Rigid bike on extremely rough towpath

morbiD

I picked up a used Voodoo Marasa a couple of years ago, but my commute is a half-hour ride along a river towpath, the surface of which has now degraded so much that some sections of it are like a rock garden, and it's extremely unpleasant to ride over. In fact, my back was taking such a beating that I started driving instead.

How can I make the bike work for me again?

A few ideas I've had:

• I've got an unused Marzocchi Z1 Drop-Off II suspension fork that's been sat in my shed for 15 years. Could that be fitted in place of the rigid fork and would it help?
• Get a sprung saddle or seat post. How much difference would that make and would it be worth the cost?
• Run the tyres (Schwalbe Land Cruiser Plus) at low pressure. How much difference would that make and would there be a high risk of punctures?
• I've seen mention of balloon tyres. Would they help and what would be good ones to try?

Anyone have any comments on the above, or any other suggestions?

Darius_Jedburgh

I used to ride over something similar. I picked up a Brooke's sprung saddle in a charity shop for £20. Made a big difference.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The Marasa is supposed to have very easy clearance for 50mm tyres.

Purely as examples. definitely not the best ~50mm tyres...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYSCBA/sc ... wired-tyre at approx 30-35PSI would give you a much more comfy ride, but they're heavy and won't cope so well as the ground gets wet and muddy.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYSCSMART ... rigid-tyre look like Schwalbe Smart Sam tyres to me, a decent general offroad tyre. You would need to do some research though on just how far past 50mm you can go.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

https://www.schwalbe.com/en/balloonbikes.html

morbiD

Yeah, I saw that Schwalbe page when I Googled balloon tyres.

Apparently they can be put on just about any bike as long as there's enough clearance, and I like the sound of this:

Using BIG APPLE tires (60-622, 2 bar) on a non-suspension bike reduces vibrations to the lumbar area by around 25 per cent, comparable with the same bike using a standard tire. In comparison a full-suspension bicycle can reduce vibrations on the lumbar area by around 33 per cent.

Also, my current tyres are 37mm, so according to that page they would have to be run at 4 bar to achieve the same rolling resistance as balloon tyres at 2 bar, meaning that if I just stick with what I've got and lower the pressure I'll be making life harder for myself.

So perhaps I should try the balloon tyres and add a sprung seat if they aren't enough by themselves...

I take it the Marzocchi suspension fork is of no use then?

bonzo_banana

Maybe a suspension seat post. Amazon warehouse often have decent offers on returned items. Personally balloon tyres would be my preferred option. Not forgetting decent handgrips that provide a lot of comfort.

Remember to get the tyre pressures just right to provide the maximum suspension effect which will be different pressures front and back. So if you drop your arse hard on the saddle the tyres don't fully collapse but spring back quickly.

morbiD

Yep, already fitted some ergonomic grips when I first got the bike. I had kind of ruled out suspension seatposts because a lot of them seem to cost as much or more than I paid for the whole bike.

Sounds like balloon tyres are the way to go initially, but I'd be a bit concerned about safety with the slick Big Apples since some sections of my route are over slippery leaf-covered asphalt in autumn/winter.

The Schwalbe balloon tyre range also includes the Big Ben, Marathon Mondial and Marathon GT 365, so I'm wondering if the Marathon GT 365 would be the best bet despite the added weight. Or would either of the other two be suitable?

The Rookie

morbiD wrote:

Sounds like balloon tyres are the way to go initially, but I'd be a bit concerned about safety with the slick Big Apples since some sections of my route are over slippery leaf-covered asphalt in autumn/winter.

From a physics and not a subjective point of view, how you you think treaded tyres would help in that situation?

A tread is designed to clear something and allow the tyre to get through for grip, so car tyres use the tread pattern to disperse water and MTB's (or off road car tyres) use the tread pattern so the nobbles dig through the mud to the harder surface below in the situation you describe a tread pattern makes no difference AT ALL. The only exception is on ice where a tread shoulder (which is why winter tyres have a LOT more sipes) can dig against the ice for grip (leading edge effect).

morbiD

Well that's schooled me! I take your point!

So, in fairly equal proportions, my winter commute basically goes:

1. Road
2. Slippery leafy-covered asphalt path
3. Wet and mildly muddy towpath
4. Very rough and rocky towpath
5. Clear asphalt path
6. Slippery leafy-covered asphalt path
7. Road

What balloon tyre do I get? Is the standard Big Apple going to be adequate for all of these conditions?

The Rookie

You would have to go gingerly on mud, but then you would on treaded road tyres anyway.