fat tyres

flatpat

I find the front end of my Kona Sutra uncomfortable and jarring around town, perhaps because I've been riding a lot of mtb recently. Oddly the rear is fine - perhaps the steel frame doing it's thing.

Am currently running Conti Top Touring 28mm - would swapping to, say, 32mm Sport Contacts take the sting out of the bumps without making me considerably slower? Or something even larger?

On the mtb I've recently made the discovery of slow aggressive front/fast rolling rear tyre combo which works a treat. Has anyone ever tried a big comfy front/small nippy rear tyre combo on a road bike?

N.B. I already have some of that specialized padded bar tape stuff - a small improvement but no more tan that

roger_merriman

flatpat wrote:

I find the front end of my Kona Sutra uncomfortable and jarring around town, perhaps because I've been riding a lot of mtb recently. Oddly the rear is fine - perhaps the steel frame doing it's thing.

Am currently running Conti Top Touring 28mm - would swapping to, say, 32mm Sport Contacts take the sting out of the bumps without making me considerably slower? Or something even larger?

On the mtb I've recently made the discovery of slow aggressive front/fast rolling rear tyre combo which works a treat. Has anyone ever tried a big comfy front/small nippy rear tyre combo on a road bike?

N.B. I already have some of that specialized padded bar tape stuff - a small improvement but no more tan that

what pressures are you running at? might well be able to drop it a bit.

The Rookie

The only real benefit from a fatter tyre is being able to run at lower pressures anyway, so as RM says, try dropping the pressures a little.

A nice springy carbon fork helps as well!

Simon

flatpat

Running about 70 (although probably dropped a touch since I last pumped them up) on the front - 85 on the rear.

Hmm will experiment.

Do carbon forks really make that much difference? Current forks are steel Kona Project 2s. They're very straight, I can't imagine they have much give.

snailracer

flatpat wrote:

Running about 70 (although probably dropped a touch since I last pumped them up) on the front - 85 on the rear.

Hmm will experiment.

Do carbon forks really make that much difference? Current forks are steel Kona Project 2s. They're very straight, I can't imagine they have much give.

Carbon forks dampen small vibrations well, but they won't absorb bigger bumps any better than your rigid steel fork. The straightness and profile of carbon forks (and the intrinsic non-stretch properties of carbon fibre) show that they are designed to be rigid.

The smoothest-riding forks are steel ones that taper and curve towards the tip. The straight ones on your bike are not like that - the tips are chunky to withstand the torque generated by disc brakes, the straightness and large diameter promote stiffness to maintain accurate steering over rough terrain – clearly they are relying on the tyre for suspension action.

I concur with the recommendation for wider tyres at lower pressure. Also consider handlebar grips with more cushion and padded gloves.

fnegroni

If I were you, I would consider switching to a higher TPI tyre casing. Vittoria has some.
Continental tyres, while durable (I have a few), and reliable, are not the most comfortable by a mile. Their highest TPI is 110 (GP4000S), most are between 50 and 60 at most, which makes for a strong tyre casing, but then I bet a rock would probably achieve same...
Lower pressures can help but might just reduce reliability (pinch flats, bigger tyre footprint exposing the more puncture prone sides of the thread).
You might also want to look into rebuilding your wheel with slightly looser spokes to give it some give.
A new saddle with titanium rails or elastometers can also help.
As for smaller section tyre rear, bigger section front combination, IMHO, wouldn't work on a road bike as you intend it to.
Most weight on a road bike is on the back. What you need is a more compliant front end, which is a combination of geometry and components. Tyres are the quickest and cheapest parts to replace, a higher TPI count will make a bigger difference.

flatpat

That's interesting - tpi was certainly not something I'd previously considered!

On wiggle:
Vittoria Randonneur Hyper City Folding Tyre £31.49 (gasp! very light though)
Vittoria Randonneur Pro City @£22

Think I might go for the Pro City in size 37.

Thanks you all for the suggestions - I'll let you know in due course whether the tyres have stopped my moaning!

biondino

And you're really okay with going a lot slower?