Can tyre, tube or wheel choice offer more comfort on hybrid?

teutonic

I’m riding a Trek 7.3 FX, my commute is 8 miles per day on a mix of good / average / very badly maintained road surfaces in Manchester.

After much trial and error, and changing the saddle, stem and pedals, I have found a riding position that works for me. I have learned good posture means my spine flexes to absorb bumps etc.

However, sometimes the less than perfect road surfaces mean the ride feels occasionally harsh and ‘jarring’. I'd like to explore if there are ways to improve the comfort of the ride.

I am running the tyres towards the upper end of their pressure range (for speed), but I’ve found through experimentation that adjusting the tyre pressures through the range doesn’t affect the comfort of the ride significantly. Though the bike feels noticeably more sluggish at the lower end of the tyre's pressure range.

I understand (now) that because the frame and fork are aluminium, this bike (which has served me well over 2 years so far) will never be the smoothest ride. However – are there inner tube or tyre choices that might add to my comfort?

Or could I improve comfort by looking at other areas – for example the wheels?

(I hope to buy a steel framed cross bike, Genesis Croix de Fer or similar next year as a more comfortable, flexible fun weekender / tourer. But I intend to keep using the Trek as my daily commuter).

Any suggestions much appreciated. Cheers.

u05harrisb

fitting a fatter tyre (28cc as apposed to 23c) for example would work better for comfort. lower pressures do also however it depends upon the situation but looking at some fatter tyres dependant upon your clearence and if you have mud guards would be worth a look at!

Ben

supersonic

Tyres are the best way, but as above, you must have clearance.

Steel frames are not always more comfortable or flexy - a heavy, basic steel frame can be incredibly stiff. Same goes for forks, though most carbon units offer more forgiveness.

Also try foam grips, or a light carbon bar.

Glasgow Calum

You might not like the look of it but what about a sprung saddle? that would surely help hugely.

fnegroni

I have recently fitted large volume tyres.
They make the ride less uncomfortable.
Whether it is simply the bigger volume, or maybe a more compliant tyre carcass I don't know for sure, but they have worked well so far.
http://wokingham-cyclist.blogspot.co.uk ... preme.html

jejv

teutonic wrote:

I’m riding a Trek 7.3 FX, my commute is 8 miles per day on a mix of good / average / very badly maintained road surfaces in Manchester.

After much trial and error, and changing the saddle, stem and pedals, I have found a riding position that works for me. I have learned good posture means my spine flexes to absorb bumps etc.

However, sometimes the less than perfect road surfaces mean the ride feels occasionally harsh and ‘jarring’. I'd like to explore if there are ways to improve the comfort of the ride.

What tyres do you have now ?
What size are they ? They should be a pair of numbers, such as 37-622 or 35-622 somewhere on the sidewall of the tyre.

The "622" is the rim diameter, and the "37" is the nominal tyre width, both in mm.

Do you know the size of your wheel rims ? Decent rims have a sticker opposite and/or near the valve with a pair of numbers somewhere, such as 17-622 or 622-17. The width of the rims limits your choice of tyres.
http://sheldonbrown.com/rim-sizing.html

It's important to ignore (!) any measurement on the tyre or rim (or any other part of a bicycle) that appears to be in inches - that is likely to be misleading/confusing.

Do you have mudguards ? Are they a close fit to the tyres that you have ?

Fatter, lighter tyres - ideally with lightweight tubes - will give you a more comfortable ride, with less rolling resistance, and less calorie losses from vibration.

But fatter tyres have more air resistance.

Where the best tradeoff is depends on how fast you expect to go.

Your frame will very likely take at least 44mm tyres, but if you have mudguards, you probably have not got the widest mudguards that fit your frame, so existing mudguards could limit tyre choice. Frame probably can take 53mm SKS mudguards.

To a "Roadie" on a Road Bike, 28mm seems almost absurdly fat. Then their bike can probably only take 25mm tyres.
Some touring cyclists might look for a tough, lightweight 47mm tyre.

teutonic

Tyres are 32-622.

My trek is fitted with SKS mudguards. It was tight fit (LBS job) but they got them in there. I think there's some clearance left to work with (though not much). I reckon I could get a slightly fatter tyre in there if there if I wanted to. I may well look into that, and what tube choices are available.

Suspension seatpost sounds worth investigating. I think a friend of mine has a Marin Larkspur with one fitted. I think I'll ask him if i can try it out.

The trek has nice squidgy gel grips with 'ergonomic' extensions under the palms (one of it's good features I think), i don't think I could improve on those.

Thanks all

Initialised

I recently went from 38mm front and rear to 42mm on the rear and it feels like a better ride and hasn't lost me any speed, if anything it feels faster as I have more confidence when cornering on the larger rear.

As far as comfort goes it's an AL frame with steel fork so I know where you're coming from with harsh and jarring. What I do is get up out of the saddle for the rough bits then your arms and legs are the suspension, a bit like assuming the 'attack position' in down hill MTBing, it helps to be slightly overgeared on the flat and uphill. Having drops would also help as you can adopt more different positions than you can with a flat bar. And consider a dropper post, flick a switch for different seat height to stop you squishing your nads when you land. Dropper or suspension seat posts are probably overkill unless the surface is really bad or your route is full of rumble strips.