My god I only did 20km for a High school XC race once and felt like my time on earth was at it's end. Can't imagine how much I'd want to die after 100 miles. That was a serious challenge! From a mountain biker to a roadie, that's probably more mad than doing a no hander 360. Nice work Manon!
Well done, I've just done a 70mile round Llandeilo, Llandovery and a hill added in and that's my longest to date, this is impressive on a heavy bike with what look like terrible gears!!!
Here in Switzerland you can easily ride 6000m but propably not in 160km... anyway just stop using those imperial units we do not understand them anyway.
Really impressive.. Well done.. I'm getting into cycling again after a long break.. 16 miles round trip commute to work is definately far enough for me ha!
I nearly fell off my chair when u said ( 3.32 ) 6,000 mtrs of climbing ( Ive done 5,500 mtrs on the Etape and thats painful ) Thankfully u corrected in the end to feet ....... well done though !!
this bike is wort way more then £50 or even a £100, with all the original part, also good looking vintage bike, probably when properly serviced with consumable parts replaced could cost couple hundred quid.
exactly sir..I think it's so amusing how the majority of cyclists are obsessed with the lightest weight and most over priced bits of two wheeled tupperware.
@@ianfisher7423 my bike is on the cheap side.. Like starter edition cheap, and I've experienced riding one of the intermediate priced bikes.. They're light and low fun to ride, you get what you pay for, until you go over board with higher $$$
@@ianfisher7423 some people do go extreme trying to shave the minuscule amount of weight which i think are pointless. i think it's dumb too but having a lighter bike overall really does make a difference. for instance if i was to compare my fuji absolute to my diverge comp that's 4 pounds lighter. i can really tell the difference. it's not the short ride that makes less weight worth it it's the longer ones. replace the current wheels with a set of carbon wheels really does shave my time and i used to commute to work. i can never be more proud of my choice. things can be expensive but i think the most important thing is not to lie to yourself or buy things in vain. you have to know what it is that you're paying money for and why you're spending that much. some cyclist that i've come across buy things just to brag about it and they barely put any miles on their bike. a while back when i got my road bike i dropped in to the local bike shop and they were surprised how much miles i've put on it by the wear and tear. they were like, "you put more miles than those doods over there combined bro!". there will always be those types of "cyclist" with too much money.
Yeah, that's the point, we don't need expensive bikes to ride for fun or just going to work everyday, here in Brazil a lot of people use heavy one speed bikes mainly in up country, the problem I see is people thinking that a ride in neighborhood must he a international competition
Manon is simultaneously incredibly relatable whilst also doing something I 100% couldn't do. Also its the most british athlete thing ever to go "lets do a challenge of a 100 miles" and then spend the entire time counting it down/up in KMs.
I was thinking exactly that! That fella would have taken half that, I reckon! In fairness, my garage looked like his backyard until I had it all cleared out recently...
Looks like for that price the chap wouldn't care too much if the brake levers were inverted though, would he? The right one serves the front wheel while the left one activates the brake on the rear wheel.
This is actually a very nice bike, never mind the weight. This thing is 40 years old and will easily outlast anything sold by the bike industry today. I ride stuff like that and 100 miles is easily doable. Great video 👍
In the U.S. that would not be a $130 bike (100 pounds). Since everything works and its a classic steel road bike I'd say maybe 75-100 US dollars at best. Manon doesn't have very good bargaining skills. She should have paid 80 pounds and used the extra money for at least 1 tire.
@@pinkwool4671 Useless miles don't matter. But if your friend can get KOMs so easily he should join local races since it means he's the strongest in the area. Hey, maybe he gets scouted for a team, get introduced to the pro scene gradually.
Sam Clement I’ve done a little over 900 miles on my $120.00 1989 trek 1100 8 gears it used have down tube gears.till I rubbed my fingers with front wheel it took me a little over two years
of course you can, I could too, but not that fast! give me 2 days, maybe? 😁 pulling it off in 7 hours despite the route includes lots of evil mountains like she did.... just wow.
