Best way of smoothing out road bumps

[ColinJ]

Wow - that must be a really deceptive photo! I could have sworn that the saddle was at least a couple of inches too low.

I have an old USE Shokpost (suspension seat post) on my hardtail MTB. I use my bent legs as rear suspension offroad but there were times when the bike hit something that I hadn't spotted so I was still sat on the saddle and my back took a painful impact. The Shokpost does take the sting out of shocks like that.

Bigger tyres/lower tyre pressures are the obvious thing to try.

 

[si_c]

Would a 650b conversion be possible? Might allow wider tyres perhaps without affecting clearance too significantly.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Thanks @ColinJ
I explained that with her heel on the pedal, her knee should be lock-out straight, and it was - despite how it looks in the picture. Is there a better metric?

Maybe not, it's perfectly good, but just try the "with the big toe joint on the pedal at the bottom of the downstroke, the leg should be very nearly straight" gambit. It could (?) make a tiny, comfortable difference I guess. She does look very low in the saddle, and if her full weight is on the saddle with little weight on the pedals, the weight transfer trick comes less naturally and all the shocks will come through the lower spine.

 

[jefmcg]

Wow - that must be a really deceptive photo!

Not the photo. She has deceptive legs! I thought the saddle was too low. It's not a coincident that I got her to check with heel on the pedal. I thought she was too low, too.

Edit: I've just checked the other two photos I took. Seriously, the seat looks too low in all of them. I think it's right, but I will bring it up next time I see her.

 

[Spiderweb]

Would a 650b conversion be possible? Might allow wider tyres perhaps without affecting clearance too significantly.

I don't think a 650b conversion would work, the issue being the position of the brakes.

 

[Vantage]

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vittoria-voyager-hyper-folding-tyre
You'll be hard pressed to find a more supple and easy rolling tyre. They're like riding on air. 30 quid a pair if 35's can be fitted. There must be around 5000 miles on mine and they still look good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001R4BPZW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I used one of these on my Dawes Vantage for 4 years before it wore out. They make a very noticeable difference. At 15 quid they're cheap enough to replace when they do wear out.

Short of going full suspension, I can't see any other way of softening the ride.

 

[SuperPletch]

Widest tires that will fit, go tubeless, as low psi as you can. Like butter. Try ghetto tubeless conversion.

 

[Globalti]

Whatever you do, don't get her one of those fat gel saddles. They are the work of the Devil; they make you sweat and your sit bones sink in transferring the load to soft tissue.

 

[keithmac]

Tyres don't look far off my 38's. I run these at 25/30 psi for comfort with no issues.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

A perhaps off the wall suggestion which the mention of your friend's athleticism made me think of: ride in a higher gear. The logic being that the more resistance from the pedal on its way down the less weight on the saddle and the less extra effort getting out of the saddle when road surfaces demand it. (It wouldn't be an appropriate suggestion for a more sedate rider, of course, but it might add to the solutions already given. Or it might not - I have been up for far too long already....)

 

[Ajax Bay]

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vittoria-voyager-hyper-folding-tyre
You'll be hard pressed to find a more supple and easy rolling tyre. They're like riding on air. 30 quid a pair if 35's can be fitted. There must be around 5000 miles on mine and they still look good.

Those Vittorias are top tyres and the link suggests at an excellent price (in black).

 

[jefmcg]

A perhaps off the wall suggestion which the mention of your friend's athleticism made me think of: ride in a higher gear. The logic being that the more resistance from the pedal on its way down the less weight on the saddle and the less extra effort getting out of the saddle when road surfaces demand it. (It wouldn't be an appropriate suggestion for a more sedate rider, of course, but it might add to the solutions already given. Or it might not - I have been up for far too long already....)

So the situation is following back surgery she couldn't cope with the hunched over position on the hybrid, so she got a skip rescue bike with frozen hub gear. The position was good and it didn't hurt to ride, though she still needed pain relief most days.

Due to family, she had to take a few weeks off cycling and her daily pain diminished. Cycling was obviously causing some issues. And that was just coffee pootles: couple of miles, stop and chat, then home again.

So her theory is a lighter bike and a lot more gears so she can pedal more gently might be the solution. Fingers crossed.