Who has ridden the Monuments?

[@NL_LeMondFans]

25 wide is the minimum for Paris Roubaix. The idea is to avoid the tyre to get stuck between 2 cobblestones. You don't have full control of the bike on the cobbles sectors. You have to pilot the bike firmly but not too much, and let it take its course too... a tricky combination.

The other thing I should mention is to pay attention to your efforts. We said that following the peloton until the first sectors is a good option but only if you're in a very good condition. If you reach exhaustion too soon you'll regret it. The challenge with PR cobbles is to get through them as fast as possible. You can relax in between. The enemy is the level of vibration and the fastest you go, the less vibrations you get. When you climb a mountain, you can always try to reduce the pace, shift gears... On the cobbles the slower you go the worst you get. The first time I did it, it rained constantly so I was very aware of not crashing. Since your hands are on the top of the bars, braking or shifting gears can be tricky. So, every time I felt the bike sliding, I stopped pedaling to try and get through it. But everytime I did it, it was harder to get back on the original pace. At the first few sectors, I was attacking at 30/32 km/h and slowly decreasing pace down to 24/25km/h. For the last and longest sectors (Carrefour de l'arbre is 3km long I think and it is followed immediately by another 1.5km sector), I sometimes came down to 20 or even 15km/h at times. When you're stuck, you're stuck.

I loved it but I'm not sure I'll do it again. I want to, but I'm not sure I'll put my mind to it one more time.

 

[Angliru]

Not trying to take the wind out of your sails but if the wheels can't be built on at least 23mm wide rims then I would look elsewhere.

In 2014 I used Hed Aredenes+ (25mm), tubeless with Hutchinson Sector 28mm tires. I ran 80psi rear and 76psi in the front and I weigh over 200 lbs.

For Roubaix, you will make an enormous mistake if you don't run wide rims, fat tires and lower pressure. For these reasons I went tubeless and it worked out extremely well.

I have an off topic question regarding the Hed Ardennes wheels. I have a frameset that I'm building up and I've been looking at the Ardennes wheels. Would you recommend them?

 

[Scott SoCal]

I have an off topic question regarding the Hed Ardennes wheels. I have a frameset that I'm building up and I've been looking at the Ardennes wheels. Would you recommend them?

Yes. Quality wheelset.

Fairly aero, fairly light, pretty stiff and mostly bomb-proof. I have 2 pair. I have a pair from 2011 and the Ardennes+ from 2014. The + have 25mm wide rims. It really spreads out a 25mm tire and you can run even lower air pressures.

Check with Bustedknuckle. I think he's a wheel builder and might be able to make a recommendation.

 

[Monty Dog]

I rode DeRonde, L-B-L and P-Rx within a few months of each other in 2004. DeRonde was the old course from Bruges all the way out to DePanne - I was in one of the front groups that somehow took the wrong turn near the coast and by the time I finished, it was a 300km day in 10 hours - I was smashed.
L-B-L was actually Tilff-Bastogne-Tilff and still a healthy 240km - there were only 800 riders and felt more like a Belgian club-run. Ridden hard it's a real riders course. Liege is best avoided.
P-Rx was the Velo Club Roubaix cyclo over the full 269km course and again less than 1,000 riders. Leading a group of riders into Arenberg going full-bore at 45kph was awesome.

 

[simo1733]

Just a word on wider tyres.On my Giant TCR I had to change the brake calipers to get 25mms to fit.Some race bikes are pretty tight.