard as you can on the pave sections, it really does help. When we hit Arenberg I was a bit stunned and slowed down which was a mistake. Once I got pressure on the pedals things improved (a bit).

I used Elite Cuissi Gel alloy bottle cages, which a lot of the pros use, and they work really well so long as you bend in the cage before setting off, this holds the bottles tighter, particularly the bottle on the seat tube.

I used a Canyon VCLS 2.0 seatpost which works well on coarse tarmac but I'm not sure it made much difference at Roubaix! The most successful improvement I saw was on my mate's Trek Domane. The isolated seatpost enabled him to almost float over the worst of the pave, very impressive.

Thanks gents for the advice. Open Paves it is then and will look at carbon bar.

Anyone tried the Specialized Cobl goblr seatpost?

The most sensible advice is.

Dont bother with double tape or fatter tyres

Ride what you have already, the cobbles are already waaaaaaaaay more unbearable than you are already imagining so you'll be going much much slower than you think.

The height difference between stones can be as much as 3 or 4 inches so NONE of it makes any difference anyway. Seriously. Enjoy it, suffer the cobbles and try not to out think yourself.

Thanks Techsmechs i'm beginning to think it's why belgian beer may be so strong.

Wet wipes, my mate had to "use" a 100euro note last year!!!

Wet wipes, my mate had to "use" a 100euro note last year!!!

For riding cobbles:
- hands on the tops or drops - not the hoods!
- biggest gear you can comfortably manage; you need to be churning, not spinning to keep tension in the chain and to keep the speed up.
- faster is better
- look up - pick your line and the bike will (usually...) go where you're looking.
- secure EVERYTHING that is on the bike - saddlebags, waterbottles, computers, bar end plugs, lights, pumps will all take every opportunity to leap off and disappear under the wheels of other riders.
- same for jersey pockets - gels, bars, phones will all bounce out. Use zipped pockets or secure everything with safety pins across the tops of the pockets.
- try and unweight the saddle a bit, hover a few mm above it. It'll kill your calves after a while but it'll save your arse!
- give the bike a service before you go, make sure all bolts are tightened, in particular the random, often overlooked ones like rear mech hanger.
- 28mm or bigger tyres. Drop the pressure by about 10% from what you normally use. If you're using tubeless you can get away with 20% lower.
- try not to go into pave sections nose to tail with other riders, give yourself a few feet of manoeuvre room.
- go faster!
- have fun!

Prepare for probably the best and worst day of your cycling year. Best in the sense that it's an amazing experience. You are riding through history. Try and read up a bit about the race beforehand. And watch A Sunday in Hell.

Worst in the sense you will experience pain unlike anything else you've ever suffered. It's agony, but agony in he way only cyclists can really appreciate.

Oh, and I don't know if they've changed in the years since I did it, but the toilets at Arenberg are worth a visit. I can truly say I've never smelled anything quite so disgusting.

Have a great trip. I'm planning to do it again in 2016.

I was supposed to be doing this this year with my brother 🙁 But his youngest has is first rugby tournament and that took priority.

He did it the year before last. One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the wisdom of riding it on tubulars. It's a damn good excuse to buy a set of these:

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

And of course a set of FMB Paris Roubaix tubs!

Everyone should have a pair of Nemesis built wheels in their garage.

You need a set of forks like these... 😛

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Having fitted gel tape and ridden the cobbled sections in a recce a few weeks ago, both me n Munqe Chick rode on the hoods (and then realised I hadn't fitted gel tape to her bars, she had worn single wrapped regular tape).

After all the hyperbole we were surprised how easy it was. No crashes, no mechanicals, no punctures, no lost bottles, no aches or pains.

Brilliant fun and don't be intimidated. If you're a competent mountain biker you'll have no handling issues.

See you there (we are Soreen Test Team and will probably be in matching Molteni tops).

We used 30mm tyres (mine were full slicks) I had wire bottle cages, M-C had an Elite Sior.

see you there.

no advice. first timer 😐

Lots of good advice but all missing one very important thing. Take a cheese sandwich, heavy on the cheese. You'll be gagging for something to neutralize the effect of all the sugary crap you'll get at the feed stations.

Some slightly contrary advice and go for cheese croissants that have been squashed, much more palatable than a sandwich and easier to carry. Also a fan of the drops as the bars flex more being further away from the stem.

Thanks for advice everyone, I'll be the guy that looks like the rugby lad masquerading as a cyclist in the Diabetes UK top (doing it as part of a year of challenges)

A cheese sandwich will hold together much better than a croissant. That will just turn into confetti. 😀

I really think 23c's your normal tape and a cage that just holds a bottle tight is fine.
Other stuff is great, but just expense for a one off, though totally your choice.
I followed the lead from Belgian mates and early races over there and go gloveless. Sounds bad, but feels great.

The PR cobbles aren't too bad as they're pretty flat, the sections with badly cambered surfaces are the worst. With both the best place is in the middle or centre of the road as the cobbles have been pushed out by years of tyres on the outsides of the roads. Gutters and verges are smoothest, but we don't want that do we.

the Flandrian berg cobbles are smaller, more uniform and smoother than the P-R cobbles, and they're also at 20% gradient 🙂 . Had a great weekend riding the P-R pave Saturday and the Ronde Bergs Sunday as part of a recce. Doing the P-R sportif and planning to go back and ride Flanders, but not sure I'd do the sportif as I wouldn't want to get baulked by a stalling/falling rider mid-climb.

