hey mbe
i am hoping to do the manchester metric. study has meant i've hardly been on my bike but hopefully come the summer i'll be ramping up the mileage. will have to get out of south manchester though as it is FLAT!!! great two weeks in brum which was hilly(ish).
what pedals systems do others run? and what bikes? i've got a trek sr1400, second hand 40% off, and a trek 7.2fx for bobbing round manc in.
Firstly, Saph, no. it's not the metric but the actual 100 miler I'm doing and I did it last year as well. The thing is, it is NOT flat! Not flat at all! If you do the 100 miler, there is 1000 metres of climb with a particularly brutal ascent in the last 10 miles (just after Alderley Edge if memory serves).
As for pedals, all clipless are good and the bigger the footplate, the more efficient they are. Standard SPDs are good as they will allow you to walk round in the shoes whereas Look Keos and other specific road shoes will not (or they make it much more difficult anyway).
As for bikes, I too have a Trek 1200 road bike for winter and wet weather, a Carrera MTB for some off-road stuff but my absolute babe is my gorgeous Bianchi 1885 which has Ultegra running gear and I've personalised it with a Specialised saddle (the one with the "love tube"!) and really light-weight tyres. I love that bike, me!