Comfy and light road bike

portuguese mike

Aracer. I've just re-read the Sheldon Brown link and note that it specifically talks about road shock absorbed by a frame. isn't this different to high frequency vibrations or 'buzz' that could be generated in the frame whilst riding? Since different materials have different natural frequencies, could this make a perceptable difference to the amount of 'buzz' that's felt on your contact points when comparing frames of different materials?

Possibly it's a case of the princess and the pea syndrome again but it got me wondering.

aracer

portuguese mike wrote:

Possibly it's a case of the princess and the pea syndrome again but it got me wondering.

Seeing you recognize that, I'll try to be as polite as possible There is a possibilty of the frame vibrating, but the chances of it making a real difference to comfort are pretty minimal - the tyres are good at absorbing the energy from that sort of high-frequency vibration too (it's only the lower frequency ones associated with shimmy that make a real difference).

Also to be fair, I'm not even arguing that there isn't a difference in how different frames feel. It's just that people tend to interpret a frame that feels flexible laterally (where it is possible to get perceptible differences) as being more flexible and hence comfortable vertically. Hence you can't even do a double blind test on bike frames, since it is generally possible to tell the difference, even if that difference doesn't actually effect comfort.

Anyway, I still assert that the best way to get a comfortable conventional road bike is big fat tyres and relaxed geometry (neither necessarily what somebody after a light road bike wants!)

wildmoustache

aracer wrote:

portuguese mike wrote:

Possibly it's a case of the princess and the pea syndrome again but it got me wondering.

Seeing you recognize that, I'll try to be as polite as possible There is a possibilty of the frame vibrating, but the chances of it making a real difference to comfort are pretty minimal - the tyres are good at absorbing the energy from that sort of high-frequency vibration too (it's only the lower frequency ones associated with shimmy that make a real difference).

Also to be fair, I'm not even arguing that there isn't a difference in how different frames feel. It's just that people tend to interpret a frame that feels flexible laterally (where it is possible to get perceptible differences) as being more flexible and hence comfortable vertically. Hence you can't even do a double blind test on bike frames, since it is generally possible to tell the difference, even if that difference doesn't actually effect comfort.

Anyway, I still assert that the best way to get a comfortable conventional road bike is big fat tyres and relaxed geometry (neither necessarily what somebody after a light road bike wants!)

Has anyone here ridden two bikes with the same geometry, tyres, wheels, saddle, bars, bar tape, but different frame?

Believe it or not, I have (E5 and Tarmac s-works) ... there was still a major difference in the amount of buzz coming from the road. I can't explain it.

pieinthesky

My tips for comfort are, in order of effectiveness:

Wider tyres. (28mm tyres at 90/95 psi - very comfy)
Shallow section rims
Lightweight seatpost with lots of post showing ie compact frame
Lightweight bars - take the sting out of bumps. Wider bars will have more give too. I dont know if oversize bars are less comfy as I havent used them yet.
Gel bar padding - helps remove any buzz

I cant comment on frame and forks as there is so much many variety and I have ridden very few of them!

I also suspect that traditional 3 cross spoke patterns offer more comfort than low spoke counts and radial spokes though.

pjh

This is perfect ...

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 5-08-28019

... and if you can afford more you can easily upgrade bits