Gutters and verges are smoothest, but we don't want that do we.

misses the point of the ride entirely.

stannard shows em (from the superlative inrng)

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Ride the sections as fast as you can and don't grip the bars too tight. I found the drops best. I used 25mm kevlar gatorskins and they survived. Enjoy it. The velodrome finish is ace.

Makes notes of all the tops to watch out for

I've done it a few times now and crazy-legs has all the info you need but like oldgit I didn't use gloves, well not short finger types but on the 2 rain drenched events I used long finger thin but warm gloves by Castelli. If it's raining my advice is ride harder, I know you'll be shattered by half way but keeping control of your bike is so important especially when its wet.

Watch out for the entry/exit sections of the Pave' most have cobbles missing on either side of the section where cars have lifted them out leaving holes where the cobbles used to be. Likely they'll be refitted but not always, the corners on exit/entry too... deep puddles occur and drain very poorly and since you can't see through muddy water expect a nasty hole.
I bust my elbow whilst at full chat exiting a section on a corner in the rain when the front end got caught in a missing cobble and I went down hard. I had to bail. Expect a long walk and a long wait for the broom waggon and keep warm.

If you ride it right you'll be warm enough if it's a bit windy, just watch out for any stoppages longer than puncture fixes. It gets bitterly cold if the winds blowing so try not to cool down too much, if it's raining take a warm gillet.

Other than that I've done it on 25mm's and Strada LGG's with the kevlar strip under the tread, double tape and wire cages and a grimace. 😆

I wouldn't bother with bar tape, just get some quality mitts to wear.

I would pay attention to your bottle cages, they really do need to be able to grip the bottles or you will be shedding them along the way.

Pay a lot of attention to getting the tyre pressures right for your weight. You need them to be as low as possible without pinch flatting.

Try not to be too close to the rider in front as you hit the cobble sections. Most of the accidents I have seen (I've ridden it 3 times) are by being taken out by an inexperienced rider crashing or breaking in front.

Wish I was riding again this year!

BB

I have used in the past/will use this year my old Kaffenback with 28mm Conti 4-seasons and a Camelback. Camelback because I'm also a mountain biker and it is the functional solution to the water bottle ejection issue. My bike has permanent double tape on the tops as I'm prone to touring off-road action.

leffeboy are you out there?

I'm not riding the PR sportive. Though I'm off out there late March for several days. Planning to do a short social Gent-Wevelgem. Some training and a race with the WAOD lot.
I ride with Leighton Buzzard, kits the same as the old Belkin green/white/black but we where there first.
Ride with the Robocyclo lot based just south of Gent.

Yup as crashtestmonkey already states, we went out to recce it and I was amazingly surprised at how easy it all was! I've spent harder days down hilling in the Alps! yes it is bumpy and yes it is a little hard and achey but nothing special! As already said I used normal bar tape and everything as I would normally except riding a CX bike! Just don't think into it too much and ride and be happy 🙂

Cut your toenails. Nothing quite like having long toenails jammed into the ends of your shoes as you bang over cobble after cobble after cobble.

^^^ ahhhhh too true, too true. 😯

Roubaix is more like riding along a farm track with broken up paving slabs having been thrown out of the back of a trailer and then carefully set by driving a combine harvester up and down the road for a couple of months, oh and also fighting two world wars over it.
Flanders is smooth and simple compared to it, although the only hills at P-R are those going over motorways..
I'll be riding Clement x'plor ush 35s as will herself.

I never understood how or why Clément sort of vanished. I mean in the day everyone raced on Clément criteriums.

Most of this covered already but still a good read -

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/05/how-to-ride-cobbles/

and if you're below the 10st mark, then put on another 2 stone- it'll help you ride in a straight line....ish 🙂

Timely thread. I've got a pair of Gravel King 28s to try out next weekend. Not going to bother with double-taped bars but am strongly considering Waderider's Camelbak suggestion - I rarely ride with one on or off-road but it seems like it would solve the water bottles jumping out of cages problem, free up a bottle mount for a pump and allow hands-free hydration. On the downside, I find wearing a pack more tiring.

so...

how did everyone get on? i was ~7:30 total time. which i'm pretty happy with. I also rode 30 kms to the start; with unplanned cobbles in the dark!

for me the pain in the hands, and obliques meant i just couldn't push hard wnough in the cobbles. at the time i was thining never again. but i'm already wondering about next year!

No crashes i hope? saw a couple that looked painful: first on quievy, second on arenberg both riders got back up. healing vibes to both.

IT was mega wasn't it!!! I loved it just over 6 hours for me (ride time, 6:33 ish out on the road) for the 90 miles. similar thing at the time "never again" I've already got back and looked at my shift pattern for next year! Thinking mm do a week away and do Flanders the week before (although not the sportif as too crazy). We hit the arenberg in the pissing rain!!

Crashes... well first crash with crashtestmonkey .... I'm belting along some cobbles at 20mph hes' on my wheel I'm shouting "****ing hell I'm going quick" (clearly I had a tail wind) and I ****ed up a corner.. he was coming around my inside.. big bang bosh whoops!!!!!!! Got up and finished though a bit bruised a battered.. not great for domestic harmoney! 😉

Watched on the Sunday and followed the race! Watched the start, then hit Arenberg and onto Carrefour! fabulous weekend cannot recommend it enough!