Randonneur Essentials Don't Fear The Gears || Choosing Gears for Randonneuring 

It's really nice to see riders that understand their own needs and chose gears for pragmatic and practical reasons.

I agree with cools....wide gear range is awesome. Spin if you need to. Grinding wears you out quick.

Great ride, Great music. I did that ride a few times back in the day. Thanks for keeping the triple chainring mindset in play. All those ratios (yes, there is a little duplication) within a wide range are good. So it adds a bit of weight, the mechanical advantage it provides more than makes up for it. Keep the videos coming!

I am building a randonneuring bike and this video helps a bunch. Thank you!

Good to hear the triple love! My current bike is a 1x, but I am pretty set on more gears in the future

Just recently discovered your channel, have seen multiple of your videos. Good information, and superb editing. It's obvious you spend a good bit of time on them, and it's appreciated. Great music in this one. Subscribed. Keep this type of content up, and you will eventually have a huge subscriber base.

The rando videos with miss cools are always ace, and your filming skill while riding is always impressive. Nice work with the channel lately!

Cycling is fun, proof right here. You are both awesome riders with great mounts. Thanks for the video.

Just catching this older clip now. I love the back catalogue. You guys live in cycling paradise and appear to be so fun to ride with! Thanks for the scenic, low-key, entertaining videos.

New to the channel...what a great find! Really enjoying your content.

Yay! Just logged on on a Sunday morning and what a pleasant surprise to have a fresh new video from you on minutes old! Love the old Strawberry Alarm Clock tune too! :)

Love the soundtrack

My wife and I are thinking of doing the reverse migration from Seattle to the Bay Area since she's from Mendocino County and we have family and friends there. Your videos are definitely motivating me to make it happen. Cheers!

7 times to Mt. Diablo in my life. All the respect to Ms Cools with that bike and gear and stuff going up and talking. I had way lighter bike, not even hen kerchief with me and I was dying. The last 300 ft is all hell!!! And you two up there like going to Safeway to buy donuts! You guys are excellent, thank you for great videos.

Nice video, and interesting take on gear ratios. Though I have a lot of gravel/dirt roads to ride on (and there are some interesting MTB trails as well), and I'm not out for the racing scene (more of tour/ramble/sight-seeing ride, alone and sometimes with friends) the 2018 AWOL I have, with 50-39- 31 chain ring set, and 12-26 rear cassette, works great. I tend to ride mainly on the 39 tooth ring in front, but I like having that third ring in front for the longer, and windier, hill sections we have here. The AWOL is a steel (real!) frame, and I love it. It's a bit of a retro-looking bike frame, and I like that as well. I enjoy your videos. Keep 'em coming!

Simpler times. You definitely have the best music along with good content

breathtaking views up that summit.

love it always!

Great vid and music.

What a wonderful road, excellent!, Loved the music, especially on the descent. I understand the versatility of the triple up front, but living in The Netherlands the average gradient is 0.05%. Although I do have a bike with 48-36-26 at the front, I have used the middle ring a few times (currently front derailleur does not shift at all) and TBH the 26 is still pristine 😀 It all depends on the environment and both of you chose very well for the challenge at hand 👍🏻

I've got an old Randonneuse with a Simplex 2x4 driveline, it's murder in the mountains, but I hate to modify a bike which has gone 70 years with its original parts still intact.

I have a triple too. I hear so much about gear ranges. Triple gets the job done with nice steps between gears

You two must have the lungs of King Kong 's little brother on those climbs. The best reward is definitely the down hill back. Another great video. Thanks. Puul

Great video!

That whole "Incense and Peppermint" downhill was very well done, and I'm now in love with Ms. Cools.

Would love to see a video about nutrition on long brevets and tours!

Excellent insight shared here. We’ll done both of you.

I wanna go there now... I use to go there in the mid 70's when I was stationed at Concord... Now I'm in San Diego...I know where Im going this summer.

I'm impressed. From the traffic, I'm guessing you did your ride on a weekday. Ms Cools low gears were perfect for that last climb. That climb is exactly what you don't want to see after a noteworthy climb up to a beautiful spot to view the bay area.

