BWR Last Minute Panic - HELP!!

[zross312]

Hey everyone,
BWR is Sunday, and I'm having a last minute equipment freak out (and yes, I know I should have had this all sorted weeks ago, I'm a serial procrastinator and I screwed the pooch on this one). (Also, if you don't know, BWR is the Belgian Waffle Ride, a 130+ mile, 10k elevation ride near San Diego, with over 40 of the miles being on dirt, including a straight up rock garden at one point).

Basically, I have two bikes available:

Rodeo Flaanimal gravel bike, with 1x gearing, and currently set up with 650b x 47 slicks tubeless;
Bridgestone RB1 steel road bike, with a brand new 11 speed 105 groupset, set up with 700 x 30c Schwalbe G One Speeds.


Plan A was to ride the Bridgestone - after all, I rebuilt it with the modern 105 group just for this ride. HOWEVER the rear tire refuses to set up tubeless, and I've tried absolutely everything. So I'd be running a tube in the rear at a ride where over 50% of people flat, often repeatedly, over the 130+ miles.

Plan B was to take the gravel bike with a 700c wheelset, possibly with the 30c Schwalbe's. However, I'm having terrible brake rub issues switching between the two wheelsets that I can't seem to iron out. I'm going on Saturday for the pre ride, and there will be neutral service there, so it's possible they could help with any issues.

So that's where I'm at. No great options, and the ride is in 2 days. If anyone has any BWR experience, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

[Pinned]

On a 30c tire, I'd throw in the tube and go or it. I like tubeless, but not on smaller tires anyways. I think pedaling a 650x47 for 130 miles will be torture. FWIW I did D2R2 in the rain last year on a 32c GravelKing slicks with tubes and had no issues. Since BWR is mostly road I'd go with the more road friendly bike.

[AngryScientist]

LOL, yes - you're over thinking it. don't freak out. use a tube in your rear wheel. adjust pressure so you won't pinch flat. if you get a flat or two on the route otherwise - no big deal. i can change a tube in a few minutes, bring a few spare tubes and dont worry about it!

[hummus_aquinas]

Can’t comment on actual experience riding the BWR BUT a friend was intending on riding it on a busted ass pre R series Cannondale with 28c. I couldn’t have him going out like that so I offered my mudfoot stinner with wtb byways and he’s riding it this weekend. I reckon between the two he’d have way more fun on a big tire road bike with modern all day geo.

[jtbadge]

Bigger tires is mo betta, especially if there is a rock garden.

[radsmd]

Option 3: do the wafer route (that’s what I’m doing)

74 miles is plenty good.

[FlashUNC]

I was with a buddy who did 170k at Roubaix on 650b of a similar size.

I think you'd be fine.

[R3awak3n]

take the rodeo, ride the big 650s is what I would do. However if you change to the 700s its easy, loosen your calipers, press the brakes, tighten the calipers. Should work. If there is a tiny bit of rub is fine it will probably go away as you use the brakes.

[Blown Reek]

Isn't this about the time where OldPotatoe chimes in about Paris-Roubaix and 27c tubulars?

[echelon_john]

Clearly you need a new bike, and FAST!

[savechief]

Road bike with 28c is all you need for BWR. Put a tube in it and ride.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[kppolich]

#2 - more gears and faster rolling tires will get you there quicker.

[simplemind]

Flanimal...don't look back (at the people you passed)!

[oldpotatoe]

Plan A was to ride the Bridgestone - after all, I rebuilt it with the modern 105 group just for this ride. HOWEVER the rear tire refuses to set up tubeless, and I've tried absolutely everything. So I'd be running a tube in the rear at a ride where over 50% of people flat, often repeatedly, over the 130+ miles.

Put a tube in there and put sealant in the tube..OrangeSeal or similar.

[Pinned]

I just did a 25 mile road/gravel loop on 700x38s - I stand by what I said earlier about the 47s, I think it would be torture to ride those for 130 miles versus a fast rolling 700x30.

[Spoker]

Can you change the air pressure during the ride for extended gravel sections? If the gravel is bad lower pressure 47's will be charm. Add 5 -10 psi for extended road sections?

[beeatnik]

28-30 is ideal. For the Waffle Ride (133 miles) the most challenging sections are paved (endless rollers). If you've done mixed dirt (gravel, whatever) or mtb the dirt sections will be elementary. IIRC, Black Canyon is the longest dirt section. It's a hard packed fire road with mild elevation gain. The rock gardens are hiking trails which leave you a ton of room to maneuver as long you don't think you're a Belgian hardman. I flatted 3x a few years ago but 1 flat was the result of stupidity (trying to fight for position near the front and hitting a largish boulder head on) and the other two were on the highway. Good luck! The last third of the ride is mind numbing. Focus your preparation on that instead of equipment.

Or just talk to Boyhan.

