Bike fit concern before event...change fit or use (not ideal) other bike?

I’m signed up for the Tour of the Battenkill this weekend and a recent podcast has me sweating about the climbs :rofl::rofl::rofl: I have 2 bikes…Specialized Roubaix with 32mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless and a Salsa Cutthroat with 29x2.2 Conti Racekings. The both have the same saddle height/setback, but different saddles and the Roubaix is set up longer/lower.

I’ve ridden the Roubaix on a few 100 mile rides last year with no fit/comfort issues, but lately I’ve getting back pain just on my rides after 3 hours. Battenkill will probably be a 5 hour day for me. I haven’t had any fit issues on the Cutthroat on up to 4 hour rides this year.

I know there’s a whole thread on bike fits, but hopefully this is OK because I’m trying to figure out if I should just put slicks on the Cutthroat (which probably isn’t the ideal bike for this event) of perhaps raise the bars/shorten the stem on the Roubaix to get the fit closer to the Cutthroat. I feel like that’s a risk because I won’t have time to get a big ride in before the event this weekend.

I’m not treating this as a race, definitely more of a fondo, but I also want to get a decent time (for me anyway). Any thoughts? Thanks!!

In short, I think the Cutty could make great sense with a tire swap. Presumably it has a much lower bottom gear than the Roubaix, and that would be an asset according to what Amber shared.

That aspect, coupled with your recent discomfort on the Roubaix would lead me to push the Cutty too. If there is that much hard climbing (especially if you end up at super low cadence from running out of gears), the back pain could likely be more pronounced.

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Thanks Chad! The low gear on my Roubaix is 34/34 but Amber’s comments made me wonder if that would be enough :exploding_head: The Cutty has an Eagle mullet and a dropper…for folks actually racing this is way overkill, but I’ll never say no to an extra gear on a steep climb!

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