The most impressive thing is that she gets up at 5:15 and is all ready in the car at 5:25! Getting out of the house 10 Minutes after waking up I'd probably put my shoes on my head while I stand in front of a wall wondering why my door won't open.
I'm the opposite. I pretty much have to be able to get ready in 10 minutes or less because otherwise there's no way I would routinely be out the door on time.
If you take care of everything that can be taken care of the night before, so that you only need to dress and grab your packed breakfast out of the refrigerator, you can be up and away in ten minutes. If you have to fix your breakfast, take a shower, check up on Facebook, etc., then you'll be taking longer.
Yes! I just returned from a 2 day, 200 mile solo camping trip on $80 CAD bike with all my gear strapped to it. Anything is possible as long as you love it!
I absolutely love this video! My friends and I love riding but we're all broke college students. Most of us ride old steel bikes with downtube shifters, and the furthest we've ridden has been 73 miles. It's fun just to get out, get fit, and for a budget our bikes do the job!
Don't you find though, that after a few days of riding like 100miles a day, it actually gets a lot easier? As a teenager in the 1970s I used to cycle to the youth hostels in the Scottish highlands, after 10 to 14 days I'd be racing buses, with paniers fully loaded, feeling ready for the Tour De France! 😜
Hats off 👍🏻 That was tough. I'm 40 now and in my early 20's I've lost my passion for riding. Got rid of all my stuff. In my early 30's, it was tickling me again. But I didn't want to invest alot as I didn't know if it was just a temporary thing. My father in law had a very old Schauff from the 80's somewhere in the shed: steel frame, 6 speed, gears on the frame. I did some basic works and I had A LOT of fun with the bike. It reignited my passion and after a while I purchased a proper 'modern times' roadbike.
I ride my steel bikes every day, I’m so happy for you that you got to enjoy the feel of steel, brilliant bike, brilliant ride and a brilliant woman. Thank you from all us steelies for showing what can be done for a few quid 😎😎
Love these occasional reminders of what's possible, as I have long suffered from bike envy. A good friend, Gary, older than me by at least a decade, decided to "try" randonneuring on a second-hand steel Astro Daimler that he picked up for $50. He advanced through a full series 200, 300, 400 and 600km on the old thing, and was still faster than most of us. Just a legend. While some bikes are better at various things it is always a good reminder, thinking of Gary, that the bike sometimes just doesn't matter.
That flat was worth it just to see that vintage bike shop. Reminds me a lot of my Peugeot Carbolite bike from the 80s. Never rode it with the stock wheels instead put on some 2nd hand Pave wheels with first a 7 speed cassette and then a 9 speed. That Peugeot helped me ride my 1st metric century. Way to go!
My first "real" bike in high school around 1978 was a Nishiki 10 speed, and my friends had Fuji 12 speeds. After no more prep than riding around town we took of on a 60 mile ride (each way)to my friend's sister college town in the full bike kit of the day, blue jeans, tennis shoes and t shirts. No water bottles, you just stopped at gas stations for snacks and drinks. I can relate to her comments about dying later in the ride, and like her when we arrived we just rolled over in the grass at the park in town. 40+ years later with current bike tech and kit, I do 60 miles without thinking about it any day of the week.
None of my bicycles have more than 9 speeds, all of my bikes either have down tube shifters, bar end shifters or are track bikes with no shifting. I only have rim brakes and buy inexpensive tires. My bikes can do any hill and keep up with almost anyone. Just because the year changes doesn't make a bike obsolete :-)
Lady you are a true cyclist, who loves to be on the road, you deserve a lots of recognition, been riding a dinosaur with great attitude, and highly energetic is not a simple thing. Congratulations once again. (I laugh a lot every time you apply the brakes, since you mentioned that sound like an instrument) Cheers from NYC
At first I thought "that down hill sure is scary if it's causing farts", then I realized like the smart muppet i am, "it's those old brakes chatting away"...
Manon is definitely my favourite presenter. Totally down to earth, passionate about cycling and putting out consistently great videos. I also feel a connection because I too will complain all the way round and then say "that was a great day on the bike" when I get to the end. Oh and Breakfast Pizza :D
I could not relate to the Dura Ace pedals and the expensive Fizik saddle. :> She multiplied the price of the bike by a factor of at least 4. :-) But it is a fun video, if you don't take the "cheap" word too seriously.