[weisan]

https://www.velonews.com/2019/05/news/gallery-2019-belgian-waffle-ride_493332

[weisan]

Results
http://www.tbgtiming.com/2019%20CANYON%20BWR%20RESULTS%20-%20WAFFLE%20COMBINED%20OVERALL.pdf

[false_Aest]

Were you riding a yellow Bridgestone?

Also, I rode the WTB Exposure 32s. Except for a few steep kickers in the dirt they were perfect.
I'll probably run 34s next year because they have a bit more traction on the edges.

[zross312]

Yeah! Were you there?

Were you riding a yellow Bridgestone?

Also, I rode the WTB Exposure 32s. Except for a few steep kickers in the dirt they were perfect.
I'll probably run 34s next year because they have a bit more traction on the edges.

[radsmd]

I rode the wafer but I think I saw a yellow Bridgestone with 105 at the velofix truck on Saturday. Must have been yours. How many could there have been at BWR, right?

It was a great event. The wafer 74 mile was perfect; have no desire to do the full waffle. Props to all who did the full distance.

[beeatnik]

Tractor Tyres

[zross312]

First off, thanks everyone for your replies. I figured I should write up how it all went down for me (and yes, I know it’s a little late - seeing a theme with me? ;) )

As you know, I stressed out a lot about equipment in the lead up, and procrastinated on getting my bike and wheels ready. Not ideal, but totally my fault. After listening to your advice here, and that of friends who have done the ride in the past, I finally decided to take the Bridgestone - tubeless or not (but seriously hoping the tubeless setup would be done). I had thought my wheels were finally setup tubeless and I was good to go - until I woke up Saturday morning to a flat and unseated front tire. Not having any choices left, I packed up and hit the road, hoping that the Velofix support could figure it out for me. They were nice enough to pop a tube in before the Saturday Enve Pre-Ride. When we got back from that, they managed to retape the rim and get it to seal before close of business Saturday. So, I literally only had my setup 100% ready to go at 5pm on Saturday. But better late than never, and all that was left was to eat a massive dinner and de-stress.

We decided to sleep in a bit on Sunday and skip the massive line for the waffle buffet and porta-potties in favor of McDonalds. When the ride started, I knew I was on a good day right from the gun. I was super disciplined about staying under my red line HR, which is about 155/160 bpm for me. I was willing to let a group gap me on a climb if I was gonna have to burn a match to stay with them, because I knew that I'd catch them again when they eased off going over the top or on the descent. It looked like I was yo-yoing, but I was just riding steady tempo. I only started to really hit my stride on Black Canyon. From that point on, I felt like I just kept getting stronger. I stayed on top of eating and hydrated really well, which paid big dividends later in the day.

All the fussing about my equipment paid off big time. In addition to the tubeless wheels, I rebuilt my Bridgestone (Bridget) with a new 105 group (compact crankset and 11/32 cassette). I have already put over 9,000 miles on the frame over the years, so it’s performance wasn’t a surprise to me, but the new groupset and big cassette were definitely useful. Importantly, Bridget has a steel fork - on rough terrain, you can actually look down at the front hub and see the fork blades flexing. It just soaks up vibrations before they get to your hands and neck. The positive flex characteristics of the frame also help protect your legs - you know that "beaten up" feeling of general soreness you get in your legs towards the end of a long day? Doesn't happen on the Bridgestone. The tires were a pair of 30c Schwalbe G-One Speeds at 70/75 psi on wide rims. They were a great choice as well - just wide enough for the sand, grippy enough on the dirt, and fast enough on the road. And I didn't flat!

As a result of all that, by mile 80 I was feeling pretty great, and everyone around me was starting to fade. I took the reins of my group a bit, and took some very long pulls from the end of Black Canyon all the way to Double Peak. I did slide out on some sand on Lemontwistenberg at around mile 105 and scraped my hand and shoulder, but nothing major. My leg cramped out of nowhere at mile 131, on the very last hill of the entire ride. But other than that cramp, I think I could have ridden a strong tempo for at least a couple more hours, because I was still feeling good otherwise.

My goal was to go sub- 9 hours (of moving time), which I thought was very ambitious and probably impossible. We finished at 8:32 of moving time (9:30 total time, we spent too much time at aid stations), so well under my goal of 9 hours, and with gas still in the tank. Hope to go back next year and shoot for sub- 8 hour moving time!
me!

[zross312]

Yup, that was me! As explained below, they were doing a last minute emergency tubeless set up for me. The Wafer is no joke itself, and has almost all the dirt of the Waffle anyway. No easy days at BWR!

I rode the wafer but I think I saw a yellow Bridgestone with 105 at the velofix truck on Saturday. Must have been yours. How many could there have been at BWR, right?

It was a great event. The wafer 74 mile was perfect; have no desire to do the full waffle. Props to all who did the full distance.

[false_Aest]

Yeah! Were you there?

Yeah I called out your Bridgestone and was super stoked to see it. I forget what climb we were on.