Harsh Ride

rufus357rufus

I have a Ribble aluminium TT frame bike with carbon forks and I am finding the ride really harsh feeling every bit of bad tarmac. I am using ordinary butyl inner tubes and michelin ultra sport tyres (which are cheap but I quite like them) at ~105 psi.

If I moved to latex inner tubes and better tyres - thinking of mich pro3 - would this soften the ride at all?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

keef66

TT frames are not usually designed for a comfortable ride, and 23mm tyres at 105 psi will shake your fillings out regardless of the innertubes you use.

Fatter tyres at lower pressure will make a significant difference to the ride. (I ride 25mm Conti 4 seasons)
Gel pads and double wrapped bar tape can help a little with hand comfort. If you don't already have one, a carbon seatpost can help a bit, provided you can have a lot of it sticking out of the seat-tube.

danowat

Pffftt, if you are finding a TT bike harsh, then you ain't riding hard enough, the only thought on your mind should be where the next breath and the next pedal stroke is coming from!!!!.

Seriously though, as above, wider tyres will help, as will lower pressures, but neither are that well suited to TT's.

rufus357rufus

Thanks for the tips. I have a carbon seat post so thats not an improvement I can make...

Maybe I could run lower pressures for training rides ,,,but then I'll probably get loads of punctures.

Any more suggestions?

briantrumpet

rufus357rufus wrote:

Any more suggestions?

Find smooth tarmac.

No, not terribly helpful, I know, but round here there are some roads that will make your fillings drop out, and others that are like the smooth surface of a very smooth thing. The worst surfaces seem to be the resurfaced ones where the resurfacing is coming off in patches - I'd rather ride over a big hill than go along a mile or two of really bad surface.

I'm rubbish at physics, but I suspect if you have a machine that soaks up the roughness of the surface it's rolling across it'll be dissipating your energy. So I guess it's a trade off between comfort and efficiency, to some (large?) degree. (I'm sure, knowing BR, that an expert will be along to correct me.)

rufus357rufus

briantrumpet wrote:

rufus357rufus wrote:

Any more suggestions?

Find smooth tarmac.

No, not terribly helpful, I know, but round here there are some roads that will make your fillings drop out, and others that are like the smooth surface of a very smooth thing. The worst surfaces seem to be the resurfaced ones where the resurfacing is coming off in patches - I'd rather ride over a big hill than go along a mile or two of really bad surface.

I'm rubbish at physics, but I suspect if you have a machine that soaks up the roughness of the surface it's rolling across it'll be dissipating your energy. So I guess it's a trade off between comfort and efficiency, to some (large?) degree. (I'm sure, knowing BR, that an expert will be along to correct me.)

Good points. I think this is where lower tyre pressures come in as it means that the tyre deformation can prevent the bike being lifted up and down by the road bumps which would waste energy...

Dmak

rufus357rufus wrote:

I have a Ribble aluminium TT frame bike with carbon forks and I am finding the ride really harsh feeling every bit of bad tarmac. I am using ordinary butyl inner tubes and michelin ultra sport tyres (which are cheap but I quite like them) at ~105 psi.

If I moved to latex inner tubes and better tyres - thinking of mich pro3 - would this soften the ride at all?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

OMG a bumpy road! Buy a comfort bike! Fit some shocks, shock absorbing seat post etc etc.

TBH you should just man up but alas you could try Pro3 25c tyres and latex, both get good reviews for smoothing things out.

Personally I put extra effort in over the bumpy stuff, it gets rid of it quicker and the harder you pedal the less pressure there is on your behind.

Another thought, softer seat?