When putting a years-unused bike into service (yours or someone else's), full rubber refresh is often needed. Rubber hardens and cracks with age, hence the blowout and difficult braking from hard pads. Give these safety issues priority and *then* move on to comfort with saddle, pedals and bar tape. I still love the look of old steel bikes. The sweeping forks are a thing of beauty.
@@cliffordslocombe8286 Man, I was about to write about the rims... and then fell on your comment. If you want to see what true brakeless is, try to brake with steel rims on the wet. (Major reason why I didn't bother having perfect brakes when I was younger!) Plus, those rims are usually non-hooked. This means a) have lower pressure if you have a lot of descending (and be carefull), or risk a blowout and b) Goodbye Folding Tyres!
Agreed, i almost died when my 1972 ALAN (acquired 2005) was found to have dried-out campag pads ... on a 15% downgrade, I picked up speed without limits! Thank heavens it was only 500 ft!
I would love to see more of these cheap challenges. The experience feels so real, the human reaction is genuine, Manon's complaining and grimacing (and probably her butt and back pains) adds to such a charming presenter. More of this please. No, not Dan. He'd die.
And different definitions for “cheap”... yes $100 is cheap but when someone tells me “torture test on a cheap bike” I think of the abandoned bikes in rivers and train station alleywaysz
@@zaydansari4408 Sorry but you're just WRONG. This IS a cheap bike, the ones you are talking about likely cost MORE to put on the road after doing all the repairs they likely need to be properly road worthy.
I would have been thrilled with that butted frame steel bike in the 70's, we did 100 miles a day on welded steel bikes that were probubly twice the weight of that one. admitadly we walked up steep hills and even clincher breaks are much better now than in the 70's. I was so surprised when I got stuck in the rain on my newer bike and the breaks worked at all. The new equipment is a blessing to ride. Thanks for showing off what we would have considered state of the art bike in the stone age.
now I feel old: "down tube shifters which I've never used before " I'm putting together my first modern road bike, first time having anything other than down tube shifters LOL
@@BinarySecond you don't want to. They were a pain, a right sod to just change one cog at a time, easily caught with your knee when climbing. Horrid things imo.
Yep. A neighbor recently gave me an old steel Fuji mountain bike. It's sooo heavy! The gearing is not very good and although I tinkered with the saddle height it never fit right even though its my size frame. Even my old entry level Giant Boulder feels like a bike from heaven compared to the Fuji.
I have a feeling that Manon has paid someone to take that bike apart with a blowtorch! I’d like to see a video of Manon riding the same route on her regular bike!
I love these vloggy style videos and challenges that seem to be more accessible to people. Keep rocking it GCN, genuinely genuinely love you guys. Your videos bring me so much joy.
Thank you for doing this video Manon. At age 45, I am on a budget and trying to get into road cycling. I started last year on a commuter bike and nearly killed myself on all of the rolling hills around Baltimore/DC. Not all of us can afford a top-of-the-line aero bike, and it’s really nice to see someone struggle on a heavy bike like many of us do. I would like to see more videos about budget cycling culture and how to overcome those obstacles. In the meantime, I am slowly putting away a little money for a Trek Emonda. And kudos for attempting those descents on questionable brakes Manon. I don’t think I would have been so brave.
Near death experiences on the hills around Balt-DC forced me to Zwift. Budget friendly too as your bike weight doesn’t matter. Not the same as IRL, but still better than nothing.
Tom - the cool thing is when you do get your Emonda (great bike btw!) you'll FLY!!! Your legs will be so used to hammering a heavy bike around. You'll be in cyclist heaven, and riders around you will not only be envious of your bike but your performances as well. Good luck!
There are some pretty good steel road bikes around for that price range. Weight compared to today's carbon is greater. Probably around 25 pounds. Get a good saddle, replace the tires, biggest that will fit, and brake pads and clean it up. I trained for a century ride on a 74 ten speed with a milk crate on the rear rack.
