Hard Going

Smiffy151
Smiffy151 Posts: 17
edited May 2015 in Cyclocross
Hi All

Well, after being used to trails and off road and hitting a lot of trails around Kent & Sussex of 30+ miles on my MTB I thought i'd invest in a cyclocross and mainly use it for a bit of fitness work on local roads, kit it out with semi slicks and generally try to improve my fitness. I purchased a Giant Revolt 2 and today took it for it's first outing from Hythe to Folkestone and back and a bit more for 13 miles just to get the feeling of the bike. Well *^%$ me I took it along a sea front trail and to say the ride is harsh is an understatement compared to my MTB Voodoo, is this what I should of expected ? I mean it felt like it was running on concrete tyres , no give, just jarring response to even the smallest of potholes etc.
Don't get me wrong I know they are totally different bikes but didn't expect such a harsh intro to road/cyclocross bikes.....!

Smiffy

Comments

  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    Kind of, not having suspension or bigger tyres will make the ride rougher. This is a lot more noticeable on a road bike.

    You could try dropping the tyre pressure a little.
  • Smiffy151
    Smiffy151 Posts: 17
    Kajjal wrote:
    Kind of, not having suspension or bigger tyres will make the ride rougher. This is a lot more noticeable on a road bike.

    You could try dropping the tyre pressure a little.

    Thanks mate, yes was thinking that I should drop the tp, i'm not exactly light and petite at 280lbs lol so concerned about too low tp. I changed the original cyclocross tyres for some marathon semi's to get less rolling resistance I guess it's just a case of getting used to it ..........!
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    roger merriman wrote:
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.
    And at much the same weight I do that sort of ride at around 30psi (race at 14-25psi, but that's a bit different).

    Smiffy - what pressure were you running? It's counterintuitive, but on rough terrain you're probably going to reduce rolling resistance by *lowering* your pressure rather than by raising it.
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    TGOTB wrote:
    roger merriman wrote:
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.
    And at much the same weight I do that sort of ride at around 30psi (race at 14-25psi, but that's a bit different).

    Smiffy - what pressure were you running? It's counterintuitive, but on rough terrain you're probably going to reduce rolling resistance by *lowering* your pressure rather than by raising it.

    That's tubless yes? Does, make a differance at 60psi the tyres adimtly cheap and nasty OEM ones deform a fair bit, over kerbs/rocky trails etc.

    The MTB I keep at 30lb give or take.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    roger merriman wrote:
    TGOTB wrote:
    roger merriman wrote:
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.
    And at much the same weight I do that sort of ride at around 30psi (race at 14-25psi, but that's a bit different).

    Smiffy - what pressure were you running? It's counterintuitive, but on rough terrain you're probably going to reduce rolling resistance by *lowering* your pressure rather than by raising it.

    That's tubless yes? Does, make a differance at 60psi the tyres adimtly cheap and nasty OEM ones deform a fair bit, over kerbs/rocky trails etc.

    The MTB I keep at 30lb give or take.
    Yeah, that's tubeless (and the race pressures are tubs), but I'm not sure I'd go above 30 with inner tubes, I'd just ride a bit more carefully. I've successfully raced tubeless at 17psi, and would happily have ridden that particular course at 20psi with inner tubes, but obviously you can cut things a lot finer when you've had a chance to recce the course (and babying the bike over a couple of roots may be worthwhile if it means more grip everywhere else).

    I'm not really questioning your choice of 60psi, you've been doing this enough to know what works for your riding; I'm really trying to indicate to the OP what the range of "frequently used" pressures is. I've seen people turn up to CX training sessions with 33mm tyres at road pressures, who think that if they drop to 60psi they'll either pinch flat within seconds, or be dragged to a standstill by incredible rolling resistance. They've no idea whatsoever, because no-one's ever told them, what low pressure really means in a CX context.
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • Smiffy151
    Smiffy151 Posts: 17
    roger merriman wrote:
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.

    I picked the bike up from a Giant store and the engineer who was doing the pdi said he would go with around 60 so that's what he inflated them with. You guys will know your stuff about pressures of course but i'm equally concerned about running lower pressures and suffering from pinch flats.

    Will be going out again tomorrow evening for a local road ride, I guess it's just a case of getting used to a harder ride...!

    Thanks guys for your advice etc, much appreciated

    Smiffy
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    Smiffy151 wrote:
    roger merriman wrote:
    cx bike i have does remind me of MTBing in the late 80's early 90's tyres are not much if any thinner! rigid forks and terrible brakes.

    How high psi are you using? at 13st10lb/192/87kg I run 60psi mainly to ward against pinch flats. I take it on mild and so so mild bridleways etc.

    I picked the bike up from a Giant store and the engineer who was doing the pdi said he would go with around 60 so that's what he inflated them with. You guys will know your stuff about pressures of course but i'm equally concerned about running lower pressures and suffering from pinch flats.

    Will be going out again tomorrow evening for a local road ride, I guess it's just a case of getting used to a harder ride...!

    Thanks guys for your advice etc, much appreciated

    Smiffy

    if it's mostly road you could drop the psi a fair bit if not a lot, if its a jarring ride on the road then its way too high, I keep mine reasonably high but that's for barralling though rock gardens.
  • mattkidney
    mattkidney Posts: 4
    Smiffy, I bought the Revolt 2 a couple weeks ago after riding a Rockhopper for many years, and I was surprised at the bone rattling ride over some rough country roads. I think we have some adjusting to do!!

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