In these days of 1x11 drivetrains, it's nice to see triples getting some love. I have them on all my bikes. If you liked Diablo, you should try Mt. Hamilton. Those rides are pretty hot in the summer but awesome in the winter.

The stock gearing on many new bikes is pretty ridiculous for average riders. Trying to push up hills on gears too big will wear you out early on a long ride. I always have a bail out low gear that I only use when Im cooked or on a bad day. Its also there for when I carry camping gear or lots of beer on night rides! I have a weird offroad rando/touring bike. I use a low gear version of half step gearing. Its 24/42 chainrings and 12/32, 11/34 or 11/36 8 or 9 speed cassettes. 42x11 is a 100 in. gear. I can pedal to 40 mph on that or I just coast especially when hauling loads. I ride the 42 mostly and only shift down when it gets steep and or slow. If I was riding more pavement( I dislike pedaling the roads in Wackofornia) I would use 11/25,11/27 or 11/30 for more fine tuning of gear choices.

Love Mt. Diablo ! I was nearly blown off the road near the top on the way up and the way down. I learned later that it is one of windiest places in the state, duh...

Nice Mt Tam the birth of mountain biking.

Curious if you know about the pulley/jockey wheel friction shifters hack? When using an indexed deraileur you swap the guide & tension pulley/jockey wheels whick gives you more precise friction shifting! Thank you, your welcome.

Great video! Mt Diablo is just about in my backyard, and every time I ride up I end up playing the "Just around the next corner" game. Unfortunately, it always seems to be 8 or 10 more corners.

Mt Diablo is on my list. I have no problem with putting on proper gears. I just need to get to the top and don't care to mash at 50rpm doing it.

I like triples!

I drove to the top of Mt Diablo. But someday I’ll ride my bike up it.

I'm guessing Ms. Cools is riding 26" wheels? That would put her low gear at about 19 gear-inches overall, which would be handy to know. Great vid, thanks!

Has Miss Cools ever considered clip-in pedals? I know they aren't for everyone, but once you get used to them the way they can help you climb hills is much more efficient and pain free.

You can put a spacer between the hanger and derailleur that might allow you to use 11-36 or even a 11-40 cassette and will not change appearance of your bike. It is called RoadLink by Wolf Tooth but there are also cheaper knock-off options available from e-bay.

Thinking of doing my first official brevet. Any extra tips? I do a race across Indiana every year that's 160 miles usually no problem. I just want to enjoy what I'm doing. I don't really like racing people. I feel this is a good middle of the road.

I’m thinking of building me a Rando. Looks fun to enjoy the ride rather than playing at racing.

Randonneuring, for riders that ride. Just stopped to like and comment having not done so first time watched when I didn't have an account. Be well Wildberry/Cools.

great vlog, could be a long shot but, any idea what bars miss cool was using, i like those they look comfy.

Raleigh Randonneur - late 1980s, early 1990s - just about the most perfect bicycle ever built.

Could y'all talk about foot retention and shoe preference? I use MKS pedals with double straps, and a pair of dedicated sidi touring shoes

Question for Miss Cools. What are your thoughts on bar end shifters? I see you chose downtube shifters on both of your bikes. I'm about to upgrade (despite people telling me it's a downgrade) my bike from a sram single to a triple and choosing a shifter is the hardest part. When I watch you lean down to the downtube to shift it seems less convenient than a bar end setup. Is there a reason you prefer that arrangement?

Hey - that´s really pretty light luggage for randonneuring! So would be really interested in knowing how you got all the necessary stuff for several days packed in this pretty small front bag!? :/

what's the front rack on Therese's bike?

Funny how the narrator is often out of breath ;-) Thanks for the film. Enjoy the views.

The front bag, what's it called?

Why mrs cool dont use a brooks saddle?

If your rear derailleur works with a 1134 it will work with a 1136.

Just stumbled across ru-vid.com and thought straight away of you and Mz Cools as a: he looks like an older version of you; lives in CA; and has an awesome series on preparing for PBP. Hope you guys enjoy and find it useful

Hi, which Handlebar use Therese on her Bike? Regards Armin

can you Randonneur on an e bike?

ms cools' pink bike is much better now .. i think this bike's toptube is too long for her.

go single speed 😋

Too slow

great rider but that bike is way to big for her.