Absolutely LOVE everything Manon does, this was the best one yet! 100 miles on an old steel bike is a challenge indeed. But it made it, and so did she. Hold on to Manon, GCN, 23K+ hits in 4 hours is impressive by any measure. And hold on to your old Triumph, Manon, it has character and it matches yours.
The Atala cost me $130 in 1973. A $10 upgrade would give me Campy derailleurs and hubs, but 10 bucks was a splurge when I was making $1.60 an hour bagging groceries. 2 x 5 gearing, no indexing. Like her, we didn’t shift as much. Buddy clocked me at 55 mph on the downhill when I rode next to his motorcycle. Did that twice. That was back when I was a Man of Steel. These days I need my (carbon) fiber. Thank you Cervelo and Ridley. Kudos for the 100 miles of history. Great job.
@@dong.campbell5380 I remember hitting near 60MPH on a long steep downhill. T-Shirt ,shorts, no helmet in '77, on school outing ride no less!! Imagine a school ride today where, they would let you ride ahead, smoke 50MPH+, LOL! I am now almost 60, still love to rip down a hill, 40 my fastest lately. I need to tune up my old 10 speed I got used at 13. Probably should replace the wobbly rear rim before I relive the old speed record. - Cheers
Manon is a great presenter. She has knowledge, ability, and is so modest. She has a great way of putting things into layman's terms, and she's not afraid to admit she is spoiled by her modern high end machinery, yet willing to slum it up for "science". I love her voice, and lets face it, she's pretty easy on the eyes as well. I look forward to all her videos, keep up the great work Manon!
I’ve become a bit sceptical of the “modern format” GCN recently but this one was excellent and well done to Manon. Bloody good effort, excellent entertainment etc Thanks
I'm an overweight 58 year old who has been to the gym for the first time today in 35 years.I do a lot of cycling but WANT a 100 miler under my belt.Watching videos like your inspire me.Thank you.
@@stevek8829 why is that? i can cycle 20 miles with no side effects.I can walk for mles without getting out of breath.I just have to lose two stone not thirty.
The Tempest came with a leather insert in the brake blocks that was supposed to help stopping in the wet. I rode one to school daily, whatever the weather mid 80's. The insert did help, but oh boy did they squeal.
@@badger67 there's objectively bad bikes that take alot of fun outta riding. When you're having to pedal x5 as hard for half the speed of a well geared and more efficient bike you're likely not going to be having much fun let alone wanting to do it often... Unless you're a fitness masochist that enjoys torturing yourself of course.
I'm only a few years older than Manon, but I still had the chance to have one of those as my first road bike when I was like 9 years old. This video brought me some nice memories of my dad coming home with this fresh yellow painted road bike with downtube shifters and some weird large tyres that he found who knows where and were definitely pioneering gravel tyres. I had a blast.
I noticed that Manon passed up a newer, better looking bike (probably made outside of GB) and decided on buying the (apparently oversized) British-made Triumph.
@@joepiol5105 If you mean the blue bike, Dawes is a British brand too, although they moved production to Asia in 1990. That bike though it much much newer, it has STI shifters. It's a touring bike (note the canti bosses, although the front brakes seem to be hanging off). They are best known for the tourers and actually have a very good reputation in the UK for that, that is a Horizon which is not the higher end one but bottom line it would go for a good bit more than £100, I'd say double that at least, specialist tourers tend to be pricey and hold their value more anyway.
I thought exactly that - looks like the sort of place the police discover 1000 nicked bikes! I wonder if in any of the 2000 comments here there's someone complaining they want their bike back!
It's funny you guys did this, because this is my goal! Picked up a $200 bike 6 weeks ago after not riding since I was 12. Just did my first 50 mile ride, working up to 100!! Wanted to see how much I can get out of the cheap bike. It's a fun challenge 🙂
Wow! You're a fabulous lady. Am a keen cyclist. 63 now. But I think am 20. Your feat is phenomenal. Am so happy for you. I ride a hi-brid or semi mountain / and road. Do plenty long distance rides. But on that bike. You're the bees knees girl. Great stuff . Good luck to you. Shall be a keen follower.
12:26 imagine being out riding, feeling good about yourself, when you suddenly get dropped by a woman, allready 60km in, riding a super heavy steel bike. Ouch!
@@HospitalLocksmith this is the UK, 30C _average_ is exceedingly high for there. To be honest even hitting 30C would be a hot day. In Ireland, where I am from, the hottest temperature on record (ever) was only 3C over that, and it happened back in 1887. That was a hot summer, 1887. And the bikes we had then weren't great either. It's all what you're used to.
@Adam Pagenkopf even vintage bikes around me have been affected. I wanted to get back into cycling and was amazed at how much worse prices were across the board compared to 6 months ago when I had been casually looking with no real intent to buy. I ended up with an early '80s schwinn traveler in pretty good condition for $140, but a year ago nobody would have paid more than $100 for it and I saw people online discussing whether to pick one up in similarly good condition at $85. Still in absolute terms ($ instead of % increase) it wasn't too bad of a hit for a more or less immediately rideable road bike and I figure I can always pick up a better bike when the market cools off.
Great job! In the late 70's I rode around on my shiny new Peugeot, and in the early 2000's I rode around on an old late 70's Peugeot. I love those bicycles, but even I wouldn't attempt 100 miles on my reasonably well maintained, "relic", bikes, 50 miles was my max. Great job. Congratulations, you're a better man than I am. ( so to speak)
Pretty impressive. I learned to race on down tube shifters. The Campy derailleurs and shifters virtually never wear out and once you get used to them it's just a flick and a perfect shift most every time. You did real well
@@gcn Just a thought but why not strip that bike down and make it a nasty weather, muddy conditions single speed bike. Think in terms of Pre WW2 race bikes. Just for fun.
I actually just got an older bike and I love the shifters on the low tube!! It makes me change gears only when I really need it. And doing it itself feels more dignifying, I love it :)
Thank you for showing the general public that a long distance ride can be done on ANY bike. I cam sympathize with your efforts for this video, my commuter weighs about the same as your 100 lb bike.
Great video! And I have to say, I'm amazed at how far Manon has come as a presenter. Her first video's felt a bit awkward and scripted but this was simply amazing, on par with her colleagues who've done this for years.
This brings back nice memories of riding bikes like this in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Tracking gears and descending, as you point out, are quite different than what we’ve become used to on modern bikes. I rode my first 100 miler on a similar bike in 1976. It didn’t have nearly as much climbing, but it had stiff headwinds and rain. I remember being quite sore for several days afterwards.
1:01 should never have got on an old bike with sidewalls looking like that. I'm surprised this video didn't come with a bit of 'consumer advice' about what to look out for safety-wise when buying a bike like this. Someone could be watching this thinking that blowout was unpredictable when actually it was entirely preventable.
Exactly, I brought a bike very similar to this and a couple of weeks in exactly the same happened, these could be the original tyres, or at least 20-30 years old, they have no business being ridden any more they aren't safe. That said if they are steel rims, then in the rain they aren't safe at all either. In the rain your braking distance goes up 5 fold, and on a hill you won't be able to stop at all. That is really the problem with bikes like this, while the frame is still good and the gears okay, the wheels and tyres often aren't very safe at all.
I agree. I gave away my 1990 Diamondback road bike to a community group wanting bikes for folks needing them for work transportation. It was in perfect shape after a thorough cleaning/degreasing but the tires were original and dry rotted. They held air but no way I was giving it to someone in that condition. I swapped on some nearly new continentals I had on my wife's old Terry Classic bike and I felt good knowing whoever got it was going to be safe using it.
The bike certainly doesn't weigh more than Manon , that was just hyperbole, but for sure it's older than she is...the tires/tyres themselves looked to be older than Ms. Manon... should have changed them out before the ride.
I did a century, on a 531 frame, triple chain set tourer. Decent bike. The start was 15 miles from my home town, and I cycled to (and from) the start. A friend came with me. On a Dawes shadow. He'd done a 10k pool-based swim the day before. He's AWESOME.
I rode for years on a beater bike like that. It was one of my most prized possessions. It served me well, and when I finally upgraded to a slightly more expensive bike (around $500 which isn't a very expensive bike!) it made me a better rider. That old heavy bike took me to the places I wanted to go and gave me an appreciation for the tools we love. So, I loved this video!!
That bicycle was a lot like my first “real adult” bicycle back in the 80’s, except maybe a little bit better. At least in the U.S. that was when “ten speed” bicycles all had 27” wheels. Nobody except racers knew what 700c wheels were. Mine first bicycle had terrible center-pull brakes on it which worked sort of okay as long as it was dry, and fortunately where I live the climate is dry, but when it rained the brakes along with the chromed steel rims did not stop you. My emergency bike handling skills developed quickly. I can remember when those gear ranges were common too. No wonder nobody my age now (53) rode bicycles back then. I remember riding up some canyons west of Denver when my small ring was a 42 and the largest cog on my cluster was a 21. I must have spent 90 percent of my hilly rides at that time at or above my anaerobic threshold trying not to expel a lung because I was breathing so hard. There were easier bicycles to ride back then, but they were hard to find with my plucky ego telling me that I was going to kick Greg LeMond’s butt blocking my view of them. I wonder if Greg LeMonde ever even looked at me as I watched from the crowd on the side of the road and watched him race by in the real races of the day? I doubt it. I sure do miss that era sometimes, but bicycles for sale in the U.S. are way better thought out now.
In high school I inherited my dad's 1970s Motobecane Super Mirage, "with Campagnolo shifters!" as he was very proud to tell me. I loved that bike! It's sitting at his house waiting for me to start riding it again, and this video is getting me inspired to do it.
I watched this today while eating french fries and a buffalo chicken wrap...ever notice that food tastes twice as good when you are watching someone else suffer while eating it? Manon is definitely my favorite presenter!
It would have been cheating because the bike wasn't supposed to cost more than £100. If she had bought it for £80 and put two cheapish tyres on it would have been ok.
Recovering from an over the bars mtnb ride, I've turned on GCN daily and turned the pedals clipped in for the first time today- day 21. Ya"ll keep me and all the house bound folks, especially, fired up and feeling connected to cycling. The whole team "takes the first pull," in every show. The drone shots and your rides around the English countryside are the scenic tours for us yanks. THANKS
10.5 kg is still light - a new XC mountainbike without carbon fiber stuff is 14 kg, and my road bike converted from a trekking bike with trekking, XC parts and road tires is around 13 kg.
I rode my Cube Trekking bike today for 50 miles on unsurfaced cross country trails. The bike with panniers tools water bottles assorted junk etc comes out at 25kg. I dont think I have ever ridden a bike less than 12kg.
Having riden hundreds of kms on cheaper bikes I'm fairly certain that yes, you can ride 100miles on it, easily. If you can ride 100 miles on a bike, you can ride it on any bike. Just a little slower maybe ;)
Totally agree. As long as you have the brakes and pads adjusted properly and good tires and tubes you're good to go. Surprised she or someone at GCN didn't true her wheels. Front was easy to see wobble.
@@ursoulspure Well yes, just becasue it was cheap doesn't mean you shouldn't care for it. You won't be changing any expensive parts, but making sure the wheels, tires and brakes are alright won't break the bank and pays of bigtime.
Major respect to Manon for doing this challenge! For extra challenge, I’d be interested to see the GCN presenters do these solo rides without support vehicles. Of course they’ll need a vehicle to film, but it’d be interesting to watch the logistics for getting a $100 used bike ready for a solo 100 miles. I imagine the prep would be different, you’d need to fit it with a rack or at least a little bar bag for tubes, and some snacks? It would feel more relatable to those of us who don’t have support vehicles :)
I ride a clunky cheap bike without a support vehicle, you don't really need much if the cycle is kept in good shape. Puncture repair kit and basic tools for the cycle, water and emergency carbs for yourself. In 30 degrees, maybe two bottles of water (to be refilled at every stop) and some fruit.